This series by guest poster Blue has a look at John Key now that we know a bit more about him.
Back in July 2008, the New Zealand Herald published an ‘unauthorized biography‘ of John Key, the man who was likely to become Prime Minister. At the time, it was a tough ask being in Opposition is nothing like being in Government. A person only really reveals their character once they are in the top job, with the pressure on them day in and day out.
The Government and the National Party are bigger than just one person, of course, even if he is the leader. But for many people the National Party is John Key. He’s the reason they cast their vote for National at the last election, and his personal popularity is what’s holding up the opinion polls.
He served a very important function for National at the last election he was essentially a blank canvas. Not much was known about him because he’d only been in politics a short time, and a party leader for an even shorter time. He seemed agreeable enough, and that blank canvas allowed people to project their own hopes onto him. He could literally be anything anyone wanted him to be and as long as he wasn’t Helen Clark, that was enough for some.
As long as he remains ‘as slippery as a snake in wet grass’ as John Campbell once called him as long as no one can definitively say what he stands for and what he will do, people can continue to project their own wishes onto him. Even if his equivocation may irritate, as long as the hope is still there that he could be just what they want, they can continue to believe in him.
Now, two years on since the ‘unauthorized biography’ and about two-thirds of the way through his term as Prime Minister, it’s time to try to pin the elusive John Key down.
Blue
Series posts
The states of John Key Quantum uncertainty
The states of John Key The drivers
The states of John Key The Salesman
The states of John Key – Flexible in telling the truth
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