2011: David Shearer Leader of Labour Party

January 20, 2023

By AHNZ

David Shearer became leader of the Labour Party in December 2011. I think the string-pullers, Grant Robertson and Chris Hipkins, recognised their party was un-electable with themselves at the top. In order to become the Labour 6.0 Ministry they would need a figurehead.

Shearer was given the Safe Seat of Mt Albert electorate with the idea of his Shadow Cabinet winning the 2014 General Election. He did not last that long. New Zealand politics turned out to be a 2 year break from Shearer’s job at the United Nations where he distributed our taxes to the Third World as ‘aid’. The sales pitch to New Zealand, I think, was of Kiwi Christ-like figure fresh from showing African peasants how to dig wells and tie their own shoes. He was coming back to Aotearoa to govern us and we ought to be humbled and thankful for his attention.

When that brand failed to come together the Robertson-Hipkins team made another pitch for Labour’s leadership. Another figurehead was found and also installed in the same Safe Seat. Just 8 weeks before General Election 2017 the new trio, now featuring Jacinda Ardern rolled the Labour leadership. They did not win that election but did succeed at out-bidding National 5.0 at the auctioning of Winston Peters’ New Zealand First pary and were able to form a Ministry at last.

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Image ref. Q&A, TVNZ 7 (March, 2012)

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