Spare a thought for ACT and David Seymour

Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, September 25th, 2017 - 45 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, act, election 2017, national, national/act government, Politics, same old national, the praiseworthy and the pitiful - Tags:

Spare a thought for poor David Seymour and the ACT party.  Seymour may as well be a hologram this term such will be his influence.

From Stacey Kirk at Stuff:

It’s been a faithful National Government support partner for nine years, but Prime Minister Bill English has told ACT its services are no longer required.

ACT leader David Seymour made it back into Parliament off the back of a long-running deal in which National has gifted the party, which failed to register one per cent of the party vote, the Epsom electorate. The deal has occurred in the past as a way to ensure National would have an extra seat in Parliament, however as English prepares to go into coalition negotiations with NZ First leader Winston Peters it’s apparent he considers it too difficult to negotiate between them.

“I’ve spoken to David Seymour, I think he understands how the numbers stack up,” English said.

Kirk should have used plain english to describe the “long-running deal”.  It is a rort designed to distort the democratic wishes of the people although she is perfectly correct that it is done in such a way to give National an extra seat in Parliament.

And Seymour and ACT must be licking their wounds.  They received $850,000 for a campaign that netted 11,000 votes. Do the math. Then call the Taxpayer’s union. Such excessive expenditure for such a pitiful result should be investigated.

No doubt ACT will still continue to dominate the media.  Even today mad dog Richard Prebble was given yet again prominent space in the Herald this morning to attack Labour. Pravda would be proud to have a system where voices from one end of the political system dominate mainstream media so completely.

But it is not all bad.  At least charter schools should be off the agenda.

And it is not all bad for Seymour either.  From his taxpayer paid luxury he will be able to lecture the rest of us of the importance of hard work and how depending on the state to survive is a very bad thing.

https://twitter.com/LI_politico/status/912018183707516929

https://twitter.com/bootstheory/status/912040938192625664

45 comments on “Spare a thought for ACT and David Seymour ”

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  1. Pete 1
    25 September 2017 at 9:29 am

    Stephanie Rodgers’ comment, “You can almost feel sorry for David Seymour. He’s consistently appeared not to understand he’s just a sockpuppet for National’s majority.”

    Could you say that Seymour was living in a state of delusion? Could you say Seymour had a sense of self-importance way beyond his station?

    Could we almost feel sorry for David Seymour? Two ‘yeses’ and a ‘no.’ Sorry, I meant NO.

  2. Andre 2
    25 September 2017 at 9:33 am

    English might not have fully thought that one through. Now he can’t introduce unpopular policies by saying ACT made it a coalition bottom line.

    • Carolyn_nth 2.1
      25 September 2017 at 9:36 am

      The desire for power trumps everything – possibly even common sense. And the Nats wants NZF as their future tame ally when Winston bows out of politics.

    • roy cartland 2.2
      25 September 2017 at 11:17 am

      Dunno about that. He’ll introduce them now anyway and lie about it, it’s proven that that people don’t really care about lying. The only difficulty will be Making them palatable to Winston.

      The public aren’t relevant to him (Bill).

      • Hongi Ika 2.2.1
        25 September 2017 at 8:39 pm

        Winston will have to swallow one huge dead rat to go with National, he had a lot of trouble with Jenny Shipley and National years ago after the first MMP Election, and National nearly destroyed NZF so I doubt whether he has forgotten that experience.

        Likewise Labour, Greens and NZF have a number of similar policies particularly when it comes to Immigration, Housing, Education and the Environment.

  3. tracey 3
    25 September 2017 at 9:38 am

    Did you hear him telling Guyon off for not being fair in his coverage of Seymour? .5% of the vote and the guy got far more media time than the Maori Party. He whined about getting better coverage on Hauraki… well, dah David, that isnt for your spell binding wit.

    He may do better in Opposition. If Nats form with NZF the likelihood of a 5th term… and ACT can criticise Nats and get some of the right of Nat voters to shift to ACT?

    He is right that Epsom voters are clever with their vote BUT only after Nats had to tell them how to work it. A lesson there for others?

    I am lamenting the loss of MP. No I didnt vote for them. However MMP is supposed to deliver us more voices not fewer. Theirs, imo, is an important one. ACTs voice is heard all the time through opinion pieces and business releases. Which former MP person was asked to write for the Herald or stuff? None. That remains a largely sidelined voice.

    ACT remain, and Seymour on RNZ this morning reinforved it,, the voice of the oppressed white wealthy men who are blind to their enormous privilege.

