I said yesterday that I did not think that Jami-Lee Ross was National’s leaker.
I am going to have to review that opinion. Now I am not so sure.
Richard Harman at Politik (paid content) has reported that well placed sources have told him that Ross was being advised by National Party board member Glenda Hughes. She has history as acting as the party’s troubleshooter and was involved in sorting out the Todd Barclay problem for the party.
To compound the impression that National is leaking like a sieve Harman’s article includes news from well placed sources that Hughes is advising Ross and that Ross does have personal matters that need to be attended to. He also comments on the more than remote possibility that Winston Peters and Cameron Slater know who the leaker is.
And Bomber Bradbury may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, at least as far as National was concerned.
Meanwhile Bridges can’t buy a trick.
His comment that Ross’s leave was unrelated to the ongoing leak investigation is when you think of it pretty rubbery. And it has been torn to shreds by Audrey Young in the Herald:
National leader Simon Bridges said Jami-Lee Ross’s departure was unrelated to the ongoing leak investigation.
Bridges has been careful with his words.
Of course the MP’s leave is unrelated to the leak investigation because the investigation has not yet reported its findings. Bridges has to say it is unrelated.
Jami-Lee Ross has denied being the leaker. He has simply pleaded his case for needing time off work and Bridges absolutely must accept an MP at his word. He has no evidence not to.
And his comment that Ross is suffering from a “potentially embarassing” medical problem has been met with derision.
The situation is a mess for National. Of course they will talk about Labour’s issues with Clare Curran and Meka Whaitiri but these are several degrees less serious. They do not involve the potential undermining of the perception of solidarity they have created. Believe me. I lived through the Cunliffe years. I know how toxic this can become.
National’s best chance may be to blame the original leak on Labour. Stand by …
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