John MacDonald: Seymour is the fly in Luxon's ointment

Whenever people used to bang on about Christopher Luxon being the next John Key —which, I think we all agree now, he isn’t— but whenever I used to hear that talk, I pooed-pooed it.  

All because of what the two of them did before they got into politics.  

And the fact that Luxon isn’t another John Key is why we’ve got two new political polls telling us that, if an election was held now, the left-wing parties would have enough votes and enough seats to form a government.  

Because his political leadership is invisible. Particularly, in relation to his handling of ACT leader David Seymour.   

Seymour is running rings around the Prime Minister and voters are seeing it a mile off. 

Which is why last night’s 1News-Verian poll had National down 3% to a 34% share of the vote and Labour up 4% to 33%.  

Overall, the National/ACT/NZ First coalition would have 60 seats (not enough to form a government) and Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori would have 61 seats (enough to form a government).  

And Seymour is the reason. Or more to the point, Luxon’s reluctance to thump the table publicly is the reason. 

Before Sir John Key got into politics, he’d been a financial trader. Christopher Luxon, before he got into politics, was a chief executive. 

So, what’s the significance of that? Traders thrive on chaos and chief executives avoid chaos at all cost.  

Chief executives are like ducks on the water. They like it to look as if everything’s going smoothly, nothing to see here, but underneath the water their legs are going flat out.  

And being a former chief executive, that’s how Christopher Luxon is handling David Seymour —“nothing to see hear, nothing to see here”— and that’s why we have two poll results telling us that, if an election was held now, the National/ACT/NZ First coalition would be out the door.  

And he was treading water again on Newstalk ZB this morning when Mike Hosking asked him what he could do about Seymour – whether he could actually sack him from Cabinet.  

For trying to drive the land rover up the steps at parliament yesterday but, more significantly, doing that stupid thing where he wrote a letter to the police on behalf of Philip Polkinghorne before he was accused of killing his wife and, subsequently, found not guilty.  

The PM was saying he didn’t have time to think about David Seymour and it’s natural for minor coalition partners to seek media attention, despite the fact that Seymour has got into a public spat with the Prime Minister over the letter he wrote to the police.  

When the PM was asked yesterday about Seymour writing to the police, he said it was “ill advised”. Straight away, Seymour fired back in a media interview saying, “before criticising a local MP for doing their job, you should know all the facts”.  

I reckon more and more people are looking at Luxon and thinking “when are you going to tell him to pull his head in?”   

Especially when you consider that, in a few months time, Seymour will be Deputy Prime Minister.  

Luxon’s approach might be appropriate for the corporate world, but, as the numbers are showing, it’s not the way to handle things in the political world.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk Z'B.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Whenever people, you know, when people used to bang on
about Christoph Luxon being the next John Key, which I
think we can all agree now he isn't. But whenever
I used to hear that talk, I poo pooed it
straight away, and it was all to do with what
the two of them did before they got into politics

(00:32):
and the fact that Luxon isn't another John Key. That's
why we've got two new polls telling us that if
an election was held now, the left wing parties would
have enough votes and enough seats to form a government
because his political leadership is invisible, particularly in relation to

(00:54):
his handling e Act lead to David Seymour. Seymour is
running rings around the Prime Minister and voters are seeing
it a mile off, which is why last night's you know,
the second of the two, my last night's One News
variant poll had National down three percent to thirty four
percent and Labor up four percent to thirty three percent. Overall,

(01:18):
National at New Zealand First would have sixty seats, not
enough to form a government, and Labor the Greens into party,
Mardi would have sixty one, enough to form a government.
And Seymour is the reason, or more to the point,
Luckston's reluctance, to reluctance to thump the table, that's the reason.

(01:44):
So before John Key got into politics had been a
financial trader, Ah Christopher Luxon, before he was in politics,
he was a chief executive. And what's what's what's the
significance of that, And we'll tell you. I'll tell you
what it is. Traders thrive on chaos, and chief executives

(02:06):
they have void chaos at all costs. You know. Chief
executives they're like ducks on the water. They like it
to look as if everything's going smoothly. You're nothing to
see here, But underneath, underneath the water, the league is
going flat out. Sometimes they're panicking. And being a former

(02:26):
chief executive, that's how Christoph Luxon is handling David Seymour.
You know, nothing to see, nothing to see, nothing to
see here, got my investments summit next month, not nothing.
I'm not worried about David Seymour. And that's why we
have two pole results telling us that if an election
was held now the National Act New Zealand first coalition,
they'd be out the door, and here he was treading

(02:49):
water again this morning. When Mike asked him earlier what
he could do about Seymour, whether he could actually sack
him in relation to a couple of things, for trying
to drive the land rover up the steps of Parliament yesterday,
but more significantly doing that stupid thing where he wrote
a letter to the cops on behalf of Philip Pulkinghorn.

(03:11):
This is the eye doctor who was accused of killing
his wife and found not guilty. And here's how the
Prime Minister responded to Mike's question.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
I'm responsible for all ministers in the cabinet, you know,
and their conduct, you know, and so I'm very conscious
of that. There's been you know, in respect to the
letter conversation, there's been no breach of the cabinet manual.
It happened before he was a minister, happened before we
were in government. But look, I mean, you know, as
I've learned in four years, you know, this politics game
is a different game, and you know, what we're focused

(03:39):
on as a government is making sure we've got a
big job to do. I mean, like, honestly, I wake
up every morning, going how much How can I not
get stuff done yesterday? I mean, like we've got a
hell of a lot to do, and so yeah, look
some of it, you know. So frankly, you know that's
what I'm focused on, Like, give very little time.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
Treading water, treading water, treading water. Nothing to see here,
nothing to see here, nothing to see here, trust me,
classic chief executive talk. I mean, don't worry about the
fact either. The Seymour has got into a public spat
with the Prime Minister over the Polkinghorn letter, and it's
this lack of visible leadership that was seeing from the

(04:17):
Prime Minister. That's why we're seeing there's results in these polls,
you know, the public spat. When the Prime Minister was
asked yesterday about Seymour writing to the police, he said
it was quote ill advised, and straightaway Seymour shot back
in a media interview saying, quote before criticizing a local
MP for doing the job, you should know all the facts,

(04:39):
end of quote. And I reckon. I reckon. More and
more people are looking at Luxon and thinking, when are
you going to tell this guy to put his head on,
especially when you consider that in just a few months time,
Seymour is going to be Deputy Prime Minister, and I
think more and more people are looking at the Treaty
Principles fiasco and again thinking, what the hell did you

(05:05):
do talk about lay? What did you give in to
that lame for a prime minister. Probably perfectly fine for
a chief executive, but when you're in politics and when
you're the Prime minister, you need to visibly demonstrate your leadership.

(05:25):
And we're not seeing that from the Prime Minister. And
that's why we've got two polls telling us that if
an election was held now Labor the Greens into party,
Mardy would be in and the current lot would be out.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
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