Another Win For Key - Trans Tasman's Politician Of The Year

Election Victory Gives Title To Key

This year's 10th annual Roll Call can reveal John Key as its Politician of the Year. It was a straightforward choice. Key has stood head and shoulders above the rest in the polls, and his party romped home in its third election, the third time in a row it has added extra seats as well.

Key polled highest among the Trans Tasman Editors, contributors and their Capital insiders who make up the panel which compiles Roll Call, and despite signs there may be trouble ahead for Key if he is not careful, 2014 was his year.

Of course winning a fourth term will be dependent as much on the party's support staff and their management as the Parliamentary team. The same goes for Labour as it battles to rebuild after its shattering defeat.

Roll Call says Key is "still phenomenally popular and if he comes through a third term without serious damage, a fourth could be within his grasp. But he'll have to be careful."

Trans Tasman's Editors note "Key has not only performed strongly at home, he has become an international figure as well, cementing his and NZ's reputation abroad with his election as chairman of the International Democratic Union."

"However there are clouds. The fallout from the "Dirty Politics" saga continues. It should have been firmly put to bed in the campaign. And Key's tendency to "forget," or "mishear" the question is becoming a worrying feature of the way he involves himself in the Parliamentary and media discourse."

"He has the respect - almost the love - of the voters, he needs to be careful he does not treat them with contempt. A fourth term does beckon, but the PM's tendency to be just a bit smug, a bit arrogant, and at times a bit childish could derail it."

"For now he is a titan, but Labour has a new leader and a new sense of purpose, and the next election is a long way away."

National's Front Bench performed exceptionally well in 2014, with just a single Cabinet Minister losing ground. Nikki Kaye fell from 6.5 to 6, after the "bright young thing" nearly lost Auckland Central. Roll Call suggests she must work harder.

Steven Joyce adds half a mark, taking the man most see as John Key's successor to 8. "He doesn't drop the ball and handles a raft of senior portfolios with calm confidence. Outside Parliament he was National's campaign manager and must share some of the credit for its victory."

Bill English, last year's Politician of the Year, maintained his score of 9 out of 10. He is still "the safest pair of hands in the cabinet. Cautious, dependable and now mostly steering clear of debating chamber rhetoric."

After a bad year in 2013, Hekia Parata has battled back to take her score from 5 to 7. "Key believes she's competent and wasn't going to hang her out to dry. He's giving her the benefit of the doubt in delivering on a gutsy vision for the Education sector."

Murray McCully takes his score from 6.5 to 7.5 after putting together the team which won NZ a seat on the UN Security Council and doing many of the hard yards himself, while Maggie Barry gets kudos for fitting in well to Conservation and being who "some say is the most popular National MP behind Key himself." Her score jumps from 3 to 5.5.

The Ministers outside Cabinet are more average with Craig Foss, and Jo Goodhew, going down in score, Louise Upston and Paul Goldsmith staying the same and just Nicky Wagner boosting her score from 4.5 to 5.

Both support party Ministers, Peter Dunne and Te Ururoa Flavell boosted their scores. Dunne from 4 to 5 "gets a point for coming through a horrible year with his head/hair up" while Maori Party leader Flavell goes from 6 to 6.5. "We'll make a call and say he's going to be an outstanding Minister."

The dubious honour of low score for National goes to Melissa Lee. "Hard working but faded after a good start."

Among the thoroughly shattered Labour MPs, there was little to write home about. David Cunliffe's score falls from 7.5-6 after the election defeat. But "history may judge him more kindly than last week's headlines. Is he NZ's Kevin Rudd?"

Andrew Little's star starts to shine though. His score jumps from 4.5 to 7. "No-one is going to die wondering what Little thinks. He's a tough talking union man from way back who isn't going to compromise his beliefs."

Labour's low scorer is Rino Tirikatene who stays on just 2.5 out of 10. "Do still waters run deep or are they just still? Has had time to find his feet and still no impact."

For the Greens co-leader Russel Norman is the standout, holding his score on 7 out of 10. "After John Key Norman works the media better than any other party leader… If the Greens had gone into coalition with Labour he would have been hard to handle."

And of course the old war horse Winston Peters is still there, blowing a bit harder than usual. He boosts his score from 7 to 7.5. "Does he have the will and the stamina for another three years on the opposition benches and a campaign in 2017?"

This year for the first time Roll Call also looks at the impact those MPs who left Parliament at the election had, and it is here we find this year's low scorers Claudette Hauiti and John Banks, both on 1 out of 10.

As for the numbers:

Of National's 60 MPs, 30 improved their score on last year, 7 went down, and 10 stayed the same. There were 15 new MPs who were not ranked.

Of Labour's 32, 12 went up, 8 went down, 5 remained on the same score as last year and 7 were unable to be ranked.

ACT's single MP was unable to be ranked. Of the Maori party's 2 MPs 1 went up, and the other was unable to be ranked, while United Future's single MP improved his score.

The Greens had 3 of their 14 MPs improve their score, 4 went down while 6 remained the same, one was unable to be ranked.

For NZ First 2 MPs improved their scores, 1 went down and 2 remained the same. 6 were unable to be ranked.

Of the National MPs able to be rated this year, 32 had a score of 5 or higher, while 13 scored below 5, while for Labour it had 16 of its MPs rated 5 or above, while 9 scored below 5.

To download The 2014 Roll Call click here

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