Exodus at Opportunities Party as four quit
The Opportunities Party (Top) is facing a mass exodus as leader Gareth Morgan and three others stepped down yesterday.
Top will still contest the 2020 election but Morgan will not be at the helm.
The same day Morgan announced his resignation as leader, deputy leader Geoff Simmons also stepped down, along with O¯ ha¯ riu hopeful Jessica Hammond-Doube and Waitaki candidate Kevin Neill.
Neill called Top a ‘‘dictatorship’’ run by Morgan, and said he could not work in a party that did not have open, transparent discussions.
Morgan said the party’s decision to run in the next election came after extensive discussions, adding that Top would be campaigning for ‘‘best practice policy’’ to address the economic and social challenges facing New Zealand.
The party secured 2.4 per cent of the party vote in September’s election, below the 5 per cent threshold needed to gain a seat in Parliament.
Controversy has surrounded the party since its creation, largely because of Morgan’s personality, and his decisions as leader.
While Top’s founder will continue to lead the party for now, another leader will be chosen in the lead-up to 2020 election, and in Parliament if it was successful in its bid.
‘‘The fact is, while I remain committed to helping fund and coordinate Top’s evidence-based policies, I have no desire to lead the party in Parliament. With a strong group of candidates and supporters, it is proper to pass that torch on to someone else prior to the next election,’’ Morgan said.
During the campaign, Morgan faced backlash for comparing Labour selecting then-new leader Jacinda Ardern to putting ‘‘lipstick on a pig’’.
Following the election, and the death of Ardern’s cat, Morgan launched into an anti-cat tirade, calling on prime ministers to have ‘‘conservation integrity’’ and stop their cats from wandering where they could pose a threat to wildlife.
The ill-timed tweets caused dissension in Top’s ranks and when candidate Jenny Condie raised the issue, Morgan called her a ‘‘pain in the arse’’, and told her to resign.
Morgan said the party was committed to growing the support base it gathered during the 2017 election to a level where it could secure a seat in Parliament. ‘‘While there are some signs of progress from the new Government, it is still not addressing the fundamental issues facing the country.’’
Morgan, who pumped more than $2 million into Top’s campaign, said he would still play an active role in the party. Online, Top said it expected to choose a new leader by the end of next year.
In his resignation letter, Simmons said he did not currently have the necessary energy to continue in the role as deputy leader, but said if he felt he had regained energy when the time came to pick a new leader, he would throw his hat in the ring.
Yesterday, Hammond-Doube said Simmons’ resignation ‘‘signals my last hope that the party would move in a direction that I was more comfortable with’’.
‘‘Various things happened during and after the campaign that have not aligned with my values,’’ she posted on social media.
Meanwhile, Neill said under the current leadership, it was ‘‘untenable to have an open, transparent discussion on not only how to create policies but whether to change them’’.
It is understood Morgan called a party meeting at the weekend but several members were excluded, including Neill and Hammond Doube.
Neill said he could not cope with the ‘‘dictator-style leadership’’ and he believed nothing would change after Morgan stepped down as leader.