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David Shearer says he is not looking for Helen Clarke’s endorsement as leader of the Labour Party. Speaking this weekend on TV3’s ‘The Nation’ Shearer said “I’m not looking for that. I’m simply just saying from my point of view I have the endorsement of my caucus we move on and we get on to the issues that we need to be focused on.”
He said people should not read too much in to Clarke’s appearance in the Herald last weekend – the same weekend as the Labour Party Conference. “ ” Oh look I think people have got past that, I mean Helen Clark is now firmly ensconced for the last four years as the UNDP Administrator, great job, and she was talking about climate change, which is a hugely significant issue for not only the UN but obviously us. So I think that people have moved on from that.
He also said there was still a chance for David Cunliffe to have a higher position with party if he can prove his loyalty. “He just needs to put his head down and work for the team, for all of the caucus. Let’s put ambitions aside and it’s great to be ambitious, but we’ve got one leader, and let’s work together to make sure that we get a Labour win, that the most important thing that we can possibly do, and his input into that will be I’m sure in the future very very important, but right now it’s about trust and it’s about loyalty, and I have to have trust in the people that are close to me and the people who I depend on.
“Absolutely, I mean I would like to have him in a higher position and that door is certainly open to him.”
“Oh look from the point of view as a person that I have worked with over the last few years, I have an enormous amount of respect for him, I mean his knowledge around the economic issues and the political issues around those economic issues as well, he’s very very talented. There’s no doubt about that.”