Robertson has been a loyal deputy and has done nothing to undermine Shearer. That has earned him points. Cunliffe has the opposite reputation, not just with Shearer but with Phil Goff when he was leader.
So how does Matt McCarten reconcile that statement with this one, that appeared on Stuff late yesterday? Check this out; (the emphasis is ours):
Labour MP Maryan Street said she hadn't decided whether she would attend any of the hustings meetings outside her home town Nelson, but if she did she would use her taxpayer-funded flights.
MPs were able to use the entitlement for such purposes, Street said.
She confirmed, meanwhile, that former leader David Shearer would have been toppled if he had not stood aside last week.She would have moved a motion of no confidence in him and had the numbers against him.
"I didn't force David Shearer's hand; I was ready to move a motion of no confidence had he not responded the way he did after seeking caucus advice.
''I think its fair to say he had lost the confidence of most of the caucus but we all love him."
Street appears to have been the numbers woman for Robertson - she confirmed today that she was backing his leadership bid.
Loyal deputies doing nothing to undermine their bosses don't generally have someone running the numbers to see when the right time is to plunge the knife in, or move the motion of no confidence. That Maryan Street has been Robertson's numbers woman is neither surprising nor a particularly good reflection on the Labour deputy leader.
We reckon that Grant Robertson and a small coterie of MP's have white-anted David Shearer at every turn. Matt McCarten's show of support for the Labour leadership aspirant is admirable, but hopelessly misguided in our ever-humble opinion.
Perhaps McCarten has been providing strategic advice to the ABC group.
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