Polldancing

It was bound to happen and anyone who thought the Nats were going to bounce back when Little Bo Tox took command was seriously delusional.

In truth, when she did finally get her hands on the reins of this old nag, it was an opportunity for them to reset and begin acting like adults. She even made a speech to the effect that she would be concentrating on the issues, but in keeping with her considerable history of back-biting and nastiness she was unable to back up her empty promises with action.

For someone who has been in the cesspit we call our Parliament for as long as she has, she doesn’t seem to have learned anything much apart from a few more dirty tricks.

Instead she tried to insinuate that Lees-Getaway had done something similar to the Falloonatic, when in fact all he had done was have an affair with one of his staff, which, while not a commendable act, and not one to be proud of, was not illegal (or, apparently anything other than consensual). The PM did exactly the right thing by firing him immediately though, because as the employer of the woman concerned Getaway had exposed himself (sorry about that one!) to potential claims of using his obvious position of power to exploit an employee. This sort of behaviour is not acceptable in the wider workplace fort that same reason and as Minister for Workplace Relations, it would seem that Getaway had misinterpreted what sorts of relations he was supposed to be ministering to.

That action by Li’l Bo would not have escaped the attention of the wider electorate at this time and would have woken them up to the fact that she was simply a relic of the old way of doing things who hasn’t realised that the times they are-a-changing.

I believe that the latest poll results reflect the fact that following the lockdown most Kiwis have had a bit of a re-think and decided that much of what passed for our lifestyle pre-Covid was not the best way we should be living our lives and that now was a real opportunity for us to correct so many of those things that were wrong with our society.

The Poll results are merely a reflection of this, and Whinny’s results are also a marker that he is past his sell-by date as well. I have felt for several months now that Whinny was past his best and his performance in the house on the first day of sitting after the lockdown was very disturbing. He seemed unwell and his hands were shaking, and he was stumbling over his words. I felt then that he should be retiring rather than trying to run another election campaign. However, he has chosen to go on, probably as much as anything because his party has no “heir apparent” and I think that will be the downfall of the party. I predict they will be extremely lucky to get a single seat and going by some of their activities lately where they have halted progress on some important rescue packages, that it won’t be a bad thing for the country.

The Government is riding high as you might expect considering how steady the hand on the tiller has been during these tough times, and it is hard to imagine they won’t be able to collect enough seats to govern alone. It is possible, though that they might choose to strike an arrangement with the Greens, as I think their relationship with that party has been pretty good and they have made quite a good team.

As for Rimmer and his one-man party, I think he will probably gain a seat or two, based upon a lot of disappointed Nat voters who cant bring themselves to vote either Red or Green. But he won’t get enough to be of any real effect.

But when we come to the Nats, then that is much more interesting. Based upon the current poll they will have just 30 seats, and with no obvious partners to form a coalition, apart from ACT, they would have no chance of being in power. All of a sudden the caucussion of 55 has failed the HIA and is reduced to 30 rather woozy individuals. Those who didn’t manage to get themselves, by fair means or foul up to about the first 10 on the list will be having to look for a real job.

Although Polldancing is an enjoyable sport to watch when it is done with class instead of sleaze, it is not the real thing. However, I think the electorate is already well aware of who is the most agile dancer and it is hard to imagine that changing between now and September 19.