May 31, 2015
Greens finally have a leader who can scare Labour
Greens finally have a leader who can scare Labour
MARTYN BRADBURY
In James Shaw, the Greens finally have a leader who can scare Labour. The strategic weakness of the Greens in the past has been that Labour have always been able to take them for granted in the safe knowledge that the Greens have no where else to go. This has always left the Greens open to getting played by Labour who would prefer to cut a minority Government deal with NZ First and leave the Greens with no option other than support them with little in the way of policy gains.
That all changes with the election of Shaw.
A 'metrosexual', Thatcher quoting, former consultant to Coke-Cola, Shaw is a businessman who has clearly signalled he wants to work with National on climate change. Asking National to work on climate change is akin to asking the Fox to manage the hens, but that doesn't matter nearly as much as the symbolism of a consultant A) winning the leadership race in the first place and B) immediately reaching out to National.
Shaw's win cements into place the power of the Wellington clique who run the Greens, and will mean the Party is about as appealing to Auckland as a traffic jam caused by cyclists, but the beauty of Shaw winning means the Greens don't actually have to pick up any extra voters, and in fact could happily concede more left leaning Greenies walking altogether because the threat to work with National means Labour can't just cut them out of any deal with NZ First.
Shaw is a tactical master stroke for the Greens because by moving to the centre, Labour can't ignore them any longer.
Martyn Bradbury
Editor – TheDailyBlog.co.nz
Facebook/CitizenBomber
twitter.com/CitizenBomber
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com