Tonight could spell the end of the road for some politicians, including senior MPs and even ministers who may soon be looking for new jobs.
If the polls prove right, the axe will fall this election for dozens of MPs including several senior ministers from the former Labour Government.
The Herald Poll of Polls has put Labour on 26.8 per cent, and, on those numbers, the party could lose nearly half of its caucus of 64 MPs, including senior ministers.
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Former Labour Party leader David Cunliffe says it can be deeply devastating and distressing for those who fail to make it back to Parliament after an election, and that there needs to be support services given to outgoing MPs.
“Two things will stand out at this election I feel,” said Cunliffe.
“One is that the combined votes of Labour and National will be at a historic low ... and the second is that Labour has come from a historic high, being the first party to get more than 50 per cent ... to something approaching historic lows.”
Cunliffe said it was important for parliamentarians not to view what they do as “a job” but rather a “service to make the country better”.
“My advice to young MPs is to get some life experience first so that when you lose your seat or if you seek to step down, then there is something else that you can do,” he said.
“Don’t treat being an MP as a lifetime employment and don’t assume that it’s always going to be there.”
Cunliffe said he was lucky and retired from politics at the 2017 election on his own terms, and he had previous professional experience as a management consultant to draw on. He now runs his own consulting firm called Polis.
“We go into it knowing that politics go in cycles and tides, and being an MP isn’t a job for life and it shouldn’t be,” he said.
“It make sense therefore if people go into Parliament after having a career first, and have that something to go back to afterwards.”
Cunliffe said losing a place in Parliament can “trying for MPs whatever the circumstances”.
“It’s a huge adjustment to make, and if it’s sudden then it becomes even more trying and it can be deeply devastating and distressing,” he said.
Cunliffe said he knows of MPs who have made more money outside of Parliament and others who struggled to find their niche, adjust to life outside politics or find meaningful work.
He felt outgoing MPs should also have access to “counselling and practical support”.
“If we accept as New Zealanders that our parliament is important to all of us and we’ll be better off if it functions well, in business you would invest in training and support for your key people and I don’t think we do that enough for our MPs,” Cunliffe said.
“We need to provide support and counselling to MPs on the way out. Some might not need it but for some even helping with writing their CV and advice on what jobs they should apply to.
“For many, they would have been out of the job market for a long time, so such support will be really good.”
MPs leaving Parliament however don’t go empty-handed. Those who resigned or lost their seat at the election still get paid a salary of three months, with some possibly getting lifelong perks.
All departing MPs will lose their taxpayer-funded travel and accommodation subsidies except for a return flight to Wellington to clear out their offices.
MPs who served three terms before 1999 would get free international travel, capped at the cheapest Air New Zealand business class flight to London each year and 12 domestic return flights.
However, this perk no longer applies, as the current longest continuously serving members of Parliament (known as the Father and Mother of the House) are National’s Gerry Brownlee and Labour’s Nanaia Mahuta.
Both have been MPs since 1996.
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