Cunliffe clings to leader position

David Cunliffe will not give up his role as leader of the Labour Party on his own, instead opting to place his future in the hands of his caucus.

At a media stand-up in Wellington this morning, David announced the leadership will be put to vote, and he will throw his hat in the ring.


David Cunliffe has not resigned from his role as leader of the Labour Party, yet.

His decision follows what David describes as 48 hours of public feedback scrutinishing his own, and the party's, performance at this year's general election.

Saturday night's vote saw Labour receive just 24.7 per cent of the vote – the worst result for the party since 1922.

This morning David took full responsibility for his part in Labour's demise and says a fast review of what went wrong is vital.

'We are all deeply concerned by the result of our party vote. I want to be clear that I as the leader I am responsible for that result.

'But the voters are always right. We work hard but we are not yet seen as a credible alternative.”

David says he will not resign immediately, but will put his fate in the hands of the Labour caucus.

He says the party cannot afford to spend months 'naval-gazing” the results, and he expects a final decision on the party's leader will be made before Christmas.

'We need a leader to get us fighting fit for 2017. That leader may or may not be me. That will be for the party to decide.”

He says his hat will definitely be in the ring.

'We don't need months to get feedback from from the public, believe me, we have had plenty over the last 48 hours. We need to get on and fix the problems quickly.

'Our supporters and our members deserve better.”

What do you think? Who would you like to see lead the Labour Party?

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6 comments

Clingy

Posted on 23-09-2014 11:02 | By YOGI BEAR

Like a wet bit of paper to the floor, this will not end well for anyone.


He may be the right person

Posted on 23-09-2014 11:37 | By How about this view!

But I feel that there were some huge mistakes made with appointments in the back room. The past membership of the ALLIANCE party and their assistants are to the fore in a number of places of the left-wing parties and if one wants to be Centre-left why would you want hard left advisors? Very poor judgement shown by those that would be king and maybe the nation made the right decision. Certainly brilliant news that Harre, Corkery, Harawira, Minto, Norman, Bradford, Sykes, Dotcom, et. al. Have nothing to do with guiding our great country. We need to advance as a nation, not take a giant leap backwards (As one leader is known to have espoused).


Not so.

Posted on 23-09-2014 13:28 | By sojourner

I don't think David Cunliffe is to blame. I think he did a good job representing his party. No matter who had been in his shoes, New Zealand simply does not want Labour in charge. Period.


Who cares?,

Posted on 23-09-2014 13:41 | By Sambo Returns

certainly not a majority of New Zealanders.


He may have a point

Posted on 23-09-2014 15:40 | By morepork

I am not a Labour supporter (on this occasion) but I did watch all of the Leader debates and David Cunliffe steadily improved. I think the problem with their credibility came from frequent changes of Leadership and internal infighting. They didn't look stable or slick like the current PM and his government. If I WAS a Labour member, I reckon I'd vote for David Cunliffe for Leader BECAUSE he has the most experience, appears to be learning from it, and will be dedicated to doing better. I hope his reasons for remaining are along those lines and not just because he is "clinging"...


David ok

Posted on 23-09-2014 17:53 | By milka

To be fair I think they underestimated the negative impact of there capital gains tax policy on votes


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