Barclay: Where it all went wrong
The National Party is gathering for what was supposed to be a triumphant weekend. But the Prime Minister has been diminished by shenanigans in Southland. Where did it go wrong, asks
Politics is brutal? Hell yeah. On Tuesday, it looked like Todd Barclay was digging his heels in, refusing to quit over a developing scandal about secret recordings. But the drums were beating. The talk around National Party circles in Auckland that evening was that Barclay was already a goner. They were right.
It was just after 1pm on Wednesday when the Clutha-Southland MP finally issued a short statement, announcing the inevitable. Barclay is one of a tight circle of MPs in the National caucus - a group that includes senior whip Jami-Lee Ross, Invercargill MP Sarah Dowie, and back benchers including Paul Foster Bell and Brett Hudson.
Some of them had spent the day at his side, others came and went to check on him. Barclay was in turmoil, life as he knew it in tatters. Mentors like his former boss, Hekia Parata, were counselling him that his position had become untenable.
His friends were shattered. And they were deeply, deeply angry. But politics moves fast. By Wednesday evening, names for Barclay’s potential replacement were already being tossed around.
Barclay was the ultimate career politician; one of the new breed of MPs spat out by the political machine – he worked for Parata and Gerry Brownlee, grew up down the road from Prime Minister Bill English. Landing the plum Clutha-Southland seat must have seemed like the ultimate promotion. But Barclay’s career is over after just three short years, and this bluest of blue seats, as heartland as it gets, has been torn apart by allegations of skulduggery, sabotage and dirty tricks.
CHALK AND CHEESE
Barclay, 27, inherited the Clutha-Southland seat from English. They are chalk and cheese. So it’s not surprising Barclay immediately rubbed up English’s old staff the wrong way. Here is where accounts differ of who was most to blame. But where there is agreement is Barclay’s refusal to follow the advice being offered to him.
Depending on who you ask, it was either youth and inexperience that did for him, or a combination of arrogance and narcissism. Relations in Southland quickly turned sour. The flash point was Barclay’s relationship with Glenys Dickson, English’s long-time assistant.
Dickson had been running the office for more than a decade and was used to doing things her way. She and Barclay clashed.
The bad blood spread to the local electorate committee. There was ill will over Barclay choosing to live in Queenstown, further from Gore. Barclay is young, wealthy, and likes to party; he frequents the bars on Courtenay Place and in tourist mecca Queenstown. He got word of a whispering campaign about his social life and some of his conduct. Rightly or wrongly, Barclay was convinced Dickson was behind it.
‘THE EVIL SIX’
Dickson was ousted but you don’t run an electorate office in a place like Gore without gathering allies. Many of the old guard were in an uproar. Dickson complained to police about the ‘‘secret’’ tape recordings. Key people quit, including the electorate chairman, Stuart Davie.
English’s text to Davie, and subsequently provided to police, confirmed Barclay had admitted to him recording Dickson, though Barclay had publicly denied it. The so-called ‘‘malcontents’’, dubbed ‘‘the evil six’’ , were forced out and the new electorate hierarchy was more sympathetic to Barclay.
There’s talk about Barclay stacking the votes, and a board investigation (insiders doubt Barclay broke any rules). The socalled ‘‘evil six’’ continued to agitate and tried to get up a challenge when Barclay went for re-selection in December.
But the locals stuck with Barclay.
THE DIVIDE BETWEEN SYMPATHY AND ANGER
You don’t get into politics if you’re squeamish about blood on the floor. But since the dark old days of the early 2000s, when the party nearly tore itself apart, National’s way has been to keep its fights behind closed doors.
Says one Nat insider: ‘‘This is not how we do things.’’ By this time, the stories about secret recordings were rife throughout the electorate though Barclay denied it.
And Barclay’s problems with his office were by then widely known within the caucus as well. But sympathy seems to have been firmly on his side.
High fliers including Judith Collins and Jonathan Coleman publicly endorsed him. Even now, feelings run high. Party insiders say they were ‘‘disgusted’’ on Barclay’s behalf at the way people were briefing against him. ‘‘Disgusting’’ is a word used by more than one Nat. But the sympathy is not universal; another insider says Barclay treated his staff ‘‘appallingly’’.
WHERE THINGS GOT MESSY
It might have stayed a local electorate dispute if Barclay hadn’t directed some of his attention to a National Party stalwart, and key member of the board, Glenda Hughes.
Hughes is the woman you want at your side when you have a massive public relations headache - she advised broadcaster Tony Veitch when he was at the centre of a media storm over domestic abuse allegations. She also advised equestrian Mark Todd when cocaine allegations emerged.
So she seems like the obvious go-to person to try to sort out the mess.
Here is where things seem to get messy. A persistent story doing the rounds is that Hughes travelled to Southland during that process.
But it appears Hughes was never there. National Party president Peter Goodfellow has confirmed, however, that Hughes – along with others – did talk to various players over many months.
HUGHES’ INVOLVEMENT
Hughes is a former police officer and champion shot putter. She is also notoriously forthright, and extremely shrewd. It’s alleged that Hughes told Dickson that if she didn’t withdraw the police complaint she could potentially take down the National Party and that a court case would be hard on her and her family.
Hughes could not be contacted for comment. But it would not be surprising if Hughes did warn Dickson how the story would likely play out. Hughes is paid big money to second guess the media for her high-profile clients. She would have seen it as her duty to Dickson to tell it like it is.
Ironically, Barclay appears to have become convinced Hughes was also undermining him. Caucus insiders have confirmed he led a small but determined group of MPs who tried to get Hughes off the board. But the campaign got no traction and Hughes is expected to be re-elected this weekend.
ENGLISH’S SCARS
It is evidence of how a small, local dispute has sent ripples through the entire party. National’s composure has publicly slipped. The timing of Barclay’s resignation, and the events that forced it, have spooked many about what else might be lurking in wait for them on the campaign trail.
And, it has inflicted scars on the leader, English. This weekend’s annual conference was supposed to be a celebration of the seamless transition from one prime minister to the next, a chance to energise the grass roots and fine tune the electorate machine.
But now they’ll be circling the wagons instead.