Rousing speech sparks speculation Little could roll Goff
Last weekend's local government elections showed the mood of the country is changing and National can be defeated, Labour's president Andrew Little told the party's annual conference today.
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Local elections
Last weekend's local government elections showed the mood of the country is changing and National can be defeated, Labour's president Andrew Little told the party's annual conference today.
(Certainly, they revealed a lack of strategic foresight as left-of-Labour Len Brown was able to comfortably pick up the Super City mayoralty despite the government's huge lead in national polls. Mr Brown won overwhelmingly in south and west Auckland, the battlegrounds which decided the 2005 and 2008 general elections and which will decide 2011.)
In a strong and well-received speech, Mr Little (pictured) said Labour could win next year's election and take at least seven electorate seats from National.
As well as being party president, and its candidate for New Plymouth at the next election, Mr Little heads the EPMU, the country's largest private sector union - and one that had frequently been at war with Telecom, Air New Zealand and others.
He is widely seen as Labour's next leader, and his rousing conference speech immediately rekindled talk that he could roll Phil Goff, whose preferred prime minister rating is stuck in single digits.
But, officially at least, the EMPU boss was having none of it.
He urged the conference to "get ready for the battle of 2011', and said Mr Goff was the man to lead Labour to victory.
Nevertheless, as the party faithful started to buzz on Twitter during his speech, it was clear that Mr Little knew how to lay it on for the troops where the blood-less Mr Goff does not.
"The people have said more of the same is not enough," he said.
"There is a sense of unease across the country."
Mr Little said the economy had slowed to a crawl, and the government did not have policies that would create a single extra job.
Time to talk republic
For good measure, Mr Little later told reporters, when asked for his views on the monarchy, that "It's a cop-out to say, 'Yes, I'm a republican, but it's not time', that it be left up to somebody else.' [Essentially, the line taken by Phil Goff and his predecessor Helen Clark].
"That's a failure of leadership, in my view," said Mr Little.
NZPA and NBR staff
Sat, 16 Oct 2010
Sat, 16 Oct 2010
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Rousing speech sparks speculation Little could roll Goff
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