SHOCKS KEEP COMING
Metiria Turei quits as Greens co-leader Labour soars, National stalls in new poll Ardern almost level with English as preferred PM
The Green Party will head into the general election with just one leader after Metiria Turei sensationally resigned as co-leader after weeks of controversy.
In a further twist to an already extraordinary election campaign, Turei became the second party leader to step down in barely more than a week.
The scrutiny on her family over her historic offending had become unbearable, she said, and she risked sinking the party’s hopes of being in power after September. She will quit politics at the election after 15 years in Parliament.
In a dramatic evening in Parliament, her resignation came ahead of the release of two polls which showed the Green vote had collapsed and risked falling below the 5 per cent threshold.
The latest Newshub-Reid Research poll showed that the party had dropped from 13.3 per cent to 8.3 per cent, making it the fourth-ranked party in Parliament for the first time.
A UMR poll obtained by the Herald showed the Green vote had fallen from 15 per cent to 8 per cent.
Just 24 hours before her resignation, Turei had said she would remain as co-leader no matter what the polls showed. But speaking at a press conference yesterday, she said she changed her mind while in a taxi between meetings in Wellington.
Smiling occasionally and appeared relieved at times, she said her main reason for quitting was the extreme scrutiny of her family since she admitted to historical benefit fraud three weeks ago. She had expected some level of inquiry, but “not to that degree”. The ongoing controversy had hindered her party’s bid to enter government for the first time in its history, she said.
James Shaw will lead the party alone until Turei’s replacement is chosen next year. Julie-Anne Genter, Marama Davidson and Chloe Swarbrick are among the frontrunners.
Just before her resignation, Radio NZ had reported that a close friend of Turei’s had strongly questioned her personal story, saying that she had been well supported by her daughter’s grandparents and had not been in poverty in her 20s. Turei insisted it was neither this latest allegation nor the polls that influenced her resignation. Shaw admitted that Turei’s admission about her past had made party members and MPs uncomfortable, but they had felt it had started an important debate about welfare.
“We have paid a heavy price for that, and Metiria has paid a particularly heavy price for that.”
Labour leader Jacinda Ardern paid tribute to Turei yesterday, saying she had made an “enormous” contribution to politics and important causes. NZ First leader Winston Peters said Turei’s admission had been compounded by “seriously bad PR and decision-making”.