ANOTHER STORMING WIN FOR THE DID NOT VOTE PARTY !!

Labour celebrate coming second to the Did Not Vote Party.

With less than 30 percent of the Mt Albert electorate bothering to vote, the Did Not Vote Party romps home to yet another resounding victory!

AS I PREDICTED several weeks ago, the Did Not Vote Party swept to a resounding victory in the Mt Albert by-election. Over 70 percent of the electorate's eligible voters gave their non-votes to the Did Not Vote Party

While there are some 45,000 enrolled eligible voters in Mt Albert, only 12,971 people bothered to vote. That's a derisory 29.9 of the eligible voters.

Labour's Jacinda Arden attracted 10,000 of those votes and, on the basis of attracting less than the quarter of the available votes, she will now be the MP for Mt Albert.

The massive victory for the Did Not Vote Party came as no surprise - it simply continues the historical trend of more and more people disengaging from a representative political system that they no longer believe represents them. While The Commentariat might continue to be fascinated with the machinations of parliamentary politicians, it remains oblivious to the fact that they are speaking to an declining audience.

Graph prepared by Bryce Edwards.

The crisis of representative democracy also seems to have sailed right over the head of Labour leader Andrew Little. Despite the fact that over two thirds of the electorate didn't vote, Little thinks that Labour is in 'good shape' to fight the general election. But what is abundantly clear  is that Labour's doggedly conservative 'business as usual' policies are simply failing to inspire an electorate looking for an alternative to the neoliberal narrative that has dominated for the past three decades.

Also of interest is that Joe Carolan, standing for Socialist Aotearoa, managed to attract only 191 votes. The lesson is also clear here. Without a real and tangible presence on the New Zealand political landscape, via an organised national left wing party, parachuting lone candidates into various electorates for the few weeks of a campaign is next to useless.