Today Minister of Justice Simon Power announced he’s retiring from Parliament at the next election. I can’t say I’m sorry to see him go.
He’s often been promoted, usually by anonymous commentators, as a future prime minister. I never knew why, and never personally saw him as leadership material. But, I’m biased.
Power voted against both the Civil Union Act and the Relationships (Statutory References) Act, which gave legal force to the Civil Unions Act. He’s spent his time as minister in this government attempting to gut the right to a fair trial.
So, I’m not sorry to see him go. But if he really was being promoted by fellow members of the National Party Caucus as a future prime minister, one wonders what that means for the future of the party. There are increasingly strong rumours that Key will step down after the election—win or lose. If National wins another term and Key does step down, who would National install as the unelected prime minister? We have one less possibility now.
Based on his record, government in New Zealand will be better off without Simon Power. But it’s equally true that New Zealand will be better off without National in government.
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