Another MP poll-busted

A second Labour MP has been implicated in the fake-name polling scandal uncovered last week by the Herald on Sunday.

The volunteer who came forward last week to blow the whistle said she was recruited by MP Iain Lees-Galloway, who was also present when the polling took place.

The Palmerston North MP did not return calls all week to discuss his role or answer questions about the matter.

Labour leader Phil Goff again declined to talk about the matter yesterday, after earlier this week saying at a press conference that he would have a "quiet word to Rick".

But at no stage did Barker, Goff or senior whip Darren Hughes disclose Lees-Galloway's involvement.

A spokesman for Goff said: "A word has been had to the Caucus, and it won't be happening again."

The volunteer, who has put her version of events in a signed affidavit, said that Lees-Galloway was present while Barker briefed pollsters on how they should use the name of a non-existent company and make up their own names if they wanted : "He was there, listening, sitting on the couch next to me."

She said she had received an email from Lees-Galloway asking for volunteers with "Urgent cry for help!" in the header. When she discovered what the "Urgent cry for help" actually involved, she felt Lees-Galloway had overstated the case: It's just polling it's not life or death."

While the polling was conducted the volunteer says Lees-Galloway went to his office and watched television.

When she complained afterwards, she said the MP acknowledged her concerns about the deceptive polling.

"He said he hadn't known what it was going to be like, and he wouldn't do it again.

"If he was going to do polling again he would do it from his offices in Palmy."

The revelation of a second MP enmeshed in the murky polling campaign has surprised Otago University politics lecturer Bryce Edwards.

"This is extraordinary. I'm not convinced that we've seen the last of this matter - they haven't even released the polling script."

Edwards said the best way of dealing with political crises usually involved immediate full and frank disclosure: "Ripping off that sticking plaster and carrying the short-term pain is traditionally what the spin-meisters do."