The minor parties – where to from here?
Despite the optimism, the significant effort of time and expense, the passion, the utter hard slog, the results are in for the minor parties. Politics is a brutal sport. Good on these parties for putting their hand up and being willing to get involved. We need their voice in the public domain. They must not give up heart. But where to from here…?
TRANSCRIPT:
THE HARSH REALITY OF POLITICS FOR MINOR PARTIES
There was quite a lineup of social conservative leaning minor parties to choose from at the election.
New Conservatives, Freedoms NZ, Leighton Baker party, Democracy NZ, NewZeal…
Despite the optimism, the significant effort of time and expense, the passion, the utter hard slog, the results are in:
NewZeal 0.56%,
Freedoms NZ 0.31%,
Democracy NZ 0.24%,
New Conservatives 0.15%,
Leighton Baker’s Party 0.08%,
New Nation Party 1,288 0.05%
Just under 32,000 votes in total.
Another minor party New Zealand Loyal got 1.15%
All those parties add up to 2.54% – well short of the 5% cut-off.
Herer’s an interesting analysis
In terms of each party, NZ Loyal’s vote share is basically equivalent to what Advance NZ got last time – remember Billy Te Kahika and Jamie-Lee Ross? So it is possibly the same constituency.
NewZeal got 12,700 votes this time up on the 8,100 that the previous ONE party got in 2020.
Freedoms NZ got 7,000 votes this time – slightly less than the 7,500 that Vision and Outdoors Party combined got in 2020.
New Conservatives vote crashed from the 42,615 in 2020 to just 3,587 this time.
Some people won’t like me mentioning these facts. It’s not pleasant to see, is it. After so much effort and time and resource and energy and sweat.
Politics is a brutal sport. I’ve commentated on it for the past 21 years. It has a harsh reality to it.
As I have previously said, for the past 20 years the House of Representatives has generally failed to represent the voice of social conservatives. Parliament has gradually become more and more socially liberal – even amongst the so-called centre-right- or right-wing parties. Same-sex marriage. Prostitution. Anti-smacking law. Lowering the drinking age. Euthanasia. Abortion. Conversion therapy. Gender ideology on birth certificates. And failing to acknowledge or promote the institution of marriage.
We need voices in Parliament who will speak boldly and unapologetically for the unborn child; oppose radical sexuality and gender ideology, divisive critical theory, and climate alarmism targeted at young children; and protect vulnerable young people from the chemicalisation and castration of healthy bodies. Voices who will promote and protect the institution of marriage; will respect the role of parents rather than attempt to exclude them from important issues such as abortion and gender dysphoria; who will protect the elderly and vulnerable from seeing assisted suicide as a solution. Voices who will seek to protect our communities from drug use and normalisation. Will respect freedom of conscience for New Zealanders who oppose mandates. Will protect freedom: religious freedom and free speech, amongst others.
So good on these parties for putting their hand up and being willing to get involved. We need their voice in the public domain. They must not give up heart.
Our nation desperately needs voices of conviction who are not afraid to speak up for biological truth, for family, for marriage, for the protection of life from womb to tomb, and for religious freedom.
It is important to note that as a result of the election, a number of existing and new social conservatives are present in some of the political parties that have made it into Parliament and we will be seeking a working relationship with these MPs where we can support them, provide resources and research, to help stiffen their spine against the onslaught that they will inevitably face in the Parliamentary environment, and to regularly pray for them.
But where to from here for the minor parties.
As I’ve mentioned before in a previous episode of McBlog, when I spoke at a church leaders’ gathering earlier this year, I shared the significance of the word “synergy”.
Synergy is the cooperative working together of two or more people or organisations, when their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual efforts.
What we saw was five or more parties all seeking to attract the similar type of voter.
I argued that it was going to fail. It would simply split the vote.
I truly wished I was wrong. But sadly, I was right.
This is the harsh reality of politics.
And any political party will tell you that a lack of unity is a killer. Remember how National was punished in 2020 when they went through three leaders in a very short space of time, and lots of leaks and disunity within the party. Voters don’t like it. That’s the harsh reality of politics.
Here’s a really interesting fact.
This image from www.theFacts.nz shows that since we used MMP which became our electoral voting system in 1996, the number of new parties that have entered Parliament without a sitting or a previous MP is – zero. Yep, not one.
All 6 parties that have entered New Zealand parliament for the first time under MMP had a sitting or previous MP:
ACT, United Future, Greens, Progressive, Māori and Mana. No party has ever made it into an MMP parliament without a sitting or previous MP. 107 parties have tried but failed.
The closest to break this rule was in 2014 when the Conservatives got 4.0% – without a sitting or previous MP.
And when I last spoke about this issue, that was one of the key points I made. There is something about having that experience or appearance – a sitting or previous MP. It’s an interesting phenomenon.
Now that was the case in 2 of the minor parties this election – Matt King of Democracy NZ and Alfred Ngaro of NewZeal are ex-National, and Paul Adams also of NewZeal is ex-United Future.
So – where to from here?
I would challenge these parties to come together. Sort the leadership issues.
If Plan A doesn’t work or parties aren’t willing to support that proposal, it’s time for Plan B or Plan C.
True leadership involves putting aside our own agendas and desires for the greater good. And the greater good is unity. Especially in the political sphere.
But now is the time to do that. Not six months before the next election. Do it now.
As Albert Einstein said, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
United, they can stand as a strong option for socially conservative voters.
But divided, sadly I suspect I’ll be repeating this same message in three years’ time. That’s just my opinion
