Tuesday, August 10, 2010



Another by-election

It looks like Labour's Winnie Laban is going to resign from Parliament to take up a position at Victoria University. This will mean another by-election. As with Mt Albert, its a safe Labour seat, but a failure to trounce National would be an embarrassment for Labour.

I'll be sorry to see Laban go. While this is her fourth term, she's not part of Labour's dead wood, and she's been both an effective Minister of Pacific Island Affairs and an effective backbencher in opposition. But its better to go on your own terms rather than suffer eventual defeat or irrelevance.