Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Luxon isn't National's biggest problem

I'm happy to report to you that it looks like some of us want to play the old 'should Luxon be rolled' game.

In the wake of the not-so-great polls that came out yesterday, there is a column by Andrea Vance - who I am name-checking because she's good and credible, and not just some junior reporter with an opinion.

In her column, she predicts that Luxon is in trouble, that his caucus is getting impatient, that speculation about his leadership has reached fever pitch - and that if it doesn't improve, she is not sure that he's going to be the one leading the National Party at election time this time next year.

Now, if this is really what National MPs are considering, they should ditch that idea immediately because Luxon's not their problem.

I mean, he is a problem. There's no debate that with personal popularity sitting at about 20 percent, he is a drag on the National Party - but he is not their actual problem.

Their actual problem is that the economy is stuffed and that they haven't yet figured out what to do to fix it, even though they've had 18 months. 

And it really doesn't matter who the leader is, whether it's Nicola or Chris Bishop, or Erica, or Mark Mitchell or Golden Balls, it doesn't matter. They still will not have a plan for the economy.

Now, if they're worried about their polling right now, they should try playing the game of musical leadership chairs and see what happens to their polling then, because they're still not going to have a plan for the economy - but then they'll also have voters feeling like it's a shambles up the top in the Beehive and not sure what's going on there.

Yes, they have a problem and yes, you can see it in the polls. So fix it. Come up with a solution. Come up with a credible plan for fixing the economy now and into the future.

That is where the Nats should be directing their energy, not into undermining Chris Luxon.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Unhappy to report to you that it looks like some
of us want to play the old should luxe and
be rolled game. In the wake of the not so
great polls that came out yesterday, there is a column
by andre E Vants, who I am name checking because
she's good and credible and not just some junior reporter
with an opinion. In her column, she predicts that Luxin
is in trouble, that his caucus is getting impatient, that

(00:20):
speculation about his leadership has reached fever pitch, and that
if it doesn't improve, she is not sure that he's
going to be the one leading the National Party at
the election time at election this time next year. Now,
if this is really what National MPs are considering, they
should ditch that idea immediately because Luxein's is not their problem.
I mean, he is a problem, there's no debate that,

(00:40):
with personal popularity setting at about twenty percent, he is
a drag on the National Party. But he is not
their actual problem. Their actual problem is that the economy
is stuffed and that they haven't yet figured out what
to do to fix it, even though they've had eighteen months.
And it really doesn't matter who the leader is whether
it's Nikola or Chris Buship or Erica or Mark Mitchell

(01:00):
or Golden Balls, it doesn't matter. They still will not
have a plan for the economy. Now. If they're worried
about their polling right now, they should try playing the
game of musical leadership Leadership musical chairs and see what
happens to their polling then, because they're still not going
to have a plan for the economy. But then they'll
also have votes feeling like it's the shambles up the
top of the beehive and not sure what's going on there.

(01:22):
Yes they have a problem, Yes you can see it
in the polls, So fix it. Come up with a solution,
Come up with a credible plan for fixing the economy
now and into the future. That is where the NATS
should be directing their energy, not into undermining Chris Luxen.
For more from Heather Duplicy Allen Drive, listen live to
news Talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow

(01:44):
the podcast on iHeartRadio.