Kerre Woodham: Let's give thanks for those willing to stand for political office

Thirty years ago, Gordon McLauchlan wrote a book called The Passionless People, decrying the uniformity and adherence to convention that were stunting New Zealand's creative and intellectual growth. It was an accurate portrayal of New Zealand at the time, but three decades on, this election campaign has shown that we're capable of extraordinary passion.

Many people care very deeply about the result of this election and they've made their feelings felt.

I've worked on only two election campaigns as a talkback host, and the first one didn't count because National was dead in the water. Labour's victory was a foregone conclusion, so you didn't get the depth of feeling we've seen this time round.

I've found it gruelling and I can't even begin to imagine how the politicians are feeling.

All the talkback hosts I know have had vicious emails attacking them for the views they are believed to hold, the boss received a voicemail message that was breathtaking in its stream of foul-mouthed invective accusing the station of political bias, people who've said they'll vote National have been accused of being greedy and selfish and people who've said they'll vote Labour have been accused of being immoral thieves of other people's money. It's all been most unnecessary.

I'm sure the vast majority of politicians have the best interests of the country at heart. It's just that they differ on how to achieve that. Only the most self-righteous prig or a member of the Exclusive Brethren would believe they had all the answers.

There would be very few families in this country who voted en bloc yesterday, so we should be able to accept that people who hold different political views are not personally attacking you or the way you live your life.

For all that, though, it's great that so many people have been roused to comment and even better that so many people were inspired to vote.

We've all had our say, now let's get on with it and give thanks that there are so many people willing to put their heads above the parapets and stand for political office.

It's a thankless task - surely not even the superannuation and the free travel would make up for the sort of nastiness they experience at election time. Good luck to those who steer the ship of state, and to all who sail on her. Do your best to keep your promises and don't be afraid to change direction if you feel you're steering into trouble. We're with you.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY