As usual, Labour are offering crumbs;
The absolute minimum they could possibly do without repeating 2023's failures, of principle *and* strategy, and promising nothing. Like their GST-off-this-and-that plan this is a patch on a hemorrhage, dressed up as ambitious policy.
If this is typical of what Labour plan to offer for 2026, they deserve to lose. Even if the rest of us don't deserve 3 more years of CLuxon's clowns.
Your thinking is far too binary:
*Labour deserves to lose to Greens and become the junior coalition partner in the next government.
@jeremy_pm
> Labour deserves to lose to Greens
We can all dream. In 1996 I really thought the Cannabis party would get 5%. In 2014 I thought the Internet MANA alliance would get 5%. And sure I'd love to think the Greens could leapfrog Labour in 2026.
Never say never. But the polling trend for 2026 is *not* looking promising.
I do agree with you both (and Chlöe) that this is the long game now. Labour are a spent force, hamstrung by a neoliberal rump they can't seem to shake off.
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@lightweight @jeremy_pm All I can say to that is, good luck. I'll be happy if that surge in UK Greens polling translates into winning seats in an FPP election. I'd be thrilled if the same Green surge happened here. But I see little sign of that so far, and I'm not holding my breath.
Just thought I would share this to help you battle your understandable cynicism on the prospects of the UK Greens and the potential for their success to advance the #NZPol Greens in their pursuit of a larger slice of the pie in NZ’s 2026 election.
@jeremy_pm
> Just thought I would share this
I'm aware, since this is exactly what I was commenting on in the post you're replying to. Read it again.
Yes I understand you’re hopeful that the UK Green’s rise in popularity translates to an improved ranking for NZ Greens, I was just sharing because I found UK Greens now outpolling both UK Labour and Conservatives is something of a dynamic power shift.
@jeremy_pm
> UK Greens now outpolling both UK Labour and Conservatives is something of a dynamic power shift
It will be, *if* it translates into winning seats in FPP races. The current regime is deeply unpopular with its own base, and the clownshow of the Tory government is still too raw for protest votes to move there. So UK Greens (and Reform) are surging in polls.
I'm not saying that *can't* translate into seats come the next election, I'm just saying it's not a given.
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Third parties got huge percentages of support in pre-MMP polls. Especially when the public started to sour on first term governments. But it never translated into more than a handful of seats under FPP, and never as high a party vote as those polls once we actually got proportional represention.
Be hopeful. Celebrate the small victories. Just keep in mind there is still an immense amount of work to do before we defeat the NatACTs in the court of public opinion.
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Fair comment, Labour under Kid Starver is so far removed from the party’s origins it is unrecognisable and as you say the Conservatives have left themselves unelectable after years of austerity under Tory rule.
The biggest threat in UK politics is the rise of the fascist Reform Party which, as you point out, have received populist support not unlike the Greens on the back of Labour and Conservatives collapse.
Strypey
JeremyJupiterJones 
Dave Lane 
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