We'll update this post as more information comes to hand, including Hide's statement to the media.
Don Brash is poised to take over as leader of the ACT Party after Rodney Hide announced his decision to resign today.At a press conference in Newmarket currently underway, Brash joined Hide for the announcement.
Hide said he had decided to resign in the best interests of the party and believed Brash was the best person to lead ACT into the election.
He had informed Prime Minister John Key last night and there would be a caucus vote. He would support Brash in that vote.
Brash said: "Let me say a few words about Rodney," to which Hide replied: "You might have said enough".
Brash said he and Hide had been friends for more than 15 years.
"In the last week or so I put our friendship to very considerable strain...I'm very conscious of that."
Brash said that sometimes in politics personal relationships had to be put aside.
More to come ...
UPDATE#2 - The tributes are pouring in - this, from Twitter:
greencatherine Catherine DelahuntyHollow man recycled to save Act!
Hmmmm ...
5 comments:
"Dr Brash said if Mr Hide had not won Epsom for Act then Labour would likely still be in power."
So it took a lying hypocrite to get the Right Wing into power. I thought the Right were against that sort of thing? Just say they are but do differently. Scumbags.
No Anon; the "lying hypocrite" was trying to get the left wing, from whom he'd accepted the baubles of office into power.
This will go down in history as a sad day for New Zealand. Brash will bleed votes from National and increase fears from those in the centre about what a National/Brash coalition will do. Maori will refuse to work with Brash, but fear that they might, will boost support for Hone First. Labour will pick up votes as a result of uncertainty and fear of a move to the right. Throw a resurgent NZ First into the mix and we could have a one term Key government. Why? Because Don Brash and his friends don't accept that no one credible likes their extremist policy prescription. Dumb, dumb, dumb
Even if that were the case, at least we'd have a non-hypocritical govt in power. The current lot are so far out their base fundamentals, they may as well rename themselves Labour Lite.
In reality, Brash will pull ACT back over 5%, Hone will split the Maori Party Vote, and they will get 2 maybe 3 electoral seats, but little else. Hone might get back in, Labour will pick up 2 or 3 Maori seats.
National's polling will decrease, but the Centre Left might finally be put out to pasture (and hopefully laid to rest), to allow some real economic reform, and property rights protection to occur.
The right wing IS dumb. The don't like education and critical thinking. They believe in dogma and faith. Lack of reason = lack of intellect.
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