Editorial: Electability needed for credibility

David Cunliffe, flanked by David Parker, left, and Grant Robertson. Photo / Mark Mitchell

It is almost a case of who isn't running for the Labour Party leadership rather than who is.

At this stage, four MPs - former leader David Cunliffe, former deputy leader Grant Robertson, current acting leader David Parker and former party president Andrew Little - have announced they want the top job, while there is speculation that another former leader, David Shearer, will throw his hat in the ring before tomorrow's deadline.

Our own Stuart Nash indicated early on that he would not be seeking the job at this stage.

He is well advised to keep out of it, because already it is looking like becoming one big mess. You can only imagine how much John Key and his colleagues are enjoying the show.

Some may argue that such a leadership battle is democracy at its best and that left-leaning parties around the world always give the impression of infighting because they are such a broad church of opinion.

However, it must be concerning to the party's rank and file that no clear leader is rising above the rest, because it opens the way for the sniping and backbiting to continue after the contest is over.

It will be interesting to see who the party membership actually chooses, because whatever the various interest groups want, the new leader has to have one thing - electability.

If the voters out there don't like the person, it will not have mattered a jot that the strongest faction in the party won.

Whoever is victorious needs to work hard to quickly rebuild Labour into a strong and effective brand.

A vibrant democracy not only needs a capable government, but also an effective opposition party keeping it in check.