Tuwhenuaroa
Natanahira Political reporter
An
open letter to the National Party from its former president
has implored the caucus, entirely made up of electorate MPs,
to reconnect with its voters following a “lacklustre”
campaign.
In the letter, Sue Wood congratulated the
caucus – all of whom are electorate MPs – for campaigns
focused on “positive achievements” rather than being
“slightly better than the ‘other lot'”.
“You were not
elected by the party board. You succeeded despite – not by
virtue of – the National Party’s lacklustre nationwide
campaign.”
Wood said they outperformed the party vote,
making them the “masters of the party’s future”.
“List
MPs are beholden to the leader and the board that put them
there. There are none left now.
“While political
discipline is important, your decisions must give a voice to
your constituents’ feedback. Debate those decisions in
caucus and find a unified position.”
Wood served as
National Party president from 1982 to 1986, the youngest and
first woman to hold the position, while Robert Muldoon was
leader of the party.
Wood’s letter follows a mixed
result for National; it remains the largest party in
Parliament, holding 42 seats currently, but a low party vote
share means it cannot bring in any MPs off the
list.
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Some of the party’s top brass including
Nicola Willis, Paul Goldsmith, Chris Bishop and Gerry
Brownlee will not make it back into
Parliament.
Brownlee told RNZ on Monday that
vote-splitting campaigns by some right-wing groups had not
“worked as it was supposed to” and the result could
encourage voters to go back to “First Past The Post
again”.
The outgoing National MP for Banks Peninsula,
Vanessa Weenink, said on Tuesday that her party had pulled
“too far to the right” and voters had told her through the
campaign that
they “hate” National.
Wood told MPs to restore the
party’s “democratic process for the party
structure”.
“The drift into central control can
override the wishes of the membership and their community.
Achieving high office in the Party should require hard work
on the hustings.
“The path to Parliament should be
through success in the community and party organisation –
not a job in the Beehive.”
She said the party’s future
resided with its “organisational wing” and the party once
had a “huge membership base” to which it was
beholden.
“Political parties are bigger than one
person. Encourage debate; your colleagues may disagree with
you, but they remain your colleagues.”
She urged them
to reconnect with the community and renew its faith in the
party.
“With a stronger, wider local party, you will
build a bridge to a modern, diverse New Zealand that has
felt overlooked by our strategists.
“Step deliberately
outside traditional comfort zones to show through your
actions that National remains a broad church, representing
rural and urban, liberal and conservative, and the myriad of
cultures that proudly call this country home.” she
said.
National and Wood have been approached for
comment.
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