Tamihere and Labour

The Herald reports:

John Tamihere will have to wait until November to find out if the Labour Party will take him back as a member – and it could depend on whether others in the party raise objections.

Mr Tamihere confirmed he had applied online to become a member again and had sent a note to the party informing it of this.

Party secretary Tim Barnett said Mr Tamihere would be subject to more scrutiny than usual because of his high public profile.

It was “unusual but not unheard of” for membership to be refused.

The party’s leading council would have to decide if there were any formal objections to Mr Tamihere rejoining. None had yet been received.

“From my point of view, I would just look at the record of membership in the past and anything on things he might have allegedly said or done that might have brought the party into disrepute.”

I think JT is wasting his time. If there are some in Labour who don’t even want him as a member, what chance that he can win a selection, let alone be voted into Cabinet (if they win) by Labour’s Caucus?

JT has charisma and plain speaking in shades, is an appealing figure. But his history of poor judgement makes it most unlikely Labour would make him a Minister, even if he did become an MP. They may want to use him to gain votes, but I don’t think they’ll make him a Minister, and it is elected (for Cabinet anyway) by the caucus for Labour. I don’t think Shearer has enough dominance to push someone like Tamihere through.