Post by @artnacrea@mastodon.ie

2026-11-04 03:13 UTC

@BobLefridge@mastodon.nz @pezmico@mastodon.nz Perhaps it does if you're planning a grand coalition with the National party. Hear me out! Policies broadly aligned, Chris can be prime minister (18 months each), work to repeal MMP and get back to proper politics at the next election (or the one after. Thereafter take turns every few years as it should be. #nzpol

Replies (1)

@isaacfreeman@cloudisland.nz 2026-11-04 19:41

@artnacrea@mastodon.ie A coalition with National seems obvious to outside observers, but I don't think it's conceivable to Labour people. If I'm right that they think in two-party terms, then National and Labour are inherently opposites to them, no matter how similar they are in policy terms. To form a coalition with National they'd have to acknowledge the existence of a third option, and they won't do that until they have no choice. This has happened before. The two-party system in New Zealand used to be Liberal versus (conservative) Reform, until the new Labour Party crashed through to government in 1935. Once that happened, their differences didn't seem so fundamental anymore. They ended up merging as the National Party. I think Labour and National will eventually follow that precedent, but only after some other party has won power to force them out of their binary thinking. @BobLefridge@mastodon.nz @pezmico@mastodon.nz

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