Labour continues its mad dash for the cliff face and it’s too late (oh dear) to change leader

Phil Goff delighted Alf yesterday when he insisted he will lead the Labour Party into the election and anyone suggesting otherwise is flogging a dead horse.

But where is he taking them?

Readers who are unsure of the answer will get a hint – a strong hint – if they study the cartoon above.

And it seems Labour’s fate is sealed, no matter what it does.

If they change leader, they are electorally dommed anyway.

A party leader in firm control – of course – would not have to tell the news media he is the leader. It would be obvious.

But Phil has been facing renewed speculation about his position, following recent poor polls and reports that a meeting of Labour’s front bench discussed the leadership.

The great news for we Nats – as Stuff reports – is that a new poll shows Labour’s slide would not be reversed if the party dumped him as leader.

Labour’s slide would not be reversed if the party dumped Phil Goff as leader, a new poll shows.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they would not change their vote if Mr Goff was replaced.

This news has been seized on by fellow bloggers, such as Whaleoil here.

Kiwiblog looks at the desertion of Labourites to the Greens.

He refers us to this report at Stuff.

The Greens have leapt to 11 per cent in today’s Fairfax Media-Research International Poll – and their rise has come at the expense of Labour, which has slumped to 25.7 per cent.

With 86 days until the election, there are echoes of 2002 in the latest poll results.

That year National crashed to a disastrous 20.9 per cent vote on election night, with supporters panicked into voting strategically for the minor parties, particularly NZ First, after deciding Bill English had no hope of victory.

Kiwiblog also has crack at working out the fates of MPs such as Raymond Huo, Carol Beaumont, Kelvin Davis, Carmel Sepuloni, Rick Barker, Stuart Nash and Steve Chadwick. Depending on this that and the other, they look like goners.

Oh dear, what a shame.

Alf is most fascinated with the finding that nearly two-thirds of the polls respondents said they would not change their vote if Goff was replaced.

But as speculation about his leadership rumbles on, the result is hardly good news, with 20 per cent saying they would be more likely to vote Labour if he was gone.

A leadership change has more appeal to younger voters. Among those aged under 35, almost 30 per cent are most likely to switch to Labour under a new leader.

Mrs Grumble notes that female voters continue to be turned off by the party – with support dipping by 2 per cent.

More women would like to see Mr Goff as prime minister, up from 5.9 per cent to just over 8 per cent, but compared with John Key, who holds steady at around 50 per cent of female support, most women surveyed do not see Mr Goff as a viable alternative.

So it is in these circumstances that Goff is insisting he will lead the Labour Party into the election.

But he is far from convincing on many fronts.

For example, he has dismissed reports about what happened at a recent caucus meeting as wrong.

He said caucus meetings are confidential and is batting away questions about possible leaks from within the Labour team.

Yes, they are supposed to be confidential.

But what planet does he inhabit if he believes nothing ever leaks from confidential meetings?