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This week on the Raw Politics podcast: How good a PM might Christopher Luxon be, why Chris Hipkins shouldn't think of quitting, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori the big winners, and silence from Winston.


Raw Politics signs off for 2023 with our panel's take on the government that might emerge from an election that had something for everyone, other than the Labour Party.

Some raw takes: National's victory is a remarkable turnaround but hardly an epic triumph, the Greens' three seats will be a longer-term guarantee of making it back to Parliament, Te Pāti Māori stunned and buried the old wisdom that Labour is the party of tangata whenua.

The Raw Politics panel looks at the first week of shadow governing among the three parties of the centre-right and concludes the public will probably welcome the political silence after such a raucous campaign.

We argue why Chris Hipkins should hold his nerve and stay on and see what kind of Opposition leader and possible election contestant in 2026 that he could be. And we look at who else might follow Andrew Little off the party list and out the parliamentary door in the early days of this term.

We have some final recommendations: things we read or listened to this week that are well worth your while catching up on over the long weekend - including an analysis of Labour's demise, a report from a sad night at Lower Hutt, and a poignant New York Times commentary from an Arab member of Israel's parliament on the war with Hamas.


Every week for almost seven months leading to the election, Newsroom editors and political journalists have talked through the big issues and scrutinised politicians’ performances in a lively, 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders.

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: The final polls and what to expect on Saturday evening, plus how long it might take for a new government, and our nominations for best and worst political plays, and individual performers.


It's almost time for a curtain call.

The Raw Politics season nears its end, with the penultimate episode trying to make sense of the latest polls and how that will affect the timing and formation of the next government.

Our podcast panel asks whether Chris Hipkins is realistic in hoping for a change from late polling to ballot box which could emulate 2020's 10-point movement between the two major parties. The problem for him was that that big movement actually saw the poorer performing party (National in 2020) going sharply down and the better performing party (Labour back then) going up. Which, if emulated, wouldn't help the Hipkins-Labour cause.

We ask how long the country might wait for coalition talks to be started, negotiated and then signed off. One key date could see the governmental purist Winston Peters put things on pause until mid-December, but it could be that the preliminary negotiations are sorted progressively. Worst comes to worst, a Parliament without a new government might have to meet before December 21 and a caretaker PM Hipkins might see in the New Year.

To wind up this campaign, in a quick fire summary, the Raw Politics team each nominate their best and worst plays by the parties, and their best (and worst) performers.


Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts.

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: We ask if Covid and isolation has sucked the life out of Labour and Chris Hipkins' campaign, we wonder if fringe parties might do a deal to send their voters to NZ First and ask what's been eating National campaign chair Chris Bishop.

Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders.

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: We look at what common wins might await New Zealand First and Act if National needs them both post-election; Plus How good are the Greens in the polls, and do overseas votes count for much?

Much of the focus of the political week has been on the three parties of the centre-right bloc, given National's Christopher Luxon accepting he might have to negotiate post-election with New Zealand First.

Two and a half weeks out from an election, the governing party was partly in the background, other than the stirring performance by leader Chris Hipkins in the Newshub leaders' debate.

The Raw Politics panel analyses what might emerge from post-poll talks involving the three centre-right parties and we highlight a couple of policies where Act and New Zealand First have common ground and could end up in a pincer movement forcing National to adopt harder-right approaches than it is promising.

The panel also looks at the relatively fact-free TV debate and Hipkins' high-octane pressure on Luxon, and Luxon's relatively strong response.

Plus, with this week's polls not only confirming New Zealand First in the mix but also highlighting a strong campaign showing by the Green Party, Marc Daalder explains how the Greens have been quietly wooing a growing support base.

Our reader question asks if the overseas vote, which opened this week, really matters for our overall election result.

And this week's recommendations are all unashamedly in-house with Newsroom content – our Election Fringe Festival guide to the minor, minor parties; a look at the age, longevity and records of Winston Peters and our summary of that rollicking Newshub leaders' debate.

Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts.

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: We ask why Labour leader Chris Hipkins has failed to fire, as his party would have hoped, in this campaign so far. Plus: this week's debate, the latest polls and how relatively good economic news changes things in the run-up to election day.


Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders.

Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts.

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Who to believe over the state of the nation's books, and why the public might not even care; Plus What's eating the Act Party as its historic highs in the polls fade at a critical time?


Both major political parties used the opening of the books this week to claim that their theories on the state of our economy and their solutions deserve your vote. Things are either hopeful or dire, depending on the colour of your election rosette.

Our panel debates whether the numbers matter to individual voters or if they're so intent on 'change' that they won't take Grant Robertson's advice and be careful what they wish for.

The same can be said for economists picking holes in National's tax policy to levy foreigners for purchasing homes costing more than $2m. Voters seem to have taken any wrong assumptions or calculations by National in their stride so far, according to the polls. National seems to be getting the benefit of a great collective shrug, and an impatience for the country to try something, anything else.

Later in the podcast we examine the ebbing away of Act's poll numbers – from 15 or 16 percent weeks ago in some polls to now be sitting at 11 or 10 in major polls. Which is still mighty good for a party that's best election result was 7.6 percent 2020 and 7 percent in 1999 and 2002.

We discuss if Act peaked too early – with leader David Seymour out on the campaign all year, and if his controversial 'jokes' and questionable candidates on Act's list might have made people think twice. Or, if National just got better and squeezed its centre right alternative.

Act hold its own campaign 'launch' on Sunday, weeks after its rivals, and one panelist thinks Seymour will want a theatrical impact to grab back some attention.Our reader question is whether Christopher Luxon can hold his own in a debate, with the first one due next Tuesday on TVNZ, despite his talking down his chances. And do those debates even move the dial in NZ politics?

This week's recommendations include an RNZ series on the pre-election wishes of devastated areas of the East Coast, a toe-to-toe interview between TVNZ's Jack Tame and Christopher Luxon and a Newsroom profile of a new face almost certain to make it to Parliament for Act.


Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders.

Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts.