All good things… (NZ election)
All good things eventually come to an end. And so has the fifth Labour government. They made a good run of it, but as a third term government hoping for a fourth, the odds were always against them. In the [...]
The NZ election – a jaundiced view
New Zealand goes to the polls tomorrow – Saturday November 8. According to the latest polls, it seems that NZ will give National about 48% of the party vote, not enough to form a government in its own right, but [...]
Which way will the Maori Party jump? (NZ election)
The polls have begun to tighten in the NZ election, with several showing the National Party’s expected majority evaporating under the pressure of the campaign and the international financial meltdown. Meanwhile, the parties are also deciding their coalition preferences. The [...]
A beginner’s guide to coalitions (NZ election)
The New Zealand election is still in a phoney campaign, with the parties only just beginning to launch their campaigns. Which gives me more time to fill in the background. Deborah has already done an excellent beginner’s guide to MMP, [...]
A beginner's guide to MMP (NZ election)
We like things complicated in New Zealand. I think that’s why we opted for MMP, or Mixed Member Proportional Representation, though it’s possibly not as complicated as the STV system here in Australia, which I have yet to get my [...]
The alternative (NZ election)
Seven weeks out, and the New Zealand election campaign has yet to really get under way. While the date has been announced, Parliament is still sitting (under urgency, to get through a raft of Treaty settlement legislation and administrivia which [...]
What have they been doing, all this time? (NZ election)
BilB asked me for my impressions about Labour’s performance in government, scandals aside. I’ve taken the question at face value, focusing on impressions, and what I can recall about Labour’s achievements in the nine years they have been in government. [...]
A question of character (NZ election)
Kia ora! Idiot / Savant has written a lovely meta-narrative about the election in New Zealand, giving you the structure of the plot, the girl meets girl or boy, and what will happen next. But when I read a novel, [...]
An introduction to the New Zealand election
As some of you may be aware, New Zealand is having a general election on November 8th. Over the next eight weeks, I’ll be blogging it on and off here, with the aim of informing people what the hell is [...]
New Zealand election blogging at LP
I’m delighted to announce that Idiot/Savant of No Right Turn will be guest blogging the New Zealand election for us (and watch this space – there may be other NZ guest bloggers joining us). As Kim noted on Friday night, [...]
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