Armstrong on Cunliffe

You have to hand it to David Cunliffe; he doesn't do things by halves. His media conference yesterday to announce (surprise, surprise) that he would contest the Labour leadership was impressive; MP's flown in from around the country, the Cunliffe photograph on the wall just slightly larger than those of the Labour PM's to have preceded him, and the rhetoric in abundance. 

John Armstrong sums it up thus:

David Cunliffe does not come in half measures. Yesterday's launch of his bid for the Labour leadership was 100 per cent unadulterated Cunliffe - highly theatrical, more than a little over the top and, at times, veering dangerously close to self-parody.
Not that rank-and-file party members casting a vote in the leadership ballot would have noticed had they been watching TVNZ's live feed of the New Lynn MP's speech.
They would have instead been transfixed by an impassioned address rooted in fundamental Labour principles and which relentlessly tugged at the heart-strings with lines like "I am sick and tired of watching hope die in the eyes of our young".
With framed photographs of former Labour prime ministers staring down on him, Cunliffe dared to use words like "equality" where others would have used the more innocuous-sounding "equity".
Handed a congratulatory bunch of roses, he observed they were suitably "socialist" red. When was the last time a senior Labour MP used that word in public?

But the most telling moment was when he was asked if he would make the well-off pay more tax. His response of "you bet" was the kind of direct answer that's been missing from Labour's lexicon for a long time.

Credit to Mr Cunliffe; he's not resiling from laying out Labour's policy agenda under his leadership, even if a) he's not the leader yet, and b) the policy agenda has yet to be decided. Although he did not use Michael Cullen's "rich pricks" label (perhaps because he himself is in that category), he has made it clear that those New Zealanders who earn higher than average incomes will be paying more tax.

But he has also sent a not-at-all-subtle message to the Greens. He told Duncan Garner later in the day that in order to defeat National, New Zealanders will have to elect a "strong Labour government". That, interestingly enough, was in response to a question from Garner as to whether Cunliffe would consider offering the Deputy PM job to Russel Norman. We'll take that as a "no"!

So two things are clear; David Cunliffe will lead Labour strongly to the Left, and when he does so, there will be a real contest with the Greens for votes, especially amongst those who deserted Labour in 2008 and 2011. Given that the Greens are unlikely to move towards the centre any time soon, there is going to be a real scrap for hearts, minds and votes.

But that comes with its own risks. Will David Cunliffe's Great Leap Leftwards leave a void in the centre? An interesting time awaits.