Conservative Party official thinks deaf people should not be MPs

post has been updated

Kevin Campbell is the campaign manager for the Conservative Party. Prior to the election he was very happy in using Facebook to promote the party and most comments were of a political nature. But after the election he appears to have closed ranks after something he posted that many found offensive. Incidentally I was told by a Conservative Party candidate that they were not to use social media during the campaign.

Campbell questioned whether new Green MP Mojo Mathers, who is the world’s fifth profoundly deaf MP, should even be an MP as she didn’t have all her “faculties” - and only people who have all their faculties should be MPs. In other words, because she is deaf, she is unsuitable as an MP. Mathers became an MP after special votes were counted and I think she is perfectly suitable to be an effective MP.

I was one of many who pulled him up on this. Just after I did this, my comment was deleted, I was defriended, and Campbell changed his profile picture. He has now taken the post and all its 30 -odd comments down after he reiterated that there was nothing wrong with what he said, adding that because Mathers was also a Green MP she, by definition can’t be effective.

If this is reflective of the attitudes of the Conservative Party, I`m appalled. While Campbell may comment how he wishes in a free and democratic society, he should be expected to be taken to task if he publicly promotes opinion that most find unacceptable rather than wimping out and deleting stuff after an outcry.

update Just to let you know that Kevin Campbell has since e-mailed Mojo Mathers a personal apology which she has accepted.

update2 NZ Herald has the story here, which (of course) doesn't mention any blogs as the source.

What the Labour Party list 2011 should have been

I think this list is a much better list than we had going into the election. It would have given Labour three new list MPs, and three quality MPs who lost their jobs would not have. I have stopped at Number 40 and assumed that Labour's vote would have been higher had this been the list. I`m sure most of you agree it is a much better list, taking into account those who were likely to win their seats. Of the top half, nearly a third are women, nearly a third are Maori - and a fifth aren't even current MPs.


1. David Shearer
2. Grant Robertson
3. David Parker
4. David Cunliffe
5. Clayton Cosgrove
6. Jacinda Ardern
7. Kelvin Davis
8. Shane Jones
9. Parekura Horomoia
10. Andrew Little
11. Stuart Nash
12. Moana Mackey
13. Nanaia Mahuta
14. Deborah Mahuta-Coyle
15. Jordan Carter
16. Sue Moroney
17. Trevor Mallard
18. Phil Goff
19. Annette King
20. Damien O'Connor
21. Maryan Street
22. Carmel Sepuloni
23. Charles Chauvel
24. Su’a William Sio
25. Clare Curran
26. David Clark
27. Chris Hipkins
28. Rick Barker
29. Brendan Burns
30. Ruth Dyson
31. Phil Twyford
32. Carol Beaumont
33. Michael Wood
34. Darien Fenton
35. Stephanie Chadwick
36. Rajen Prasad
37. Raymond Huo
38. Iain Lees-Galloway
39. Josie Pagani
40. Kris Faafoi

Party lists

Don’t you think it is a little strange that, of those who head their political party’s respective lists, one has resigned from his party, another has resigned as leader for the backbenches, and another is not leader - nor has he joined three of his colleagues in parliament. Two further parties have just their top-ranked person in parliament, and another party's top-ranked candidate was not even in Parliament immediately before the election, but now is.

First time that’s happened immediately after an election.

Who I`m voting for

One blogger has encouraged us to advise who we would be voting for this election.

I live in the Ohariu electorate. Yes, the electorate that Peter Dunne has been holding for 27 years. In 2011 I am giving my both my electorate vote and my party vote to someone and some party other than I did in 2008.

We have four MPs in our electorate in Parliament. Greens’ Gareth Hughes just wants the party vote. Nationals Katrina Shanks wants the electorate vote, but none of her parliamentary colleagues want her to have it. Charles Chauvel wants the electorate vote and so does his parliamentary colleagues. United Future’s Peter Dunne doesn’t have any parliamentary colleagues and will be out of Parliament if he loses his seat – so he needs to win. Irrespective if Chauvel wins, he makes it to Labour’s front bench anyway. Hughes and Shanks will also be in Parliament on the list. So, in terms of who represents me as electorate MP, it’s down to Labour’s Charles Chauvel and UnitedFuture’s Peter Dunne. There’s about 1000 votes in it.

Peter Dunne will be getting my vote. He lives in the electorate,unlike the other three, he knows the electorate and at meetings he has best explained what he will do for the electorate if he is successful. He has a 10 point plan. He has been the most publicly visible MP in the campaign and can work with the incoming government.

The party that will get my vote has run a good campaign. It has concentrated on policy, as opposed to personality or scandals. It has good policies on welfare, education, employment, and wants to address inequality.It will also work with the incoming government. It has some good new candidates, particularly Holly Walker and James Shaw. So the Greens will be getting my party vote this year.

I`m not sure how many Dunne voters will vote Green this year, but there you go. There`ll be at least one. And I`ll be voting for the fairest voting system we have – MMP.