Via Span: Dunedin election blog, by Victor Billot. He's running for the Alliance against Pete Hodgson in Dunedin North. Given the size of Hodgson's majority, I don't think he has a hope in hell, but the aim has to be to whip up the party vote anyway.
yep that's the general idea - I don't think Victor is under any illusions plus I suspect he likes his current job rather more than he would like being an MP ;-)
ReplyDeleteSo he's not going to be high-ranked on the list, then?
ReplyDeleteLooking at the 2002 esults, he only has to get a thousand votes to be doing better than last time (and around 120 to be doing better than 1999). Unfortunately, if they're to break the threshold, the Alliance needs around three or four times the vote it got in 2002. That could be difficult...
not sure where he'll be on the list - that process should be completed by mid May though.
ReplyDeleteNo personal offence intended spanner, but surely the Alliance is dead. This is a waste of time and energy. Time to start a new left party, not try and resurect a dead one
ReplyDeleteCheers
pete
Pete: If the Alliance is dead, then I don't really see how a new party with the same sort of platform would be any more successful. Their demise isn't just due to the breakup, but also due to Labour having moved left from where it was in 1993 (when the Alliance got 18% of the vote). It may not be left enough for Span or myself, but it probably is for most people on this side of the political spectrum.
ReplyDeleteA new left party may be able to start with a fresh brand and leave behind some of the Alliance's baggage, but is still going to have to overcome this fundamental problem.
i guess the point is that if the Alliance weren't around you'd have to invent it, to cover that part of the political spectrum.
ReplyDeleteit's all very well to say "let's start a new left party" but no one actually is. And when/if someone (who?) does then i expect that many of the activists from the Alliance will form the core of it - in fact a new left party may well grow out of the existing Alliance party after the election.
(and i'm not offended, i wrestle with these questions from time to time myself)
Good luck to Victor with his campaign. I don't agree that Labour has moved to the left since 1993 - if only! Labour has realised that the only way to stay in office is to behave as if it were the National Party. That's why it has dumped social justice from its platform.
ReplyDeleteAre there any electorates at all where the Alliance has a show of winning?
Anon: In 2002 they came second in Waitakere; in 1999 they put in a good showing in Northcote and Auckland Central. It's not impossible for them to win an electorate - just very, very unlikely unless somebody stands aside.
ReplyDeleteAs for Labour being lefter than they were in 1993, the fact that they no longer have Richard Prebble in their lineup (as they did then) should be proof of that. It's not enough of an improvement for me, but its probably good enough for most.