Shaneel Lal: Election 2023: Replace Christopher Luxon with Nicola Willis to take advantage of Labour’s losses

Economically right-wing and socially progressive, Nicola Willis softens the harsh, conservative declarations of Christopher Luxon, says Shaneel Lal. Photo / Mark Mitchell

OPINION

The latest political poll has National leader Chris Luxon and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on level pegging as preferred PM, at 25 per cent.

The Labour Party has been through hell in the last few weeks. I expected Luxon to be miles ahead of Hipkins.

Labour’s significant losses should have resulted in significant gains for National but the National Party is only up 1.6 percentage points from last month. Despite Labour’s chaotic few weeks, some voters seem hesitant to jump over to Luxon.

No matter what stunt Luxon pulls, whether playing cricket in Parliament corridors, cosplaying as a McDonald’s employee or ruling out working with the Māori Party, it’s not working well enough for him.

The remedy could be to replace him with deputy leader Nicola Willis. Although Willis has not expressed intentions to take over, she should.

Some may argue that Willis has never been on the preferred prime minister list and is less popular than Luxon. It is important to remember Hipkins’ popularity didn’t rise until he became the Labour’s leader. Willis merely needs to be put in a position people consider her a possible contender.

Willis, for long, has played the role of softening the harsh conservative edges of National. For instance, in one of his first interviews as leader, Luxon declared abortion tantamount to murder. Willis had voted in favour of the Abortion Legislation Act. Luxon scares the voters away while Willis is cornered into a position to convince concerned supporters that a National government would not take away their bodily autonomy.

Luxon stood by MP Sam Uffindell after he admitted being a “bully” while at school. He claimed the gang life was attractive to boys sitting in a South Auckland garage with their brothers. He proposed boot camps for youth offenders, which have been ineffective overseas. He claimed New Zealand’s founding was a “little experiment” that led to “a 21st-century success story”. He declared there are only “two biological genders”. And he described Collins ridiculing trans people as “Judith is being Judith”. It has been one blunder after another.

I find Luxon’s uber-conservatism and lack of empathy for people have prevented National from taking a significant lead on Labour as Labour stumbles. Luxon’s baggage is making National unattractive to those who are socially progressive but economically right-winged.

Willis undoubtedly supports some of Luxon’s positions, but she has managed to distance herself from his extreme positions. Willis has remained economically right-winged, which is what National supporters primarily care about, and somewhat socially progressive. She keeps the hardcore National supporters happy but does not piss off those who fluctuate between Labour and National. Willis’ damage control is keeping most of National’s voters with National.

Willis supported the End of Life Choice Act which legalised euthanasia, and in an interview said that she would have voted in favour of same-sex marriage if she had been an MP in 2013. Willis’ Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Shared Leave) Amendment Bill would have allowed parents to split their parental leave entitlement allowing parents to take time off together. In that instance, Willis was more progressive than the entire Labour Party, who voted her bill down for no good reason.

Being somewhat progressive and technically a part of a marginalised community may even lead some to feel more comfortable with Willis. National could be attracting large number of supporters from Labour’s bloodbath but their insistence on keeping Luxon is wasting that opportunity. If Willis is given a chance to lead, she could strike the economically right-wing and socially progressive balance right for National and centre-right voters.

Will National roll Luxon for a relatively young and somewhat progressive woman? I don’t think so.

Shaneel Shavneel Lal (they/them) was instrumental in the bill to ban conversion therapy in New Zealand. They are a law and psychology student, model and influencer.