Has David Shearer been drinking Tui again?

David Shearer wants us to believe that changes in his office aren't poll-driven. Under the headline Staff changes not poll-related - Shearer 3News reports:

Labour leader David Shearer says the departure of his chief of staff has nothing to do with the party's ongoing struggles in the polls.

Alistair Cameron, formerly a lawyer at Buddle Findlay, was yesterday replaced by former Labour chief press secretary Fran Mold.

Mr Shearer says the change has been "in the making for some time".

"This is just a changeover. We're bringing in Fran Mold into that position," he said on Firstline this morning.

"Fran will bring with her a real competency in terms of driving us forward. We're getting into campaign mode now… It's a natural thing and I wish Alastair all the best. It's great to have Fran on board."

Interestingly, Mr Cameron was known to be a close friend of Labour deputy leader Grant Robertson. Eyebrows were raised when he was appointed; the Herald reported thus:

Labour leader David Shearer has appointed lawyer and NZ Aids Foundation chairman Alastair Cameron as his new chief of staff after the resignation of Stuart Nash.
Mr Nash, a former list MP from Napier, did not get back into Parliament at last year's election because of Labour's reduced party vote, but took the job of chief of staff after Mr Shearer was elected leader in December.
He has announced he is leaving to return to Napier after only four months in the job.
Mr Shearer has now appointed Mr Cameron - a lawyer at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and a friend of Labour's deputy leader, Grant Robertson. He starts on May 1.
Mr Nash said he had made it clear before he took the job that he was interested in standing for Parliament and it would not have been fair to leave as chief of staff six months before an election.
He also wanted to spend more time with his family, including a baby son, in Napier and work on building up support for Labour in that electorate.
But insiders said his departure was hastened by conflict within Mr Shearer's office.

And the Herald added this interesting morsel:

Mr Nash and, to a lesser extent, John Pagani - another of Mr Shearer's advisers - are understood to have disagreed with his chief press secretary, Fran Mold, about the extent to which Mr Shearer should lead attacks on the Government rather than refuse to be drawn into oppositional politics.
Mr Nash is believed to have been keen for Mr Shearer to focus on building up his "non-politician" image, focusing on being optimistic rather than engaging with National.
But Mold and others in Mr Shearer's leadership team believed that was being taken too far and starving Mr Shearer of the media coverage he needed.

So; with the appointment of Francesca Mold as Mr Shearer's Chief of Staff, will we see a more aggressive David Shearer as he takes the attack to John Key and National? Is Mr Shearer capable of being more aggressive? And what about his promise not to indulge in "gotcha" politics; will that go out the window too with Ms Mold's more confrontational approach?

And to save us a separate post on Mr Shearer's office changes, we'll add Idiot/Savant's thoughts from No Right Turn here; he is not impressed, and says so in no uncertain terms:

Labour had another bad poll this week, so David Shearer is reshuffling his senior staff. Apparently Labour's consistent inability to gain traction is all their fault. It has nothing to do with its leader.Bullshit. Shearer is the leader, and the buck stops on his desk. If he thinks there are failures, then they are ultimately his responsibility. Blaming your underlings while refusing to accept any responsibility yourself is simply the mark of a coward.

We wouldn't go quite that far. But our Dear Departed Dad always used to say that a bad workman blames his tools, and it certainly seems to be what's happening here. And David Shearer should sit down and open another can of Tui if he expects us to swallow his spin.