Mt Albert win - the fight back begins

Jenny Michie | 25th June 2009 | 4:15 am

David Shearer's emphatic win in Mt Albert is a great boost for Labour.

I would like to offer a huge thank you to Labour Party members and supporters who gave up their time on behalf of David Shearer and Labour.

The scale of the win - 12,613 votes for David against just 3426 votes for National's Melissa Lee - speaks volumes. Labour listened to and National ignored the local community's needs and concerns. This reflects Labour's wider ongoing commitment to build stronger ties with communities across New Zealand.

National thought it could win, or run Labour close. The gap between the party votes at the 2008 election was just 2300. John Key set the date as early as possible to capitalise on post-election goodwill and he personally chose as a candidate Melissa Lee, put forward as a rising new star on National's back benches.

Mr Key's non-appearance at Melissa Lee's election night event gives us an insight into how the Prime Minister operates. Instead of supporting his team during a difficult night he was at the exclusive Huka Lodge in Taupo. His excuse that this was a prior engagement he could not break frankly does not wash. He chose the election date. It would be staggering to believe he would have passed up the celebrations should Ms Lee have looked like winning.

National's woeful Mt Albert campaign and John Key's election night no-show cap a horror month for National.

Labour will build on this win and will redouble its efforts to engage with voters across New Zealand. We will continue to reflect the concerns of the community and hold the Government to account.

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