![John Armstrong: Labour law first test for leader-in-making](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=791)
John Armstrong: Labour law first test for leader-in-making
The PM's confidence in Simon Bridges can be shown in his willingness to hand over two complex portfolios - Energy and Labour.
The PM's confidence in Simon Bridges can be shown in his willingness to hand over two complex portfolios - Energy and Labour.
Political correspondent John Armstrong spoke to Treasury's head about how he is changing the department's culture ahead of the release of its long-term fiscal projections.
The terse, four-paragraph press statement issued by Labour Party president Moira Coatsworth did not say very much. But in not saying very much, it said it all.
In getting the proposal off the table, Shearer has finally drawn on the well of authority inherent in his role as leader to bring the party to heel, writes John Armstrong.
Don't write the Maori Party off completely. Not yet, anyway.
"Is a noose slowly being tightened around the Prime Minister's neck?" asks John Armstrong.
Renewal, regeneration, rebirth. No matter what you call it, no political party can escape it.
Pita Sharples' resignation may be too little too late as far as strengthening the party's chances of surviving as a parliamentary force goes, writes John Armstrong.
David Shearer's claim that Labour pulled off an "outstanding" victory in Saturday's Ikaroa-Rawhiti byelection is hogwash, writes John Armstrong.
Labour desperately needs to review both how it takes the fight to National and how it should treat its would-be partners in government - the Greens and NZ First.
As potential mini-referendums on their performance, byelections get the kind of enthusiastic welcome from governing parties normally reserved for the arrival of the Grim Reaper.
The Greens now seem willing to drop a policy if that policy is less than essential and risks handicapping centre-left efforts to defeat National, writes John Armstrong.
The inquiry's report was predictably dismissed by National. But it makes some valid points about the plight of manufacturers, writes John Armstrong.
What were they thinking? How did four of Labour's most politically astute MPs not foresee how awful it would look for senior party figures to be seen hobnobbing with SkyCity executives in the company's corporate box at Eden Park last Saturday night?
If the resignation of Peter Dunne has left a bad smell around Parliament, then it is the stench of red herrings rotting in rather large quantity, writes John Armstrong.
Talk of any byelection in Dunne's Ohariu seat is premature, writes John Armstrong. An early election is in the realm of the fanciful.
When you are claiming that you are committed to "transparent and democratic politics" - as the Greens have been emphasising in recent weeks - you have to be cleaner than clean.
Here is some free advice for Labour. Leave the persecution of Peter Dunne to Winston Peters to handle, writes John Armstrong.
What had Labour seething was the errant wording of a question in the 3News Reid Research poll, writes John Armstrong. The mistake may have been a simple oversight...
It had all the makings of a classic whodunit, writes John Armstrong. Or should that be a who-Dunne-it?
National's approach is about as "in line" with the Children's Commissioner's report as the atmosphere on Mars is "in line" with that on Earth, writes John Armstrong.
You do not have to burrow too deeply into the annual Government accounts to uncover the untold story of last week's Budget, writes John Armstrong.
Unless National offers a better loyalty scheme there will be little incentive to apply for shares in Meridian and Genesis, writes John Armstrong.
John Armstrong writes: "One of the reasons why Governments slowly decay and die is that the longer they are in office the more prone they become to ugly pragmatism and compromise of principle."
Bill English's effort is a liquorice allsorts kind of Budget with enough variety to satisfy most tastes. That makes it a hard Budget to criticise, writes John Armstrong.
John Key is under absolutely no illusions about the difficulty he faces in securing a third victory at next year's election, writes John Armstrong.
When it comes to consensus, National is the one which refused to budge in its opposition to the MMP commission's most controversial finding, writes John Armstrong.
Labour is unlikely to countenance any attempt by its minor partner to scuttle yesterday's deal between SkyCity and National, writes John Armstrong.