TOP struggles

Stuff reports:

Former Opportunities Party (TOP) candidates say the party’s board did not allow any internal criticism of the party.

So who was on the board?

It’s understood a meeting had already taken place to select a new leader on Wednesday, with a handpicked group of candidates who had not criticised the party invited to contest the leadership – and told to keep the meeting secret from those who had. 

These party faithful are understood have been offered two options: one where Morgan properly left the party and lowered his financial contributions, and another where he stepped back from the leadership but remained on the board. The latter option was selected.

A Clayton’s choice. Of course they were never going to vote for the option that left the party with no money.

Co-deputy leader Geoff Simmons was overwhelmingly voted in as a new leader, but subsequently resigned over a conflict with a board member, a candidate who was at the meeting said.

Simmons describes that as a “massive over-simplification” but did not dispute that he was the pick of the meeting, or the conflict with the board.

So which board member?

The three-person board – made up of Morgan and longtime staffers Donna Clifford and Andrew Gawith – is given sweeping powers by the party’s constitution to compile the party list and select electoral candidates.

Gawith has worked with Morgan for 30 years. Clifford is also described as having been involved in almost all of Morgan’s previous ventures so the board was basically Gareth.

Despite this, she argued the problem was less with the members of the board itself and more with the party structure, which gave them complete power.

“For me the substantial problem is at the heart of the constitution. These three people are handpicked by Gareth as long-time confidants of his. I don’t think that structure is viable for a political party going forward.”

“Any political party has to be able to allow for lots of different kinds of of personality to coexist. That was the fundamental problem here, that certain viewpoints were never welcome.”

If you want people to volunteer for a political party, they will want to be able to have some day over who the party operates.