It’s a hard one in an adversarial political context like this.

My trust is in none of the contenders. Jones has made some clanger comments in relation to the environment regularly (eg he loves mining a lot and from his comments anywhere will do for it in the name of big business first), and has been the centre of Green bashing in Labour (not a good leader to go into collaboration with the Greens on and I think he’d not be popular enough).

While Phil Twyford has championed the kauri dieback cause, he’s also made similar overtures to Jones at times on the environment in his position on the RMA and opening it up to business. So, I don’t trust his motives either.

Cunliffe could be a another Rudd in that he divides people with his ego (I know a number of Labour people who really don’t like him for instance).

I have until lately thought Jacinda would be great and I hope she can be because she could be the fresh face of a very tired party to me – but I have a second opinion because I hear from a few Labour sources that despite her advocacy for the needy her other policies are quite right-leaning in terms of her views on economics etc, as well as thin on the ground, so how she would back up her advocacy is a mystery (this is just hear-say for me, but does make me pause). And, she’s not going to get a look in with the conservative old guard in my view, which is a shame because she could yet prove her self and disprove the cynics I have heard from lately.

Little won’t get a look in in a serious way, he’s too-union for many, especially to the main-stream media (which is a shame) and National will have a field day on that.

Perhaps this leaves Grant Robertson who could be a viable option perhaps? Would they be willing to take a risk with his sexuality? I hope so. He’s not squeaky clean either in terms of his position on the environment, and he has worked well to collaborate with the Greens (though he too has not been exempt from pointless Green bashing once or twice).

So, the problem is, is that Labour is a party that currently lacks sufficient vision and lacks supporting its future leaders in my view. It has the pressure of leaking votes to the more serious left and environmentalists(the Greens) and more than anything has a powerhouse of a PR machine that is John Key – the latter is what Labour should look to compete with if it wants to be successful, especially if it looks to continue its rather tokenistic environmental pro-TPPA conservative corporate policies (such as supporting deep sea mining, fracking, advocating for big business at the expense of everything else despite what they say). (Another example is how Labour the other day failed to support the Greens bill on protecting waterways, and sided with National and big business – a huge environmental mistake.)

So, considering all of this I suggest that Labour simply folds – it’s had its day. It’s no longer a party for everyone (as they like to say) and it has no significant policies that will make any difference to Aotearoa, or candidates.