Good riddance to David Shearer

David Shearer has quit as labour leader. Good riddance. He was never up to the job, and even the timing of his resignation - right when Labour should be milking public outrage over the spy bill and Meridian float - once again proves it. Still, it could have been worse: he could have quit last week, right before the GCSB bill debate, instead.

Now Shearer can go on to be the decent, hardworking backbencher and possible Foreign Affairs Minister he's actually qualified to be. Meanwhile, Labour will get to have a sort-of leadership election, in which the votes of its 34 caucus members will count for as much as its whole wider membership. That's the sort of electoral system they have in Tonga, and it is neither fair nor democratic.