CoveragePost
March 6, 2023
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: National’s progressive childcare-consultocracy switch National’s pitch to voters is both progressive and shrewd. Christopher Luxon declared a war on business consultants in his state of the nation speech yesterday, promising to crack down on the public service’s $1.7bn overuse of expensive business consultants and contractors, and use the savings ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: National’s progressive childcare-consultocracy switch" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/03/06/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-nationals-progressive-childcare-consultocracy-switch/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: National’s progressive childcare-consultocracy switch">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 30, 2021
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Shaw, Professor of Politics, Massey University Hands up if you know anything about Christopher Luxon other than he was once CEO of Air New Zealand, he’s been hailed as the new John Key, and he’s the MP for Botany. Anyone? Luxon takes on the role of ... <a title="Luxon takes the controls – can the former Air NZ CEO make National straighten up and fly right?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2021/11/30/luxon-takes-the-controls-can-the-former-air-nz-ceo-make-national-straighten-up-and-fly-right-172767/" aria-label="Read more about Luxon takes the controls – can the former Air NZ CEO make National straighten up and fly right?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
September 8, 2021
Analysis by Bryce Edwards. What exactly is plaguing the National Party? And would another leadership change help? These are the big and enduring questions that have surrounded the opposition party since they lost power in 2017. For the best answers to these questions, it’s well worth reading the latest piece by Matthew Hooton in the ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What’s going on in the National Party?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2021/09/08/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-whats-going-on-in-the-national-party/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What’s going on in the National Party?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
July 14, 2020
Source: Statement by Todd Muller – New Zealand National Party I have taken time over the weekend to reflect on my experience over the last several weeks as Leader of the Opposition. It has become clear to me that I am not the best person to be Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New ... <a title="Election 2020 – National Party Leader Todd Muller Resigns – Statement" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2020/07/14/election-2020-national-party-leader-todd-muller-resigns-statement/" aria-label="Read more about Election 2020 – National Party Leader Todd Muller Resigns – Statement">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
July 9, 2020
Editorial by Selwyn Manning. New National Party leader Todd Muller has presented his party’s vision for New Zealand as it grapples with the economic cost of the Covid-19 pandemic. But Muller’s vision was unsurprisingly National while surprisingly short on economic detail. And, after a week where sordid privacy breaches plagued the party – leaving Muller ... <a title="UPDATED: Leadership, Vision, and Combating a Machiavellian Culture – Is Todd Muller National’s Solution?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2020/07/09/leadership-vision-and-combating-a-machiavellian-culture-is-todd-muller-nationals-solution/" aria-label="Read more about UPDATED: Leadership, Vision, and Combating a Machiavellian Culture – Is Todd Muller National’s Solution?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 27, 2020
Is Todd Muller the Ned Flanders of the National Party? This is how he’s been characterised by political commentator Gordon Campbell, who suggests the change in leadership is, in Simpsons terms, akin to swapping the scary and cruel Monty Burns for Homer Simpson’s compassionate but conservative neighbour. There’s almost a consensus amongst political commentators that ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Where is Todd Muller taking National?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2020/05/27/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-where-is-todd-muller-taking-national/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Where is Todd Muller taking National?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
August 23, 2019
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Is Simon Bridges really trying to channel Donald Trump? Or is he taking his cue from Scott Morrison? Or is he looking to emulate Boris Johnson? Whatever the inspiration, there’s been a clear change in the National Party leaders’ political positioning and tactics in recent months that suggests he’s ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Simon Bridges and National go populist" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/08/23/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-simon-bridges-and-national-go-populist/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Simon Bridges and National go populist">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
August 1, 2019
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Will New Zealand have its first Māori prime minister next year? That’s what Simon Bridges is suggesting, and despite scepticism from critics and commentators, there’s good reason to take him seriously. The National Party annual conference in the weekend went well for the party, and there are other signs ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What are the chances of “Prime Minister Simon Bridges” in 2020?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/08/01/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-what-are-the-chances-of-prime-minister-simon-bridges-in-2020/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What are the chances of “Prime Minister Simon Bridges” in 2020?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
July 25, 2019
The National Party heads into its annual conference in Christchurch this weekend amidst continued speculation about its leadership, whether the party can win in 2020, and questions about the ideological direction of the party. This week’s leaked opinion polling results won’t help the mood, and it won’t help Bridges’ hold on the leadership. Last month ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What’s going on inside the National Party?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/07/25/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-whats-going-on-inside-the-national-party/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: What’s going on inside the National Party?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 21, 2019
This week might turn out to be pivotal in the National Party’s road back to Government, culminating in Prime Minister Christopher Luxon taking office in 2023 or 2026. Or it might prove to be a false start, typifying the hype that so often occurs in political commentary. Either way, the commentariat are abuzz with the ... <a title="Political Roundup: Opportunities and obstacles for National and Luxon" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/06/21/political-roundup-opportunities-and-obstacles-for-national-and-luxon/" aria-label="Read more about Political Roundup: Opportunities and obstacles for National and Luxon">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 29, 2019
The problem with scandals involving so much mystery is they naturally lead to plenty of speculation, some of which might be useful and some which might be completely wrong, or even highly-damaging. And while we are still in the midst of it all, it’s extremely difficult to sort out the useful from the damaging. For ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Intense speculation on Budget leaking and hacking" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/05/29/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-intense-speculation-on-budget-leaking-and-hacking/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Intense speculation on Budget leaking and hacking">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 28, 2019
Simon Bridges’ hold on the National Party leadership is still in trouble, with destabilising factors making his continued survival unlikely. I wrote about this several weeks ago, reporting that a series of gaffes and leadership mis-steps had set off a fresh round of questioning about whether Bridges can continue in the role – see: Simon Bridges’ ... <a title="Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Simon Bridges’ destabilised leadership" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/04/28/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-simon-bridges-destabilised-leadership/" aria-label="Read more about Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Simon Bridges’ destabilised leadership">Read more</a>
