Editorial: Labour not helping its cause in Bay

We know Labour leader Phil Goff is not the invisible man.

We know this because he came to visit us at Hawke's Bay Today some weeks ago to talk up Labour's policies and chances in the general election.

Mr Goff was also at the Hawke's Bay Show, glad-handing the public with Labour's Napier list MP Stuart Nash and Tukituki aspirant Julia Haydon-Carr.

He is an experienced and able politician, a caring man and solid local MP (I once lived in his electorate so we know this as well).

But Labour's back room planners have decided to paint Mr Goff out of the picture when it comes to electioneering around leadership in this campaign.

Outside of his electorate, his face is not to be seen on election hoardings endorsing local candidates. There are no Nash and Goff signs in Napier. Labour has also denied Mr Goff the chance of a presidential-style campaign opening by having no official launch, a move almost without precedent for a major party.

Why are they doing this? It is the result of a cruel numbers game. Mr Goff's ratings as preferred Prime Minister are distressingly low for Labour. Voters do not see him as a match for National's John Key in the charisma stakes.

National, as we can all see, has its leader's face on election billboards across the land. It's Key and Tremain, Key and Foss, Key and Hayes. It's not so much that John Key is on-message, he is the message for the Nats.

Labour candidates have had to run the line that the party's campaign is about policy and substance, not personality politics. Wonderful in theory but people vote for leaders and political parties need to back their leaders.

Does it concern us in Hawke's Bay? Yes.

Many would agree that Hawke's Bay currently has some of the best political representation it has had for decades - on both sides of the house.

But Mr Nash's position on the list means he is dependant on a solid show of voter support for Labour. His party's lack of faith in its own leader is not helping his cause.