Peters losing Tauranga. Who would have bet on that? Not him!
NZ’s longest serving MP lost his seat but is still in.
I do love MMP…keeps the bastards mildly honest.
At least NZ can’t be acused of being undemocratic! We are so fucking democratic that all those teensy parties get to decide on the leader…
…holy heck that was a close one! My nerves are all still a flutter!
It will be interesting to see what happens to the Greens after the specials are counted-the figure fell to just 5%, which means there is a small chance they might loose all of their seats at the end of the process.
It was also sad to see a lot of faces go: I’m particularly sad that Matt Robson didn’t get back in, he did a lot of good work in Parliament. I think that Ken Shirley, Stephen Franks, John Tamihere, and Nandor all had great skills and were good people, and its sad to see them go…
Looks like this thread will stick around for at least another couple of weeks!!!
Any predictions folks? Which way will United go? Will the Greens sit around the Cabinet benches? Whats ticking in Winston’s head? What will the Special Votes do? Are National still in the running? What an incredible election!!! For all those non-Kiwi’s reading along, the elections have just been held, and the results are literally a tie. It will possibly be at least two weeks before we can know who can claim victory…
200, 000 special votes still to count: that’s 10% of the vote, so it’s still anyone’s game… Good luck to Helen trying to assemble a coalition with the Greens, the Maori Party and Peters: I have a feeling that - assuming the Nats don’t pick up an extra seat or 2 - she’ll cobble something together, but it’s going to make her a lame duck: can you imagine trying to make serious policy with Winston threatening to take his ball and leave every time the Greens or Maoris demand concessions?
Highlight of the evening for me {apart from the loon threatening to crash a plane into the Sky Tower, and then ditching in the sea off Muldoon’s old stamping ground} was TV3 doorstepping John Tamihere: that guy’s got class - cheerfully admitted it was his fault he lost, gave generous praise to Piat Sharples, and then said it was time to dust off the CV.
He may be rough around the edges, but he’s got style and integrity: he’s not even on the party list because he doesn’t feel that wouldn’t give him a mandate. Meanwhile, that drunk and lazy fool Dover Samuels sneaks back in on the list despite losing his seat.
I’m gonna miss Tamihere, though I still think he is a guy with a future with Labour.
Can Winston hold the whole country to ransom again or is its Dunns turn?
Fucking Brash though! Can’t he even concede the fact that he fucked up by not realising that he would NEED coalition partners? While I think Hyde is a collosal dickhead, Brash should have listened to him. Clark at least knows how the system works. The Nats may have gained voters but Labour lost bugger all.
Anyone else been reading overseas newspapers (before and during)? It was interesting to see how many claim Brash was going to get rid of the nuclear free policy.
It’s the Election, I fear, that will never end. Labour will have to make concessions and walk a fine line at times to keep in power.
But still, as a Labour voter (two ticks!) – Yay. They got their nose in front on the night. Not bad, not bad at all.
Hiya!
Na, I reckon it is more a done deal then Brash wants to admit. I think we will have a Lab/Green/Jim govt for 3 more years. YAY!
With Labour-Green-Progressive, that’s only 57 seats at the count last night. They’ll need to top the 60 mark in a 120 seat Parliament (and thanks to the Maori Party performance, we have an"overhang" so that means 122 seats).
So, they’ll need to court someone else as well. NZ First? We can look forward to more “The Islamists are coming! The Islamists are coming!” United Future? Dunn reckons he can’t work with the Greens, and Rod Donald is just itching for his crew to have more cabinet status. Expect spit-fight fireworks.
I’m only hoping that once they patwork quilt something together, that the stitches hold.
Oh, yeah – hi ya, Calm Kiwi! I meant t’ type patchwork. Getting tired, I is … 
But what is the alternative? Brash and Act obviously but then where?
Yes Winston is a slimey toad but could either the Nats or NZF be able to hold their heads up if they agreed to a coalition? Could either risk it?
Nats and Maori? Only if hell freezes over…and both will wish it had if they do join up.
The Greens? Haha.
Jim? Obviously not.
That only leaves Dunn. He is obviously a flip flopper BUT he campaigned on going into coalition with the majority. Can he be trusted? Shit no, but is he enough?
Of course Winston is, as usual, the key. I think loosing his seat may make him a) stop and think and b) Hate the Nats a bit more.
It will certainly be a difficult term but I think it is Helens term.
Oh, I think it’s Helen’s term too. It had better be – way preferable to having that guy Brash in charge of the place. But it’s a matter of how long she can keep a patrchwork coalition together, keep everyone happy, and run the country effectively in so doing. She has an opposition now with a massive number of seats, not just about 25. There isn’t a lot of room for error.
And if the coalition fails, we go through another election. Or National gets in. Or both. (shudder)
Just how much of a soup everything still is: NZ Herald article today.
Mmm. That’s why I figure she’ll be pretty much hamstrung as far as serious policy goes: I have the feeling we’re in for a caretaker government for three years: Winston’s promised to play nicely with the other children, but how long do you think he’s going to be able to resist flexing his “kingmaker” muscle? Is Helen going to be able to keep the Greens onside when he starts wog-bashing again? Of course, where else do they have to go?
Oh, and a great quote from Pita Sharples: early on in the campaign Helen dimissed the Maori Party as “the last cab off the rank.” Quoth Sharples, now his 4 seats are desperately needed, “Yeah, we’re the last cab off the rank - and the fare just went up.” Heh.
I’ve met Sharples a few times, and he’s a very nice bloke as well as being a canny operator. Hopefully he can rein in Tariana Turia’s “Mother Of Her People” act: she’s gonna have to learn to share nice - after all, where else is she going to take her seats? The Nats?
The Maori Party are going to find themselves in the same bind as the Greens: short of packing up their toys and going home altogether, which would only force another election where the backlash would annihilate them, who else do they have to team up with? Truly, we live in interesting times.