Labour's Flag mistake

Posted November 30, -0001

Labour’s decision to turn the flag referendum into a political issue has done the party no favours with voters or Andrew Little’s standing as a future Prime Minister.

If Labour were really opposed to a new flag, fair enough. That’s their right and the role of an opposition party. But it does appear they changed their stance when they thought it might be more popular to oppose it and brand it a ‘vanity project for John Key.’ After all, a review of the Flag is a longstanding Labour Party Policy.

As Labour battle to communicate what they stand for, this does little to help that quest.

Why?

They need a clear message that tells us what they stand for. They are clearly working on what that will be. But their views on the Flag is not something that will dictate who wins the next Election. So they shouldn’t focus on it. They need to focus on things that affect New Zealanders in the back pocket.

Anything else just prevents them getting that message across, particularly when people are bombarded with thousands of messages every day. In a nutshell, people will only remember a few issues when they decide who to vote for. So make those issues be your core messages that will help them get ahead.

What could Labour have done?

Andrew Little would have been far better to have joined John Key in his support for flag change in a similar way to what John Key did with Helen Clark over the anti-smacking legislation. He would have been respected as a leader who did what he thought was right. That would have been the focus of the media coverage.

But most importantly, this would have then allowed him to focus on more important issues that he could potentially have won votes from. All this has done is leave people wondering what Labour really thinks, limited the chance for more serious issues to be discussed, and ensure that anyone who doesn’t like John Key votes against the new Flag. Basically, no-one wins.

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