Stuff rates the front benchers
Stuff has done their year end ratings for Ministers and front benchers. Here’s the full list from top to bottom:
- 9.5/10 – Jacinda Ardern
- 8.5/10 – Winston Peters, Grant Robertson
- 8.0/10 – David Parker, Judith Collins, Mark Mitchell, Michael Woodhouse
- 7.5/10 – Paul Goldsmith, overall National frontbench
- 7.0/10 – Andrew Little, James Shaw, Paula Bennett
- 6.5/10 – Phil Twyford, Simon Bridges
- 6.0/10 – Amy Adams, overall Labour frontbench
- 5.0/10 – Kelvin Davis
- 1.0/10 – Jami-Lee Ross
They note:
Too many of Labour’s front bench are yet to shine and they are leaning heavily on Ardern, Peters and Robertson. National’s front bench, in contrast, has been a machine, picking up in Opposition where they left off in government. They have consistently scored hits against the Government, have run hard on issues and scandals, and have made question time a ‘must watch’ again after years of irrelevance.
In short, National is fielding the best Opposition front bench we have seen in years and if it wasn’t for the Jami-Lee Ross train wreck, would get a near perfect score. But it’s hard to look past the fact that Ross was a key member of the front bench. The only reason National hasn’t been docked more points is because of the speed with which the caucus has recovered and moved on.
I’ve bolded the key points. National has been highly successful at holding the Government to account.