Political party sweeteners food for thought

My view Back in June, when the election was 100 days away, I was not looking forward to three months of politicking.

But with 22 days to go this election is getting interesting.

The arrival of Jacinda Adern as Labour leader has seen National’s Bill English desperate to counter her charm with a lolly scramble of new roads, foreign language learning, Great Walk charges and digitally available national standards information, amongst a welter of other electoral inducements.

It’s always entertaining to watch a feisty underdog have a go at toppling a well-established winner. National’s complacency has crumbled more quickly than the Rocks Rd cliff after three days of heavy rain.

And English reminds me of a grumpy dad who’s spent most of

His wise uncles have abandoned him and his kids are all over the place, swearing nothing was their fault and they’ve got a perfect right to leap on the furniture. Pale, tired but bravely slogging on, he needs another partner fast before he resorts to a diet of takeaways, is buried under mounting utility bills and runs out of clean shirts.

Gareth Morgan provides an exemplary illustration of the truth that having really good ideas is not, in politics, enough. Morgan reminds me of the unreconstructed politicians of my youth – Rob Muldoon, Norman Kirk et al, and, because of that, I have a sneaking affection for him. The days when substance was more important than style in politics are long gone.

Here in Nelson, Nick Smith is attempting to convey an air of quiet confidence. With Smith, what you see is what you get.

Nelson voters know him well and he gets plenty of credit for his work as a local MP. However, many people are grumbling about his part in degraded waterways