David Cunliffe has defeated Shane Jones, and Grant Robertson to become the new leader of the New Zealand Labour Party.

Labour leadership candidate Grant Robertson says he is disappointed to lose to David Cunliffe but the new party leader has his “100 per cent loyalty”.

The Labour Party starts afresh today. A new leader enables a party to ditch the negatives and build the positives.

Today is the final day of campaigning for three Labour Party leader hopefuls and all candidates say the message they have been given is for the party to stop bickering.

The frontrunner in Labour's leadership contest, New Lynn MP David Cunliffe, says it is still a close contest and he is not taking anything for granted.

If the Labour Party's deputy leader, Grant Robertson, is not the winner of its leadership election tomorrow, there will be some who say it was because he is gay.

The last minute scramble to woo wavering MPs in the very close Labour leadership contest is underway and will continue up until Saturday night, at least.

The Labour Party is in the process of choosing a new leader because members believed the party could not "win" the election with David Shearer as leader.

Four of the six unions affiliated to Labour now favour David Cunliffe to win the leadership contest that finishes next Sunday.

David Shearer says the point-scoring and "pettiness" of politics was boring and beneath him.

I haven't had a conversation in the past fortnight where the Labour Party leadership contest doesn't come up.

Some things are immediately obvious, like which is the faster boat. When I watched the contenders on television last weekend the likely winner was clear at the first cross.

Why doesn't earthy Shane Jones just come out and say it? "I'm not just another Labour 'soft cock'."

Labour MP Shane Jones says MPs supporting his rival Grant Robertson in the Labour Party leadership contest should back him instead, following a 3 News poll last night.

Rumours are circulating again about the role Helen Clark had in moves to roll David Shearer as Labour's leader just before he resigned.

The candidates for Labour's top job are in an awkward position. They're campaigning for votes - aware that anything they say can be used in evidence against them.

Green Party co-leader Russel Norman joins us at 10:30am for a live chat on the upcoming asset sales referendum.

With Big Brother presumably in mind, John Key last week likened Labour's leadership contest to the reality TV show, writes John Armstrong.

David Cunliffe's attempt at marae-style humour might have fallen a bit flat at Labour's leadership meeting last night, but he rallied with fish talk.

In Shane Jones' heartland of Northland, the man himself is strolling down the street in Whangarei.

Labour leadership candidate David Cunliffe is joining us for a live chat at 12pm.

Labour's leadership rivals were in David Cunliffe's territory of Auckland yesterday, but it was Shane Jones who appeared to impress - even if he did say so himself.

The reality is that the leadership contest is all about which candidate best embodies Labour's soul and tradition as a party of the left, writes John Armstrong.

The Government's convention centre deal with SkyCity could see the taxpayer saddled with millions in cost overruns before building even begins, claims Labour.

Labour's leadership hopefuls have responded to their critics and laid bare their shortcomings, with Shane Jones joking his weaknesses were "fairly public".