    • DS 3.1
      26 September 2017 at 12:22 am

      >>I am lamenting the loss of MP. No I didnt vote for them. However MMP is supposed >>to deliver us more voices not fewer. Theirs, imo, is an important one.

      The Maori Party ceased to be a voice for the people it was supposed to represent, and became the brown wing of the National Party. They were punished accordingly.

      I don’t mourn them one bit.

  4. Frida 4
    25 September 2017 at 9:43 am

    I spared a brief thought for Seymour….hahaha, thought gone. I intend to never waste energy thinking of him or his nasty rich white boy Party ever again…..

  5. ianmac 5
    25 September 2017 at 9:52 am

    “But it is not all bad. At least charter schools should be off the agenda.”

    Really? Charter schools were National’s with Act being a cover. Will Charter schools be discommunicated? Doubt it.

    • Carolyn_nth 5.1
      25 September 2017 at 9:55 am

      The parties in the House that support Charter schools remaining are now only the Nats – they don’t have the numbers to vote against dismantling them.

      NZF, Labour and the GP all have discontinuing Charter schools as policy.

      How far would NZF go in ditching policies in order to govern with the Nats?

      • katipo 5.1.1
        25 September 2017 at 10:17 am

        “How far would NZF go in ditching policies in order to govern with the Nats?”
        I would guess – quite far but, the more they ditch the more it will impact their long term survival.

        • tracey 5.1.1.1
          25 September 2017 at 10:58 am

          Never been a 5th term govt in NZ. Would NZF go down with that ship? Not that NZers are showing signs of any bigger picture thinking any time soon

    • tracey 5.2
      25 September 2017 at 10:54 am

      Seymour saw “1000 kids” in charter schools as his crowning success. That puts MP streets ahead in terms of their coverage for their people

    • Rae 5.3
      25 September 2017 at 11:47 am

      Of course they were, thought that all along.
      Having said that, I am definitely not averse to alternative education, the thing that really got me with charter school legislation was the profit part of it. I could see schooling becoming like aged care, corporate, with that element in it. Take that out, and you leave space for people who have genuine passion for other forms of education and a path the take it to places where people might not otherwise be able to afford it.

  6. Sacha 6
    25 September 2017 at 10:06 am

    “Spare a thought for poor David Seymour and the ACT party.”

    Rimmer will get about 0.5% of my thoughts – and that’s being generous.

  7. Stuff The Politicians 7
    25 September 2017 at 10:23 am

    Richard Prebble must be away in Disney Land..
    I suspect, up in the top two inches his brain is decaying .

    There is something seriously wrong with this old guy, if he thinks we do not remember his treachery while in Parliament , him and Roger Douglas.

    • tracey 7.1
      25 September 2017 at 10:55 am

      We need fewer prebbles and more swarbricks in our minds

      • Stuff The Politicians 7.1.1
        25 September 2017 at 11:05 am

        Yes Tracy.

        I see on the Stuff web site that there are those already getting their cheap shots in to Chloe Swarbricks.

        Christ, she has only just arrived in Parliament .
        There are those who are just plain evil.

        • tracey 7.1.1.1
          25 September 2017 at 12:24 pm

          Yup. And we get lying politicians because we keep rewarding politicians who lie. And then we abdicate responsibility by saying ” that is just how it is”.

  8. jaymam 8
    25 September 2017 at 11:22 am

    The 7000 Epsom voters who voted for the Labour or Green candidates are particularly stupid. If they had voted for Goldsmith instead, then Seymour and the ACT party would be out of Parliament. Can you people get it right for next time? Do you really not understand MMP yet?

    • tracey 8.1
      25 September 2017 at 12:25 pm

      The only reason Nat voters get it is cos they were very publicly told what to do. They smugly think it is their higher intelligence rather than their ability to do as they are told.

      • ropata 8.1.1
        25 September 2017 at 3:08 pm

        Self interest is their game. The rich believe their own myths of inherent superiority and pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. The other part of that myth is that the poor are inherently lazy shiftless and immoral hence not deserving of humane treatment. It’s a cruel Dickensian dystopia for the poor and a nice cosy cul-de-sac for the wealthy

    • RJL 8.2
      25 September 2017 at 12:33 pm

      Displaying a higher degree of ethical standards than Nat. voters doesn’t really mean that Labour + Green voters are stupid.

