New Labour leader

David Cunnliffe is the new leader of the Opposition. David Shearer resigned as leader August 22nd and it was not clear who would take his place. Three MPs wanted the job: the Deputy leader – Grant Robertson, David Cunnliffe and Shane Jones. For the last two weeks, they have travelled around the country together and talked at 12 meetings of Labour Party members.

There are new rules for electing a leader of the Parliamentary Labour party. Labour MPs vote but their vote is only 40% of the total. Ordinary members of the Labour Party – anyone who pays to join the party – can vote for the leader. Their votes are also worth 40%. Unions connected to the Labour Party get 20%.

Only 11 MPs out of the 34 Labour MPs voted for David Cunliffe but he was the favourite with the Labour Party – 60% – and the Unions – 71%.

Both Grant Robertson and Shane Jones said they will support the new leader. They know that it is important for the party to be united.

David Cunnliffe has been in Parliament 13 years. He is 50 years old. He is MP for New Lynn in West Auckland. He was Minister of Health from 2005 to 2008 and has been the Labour spokesperson on Finance.

Note: it can be confusing when talking about the Labour Party.
1. The Parliamentary Labour Party is the Opposition. They are Labour MPs. There are 34 at the moment.
2. Ordinary people can become members of the Labour Party by joining. There are probably thousands of members. They elect local candidates before elections.

Listen to November 20 2012 to hear more about the Labour Leadership.

Vocabulary

• The Opposition – the party not in government
• Parliamentary Labour Party – Labour MPs (also called the caucus)
• spokesperson – the Labour MP expert who can speak on this topic