Saturday, 28 March 2015

Congratulations, Winston! (Fittingly, "Bowalley Road"'s 1,000th Post!)

 
 
Congratulations, Winston!

A remarkable victory.

Winston Peters (NZ First): 15,359
Mark Osborne (National): 11,347
Willow-Jean Prime (Labour): 1,315

Winston Peters' Majority: 4,012

Turnout: 79.9% of Northland's 2014 Total Vote

The Little River Band can say the rest.

Video courtesy of YouTube


The posting is exclusive to the Bowalley Road blogsite.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Horaay!!!!! Eat that, John Key.

good and about time. Much needed real opposition.

peteswriteplace said...

The results showed National was slaughtered. The worm has turned and a hot wind is blowing down the national valley.

Guerilla Surgeon said...

You know, it may well be that this is the worm turning or whatever, but it could also be a warning to Key and the National party not to be quite so arrogant, and to perhaps provide a little bit more pork to the provinces. But I still think the whole thing is cyclical. I'm glad Winston has won, but it doesn't make more than a pinch of shit by way of difference.

Davo Stevens said...

Brand Key is tarnished!

The 69 new bridge bribe didn't work because as a friend up there told me: what is the point of 69 new bridges when the roads between them are stuffed? Good question!

It showed when Johnny was recalled from very important trade talks in Japan to electioneer in Northland.

Winnie is reknown for tossing chili in the Parliamentary Stew!

Brewerstroupe said...

Not to detract from a well-deserved victory after a superbly run NZ1st campaign but Joyce couldn't have done more to assist. From the off there was the rancid pork but Winston, despite his remarkable rhetorical skills, could never have, in a few speeches, illustrated how out of touch and superficial National is.

The newly arrived Osbourne had obviously not been a Northlander long enough to understand what the Peters clan means up here. Trying to label Winston an outsider was probably what sent quite a few old Nats Winnie's way. A clumsy pakeha boy born 500 ks from Kaikohe pretending greater kinship than the famous son of a family renowned in the North as educators, footballers, Parliamentarians, council members, businessmen and farmers?? - well, Northlanders don't like that sort of thing.
National displayed ignorance of tradition, whanau and loyalty. Like too many "new" New Zealanders, they appeared to view Northland as a "new", emerging province. It is not. Northland owns much of the History of early settlement and Maori-Pakeha relations. Old pakeha families are long acculturated and would understand the gross insult. It was not chance that led Winston to choose the Duke of Marlborough from which to give his victory speech. Rumour has it he considered making it beneath Hone's flagpole.

National compounded their silly selection mistake by limousining the "Flash Harrys" in to try and shore him up. I know that cost them votes.
Interestingly the lacklustre Osbourne even lost his home booth at Taipa 170 - 257.

NZ1st will be strengthened by this, 2017 might see them cement their hold.

Davo Stevens said...

Agreed GS. It doesn't but it will mean that it will be a tiny bit more difficult for the Key Gang to breeze legislation through now. Johnny has to do deals with Winnie or Wind-in-the-Willows Dunne. We all know that Pete will bend when Johnny says bend over.

David said...

John Key and his government will be out on a Monday, some time around noon

Guerilla Surgeon said...

I thought it was Dunne that was holding up the resource Management act "reforms"? He can't be that pliable :-).

pat said...

him of the hair is the one GS...and he may be looking for a little payback after the strong-arming over certain e mails....

Davo Stevens said...

Pete is tinkering around the edges GS. He's not stopping it from going through.

Guerilla Surgeon said...

What will be really interesting is will Winston keep it. Sometimes I like to categorise Winston as a great politician – but that sort of doesn't fit. If he was a great politician he be the leader of an important party. I think what he years is a great political infighter – or maybe just fighter. He knows all the tricks. And I suspect he knows where all the skeletons are :-). It's noticeable that he didn't produce the Northland skeleton out of his hat about you know who's resignation, but I think that was possibly because he knew he was winning anyway.

But if anyone can hold it Winston can. What's against him is of course the fact that it was a by-election where governments traditionally get punished, but also his age. He is in his 70s, and he's a Maori, so his life expectancy probably isn't as good as it would be if he was Pakeha. But still, he probably gets the best in medical care no doubt. Doesn't seem particularly overweight, though the suits are well cut and probably disguise a bit of that :-).
I noticed that National was saying they were going to work with him in improving Northland. Now that's going to be interesting, because who gets the credit for that? Winston or National? Winston is good at getting credit, but National holds the purse strings.
Next year is going to be very interesting. In fact, as Prof 'Chumpman' once said in an Auckland University capping review, while puffing away on his pipe "it's the best little election – puff puff – I've held puff puff – for some time." I'm looking forward to it.

Davo Stevens said...

I see that Johnny says that it was all Labour's fault they lost. Not that they underestimated the feelings of the people up there who felt they were relegated to being the poor relations.