On borrowed time

acknowledge Borrows as a smart and decent man.

Yet, they wrongly dismissed him as politically naive, a good sort who should be kept out of the spotlight and given dull but worthy assignments.

Funnily enough, our elected members clamber all over themselves to highlight their credentials as a non-politician.

Normally though, like with former National and ACT leader Don Brash, such positioning is cynically politically-motivated and untrue. Not so with Borrows.

A former policeman and lawyer, who raced through his legal studies, he is comfortable being an outspoken voice of reason on crime.

Many MPS join the get-toughon-criminals bandwagon, but Borrows refused to go down the road of populism. He’s taken a particular interest in youth justice and thinks New Zealand locks too many people up in prisons.

Borrows acknowledges voters won’t share his views, but says he’ll stick by them and is happy to debate with anyone.

Reflecting on his dozen years as an MP, Borrows says he wishes he was more outspoken at times.

It’s rare to find an MP prepared to discuss different ideas and deviate from the party line. It’s also career-limiting for them.

Unfortunately, there is little tolerance of public disagreements within political parties, all in the name of caucus discipline and the hope of promotion.

Instead, we see our MPS standing behind party leaders, nodding and joking on cue, while clutching ringbinders painted in party livery.

In an age where every public utterance is scripted and ‘‘on message’’, Borrows’ approach is a breath of fresh air.

Unfortunately for him, and us, it didn’t win him friends in high places. It’s a shame that someone who didn’t enter Parliament just to make a career for themselves was sidelined in this way.

It’s an indictment on our system of governance that it is dominated by a strange reluctance to accept there’s nothing wrong with good, healthy debate.

At least Borrows tried.