    • Nick 8.3
      25 September 2017 at 12:38 pm

      I think it’s called democracy jaymam. So you are saying that an extra seat for natz is better than act being out of loop at this stage? You could say that the Natz voters are more stupid for wanting another 3 years, rather than criticize Lab/ Green people.

      • jaymam 8.3.1
        25 September 2017 at 12:52 pm

        But voting for Goldsmith doesn’t mean “an extra seat for natz”. You will observe that Goldsmith has always lost to the ACT candidate and yet has been a National list MP since he first stood as a candidate.
        I implore Labour and Green Epsom voters to do what their party (privately) wants them to do, i.e. vote for Goldsmith, even if you don’t understand how MMP works.

    • mikesh 8.4
      25 September 2017 at 2:34 pm

      I guess National party supporters who voted for Goldsmith would have to be considered equally stupid, eh what.

      Or are they just more ethical.

  9. One Anonymous Bloke 9
    25 September 2017 at 11:24 am

    I’ll spare a thought for him when I’m done dancing on Ayn Rand’s grave.

    • WILD KATIPO 9.2
      25 September 2017 at 7:50 pm

      MWHAHAHAHAHAAA , …OAB , shall we organize a dance party , then ?

      And as for the toadying little holographic sycophant we all know as Rimmer ,… it wont be long now , folks,….and , … as a matter of course ,… who the f@#k would want to be a far right neo liberal anyways ?!!?

      Nine years of loyalty swatted aside in one fell swipe without any thought , while the Natz run after Peters like a dog in heat !!!

      L0L0L0L0L0L0L !!!!

  10. AB 10
    25 September 2017 at 12:52 pm

    Tearing my hair out at 7000 people electorate voting L or G rather than holding their noses and voting Goldsmith in order to terminate ACT.
    So how do we put an end to the Epsom rort once and for all?
    1.) Relying on people to have a sufficient understanding of how MMP works to vote tactically against these rorts clearly doesn’t work.
    2.) Removing the coat-tailing provision is a good idea in itself, but doesn’t address the Epsom issue because ACT’s party vote is currently so low, nobody comes in on Seymour’s coat tails
    3.) Preferential voting for the electorate (ranking candidates) may do the trick, but it does complicate an electoral system that clearly many people don’t fully understand already
    4.) Getting rid of electorates altogether and assigning elected MPs to a region in terms of providing pastoral care to the people living there, solves the problem. But psychologically I think it is a bridge too far at the moment
    5.) Having an explicit provision in electoral law about the use of ‘shell parties’. So a party gifting to a different party an electorate that they themselves have a reasonable chance of winning, would be construed as using a shell party. The result would not be overturned, but for the purposes of MMP the shell party’s MP would be included in the proportional allocation of the party that did the gifting. Bill English’s letter, and John Key’s cup of tea, would be sufficient evidence of ‘gifting’. This opens up the prospect of messy legal challenges.

    • mikesh 10.1
      25 September 2017 at 2:48 pm

      Reducing the threshold to zero would solve the problem, unless the seat in question becomes an overhang. (If there is no overhang then the seat is one which the ´bad guy¨ would have won anyway through the party vote.)

    • Pete 10.2
      25 September 2017 at 3:41 pm

      Only 5 options for Epsom?

      6.) Wait for all the silly voters presently in Epsom to pass away.
      7.) Hope that the Blue Dragons do not move in to replace them.

  11. Delia 11
    25 September 2017 at 4:44 pm

    He would have been warned this could happen. Such a kind, decent lad, no, quite happy to see him sidelined.

  12. mosa 12
    25 September 2017 at 7:24 pm

    I don’t feel sorry for Seymour or his irrelevant party that only just survives thanks to the fact that the Labour and Green voters of Epsom insist on voting left with their electorate vote rather than holding their nose and voting for Goldsmith.

    The only reason they feature at all is the media insisting on giving them oxygen to somehow make them relevant when all National has done is to use and abuse ACT for their own agenda.

    Their powerful days are long gone and their place in the political landscape.

    U.F and the Maori party are dead and ACT is in terminal mode.

  13. WILD KATIPO 13
    25 September 2017 at 7:45 pm

    …. ” No doubt ACT will still continue to dominate the media. Even today mad dog Richard Prebble was given yet again prominent space in the Herald this morning to attack Labour ” …

    Really ?!!? ,…. I thought he was dead.

    Oh sorry ,… that was his political career.

  14. Hongi Ika 14
    25 September 2017 at 8:30 pm

    Don’t worry the Epsom Voters are madly in love with the guy!!!