Well, even National is left wing by international standards. So the swing hasn't been to the left per se but against the incumbent coalition that has been around for the last couple of terms.
The vote was clearly for change even if that change is a National and NZ First coalition rather than a National and Act and United Future and Māori party coalition.
Sorry what the hell are you talking about?
A 5 seat shift is not 'clearly a vote for change' (2 from National, 1 from United and 2 from Maori and the last parliment had an overhang) especially when Labour has traditionally held the Maori seats and Dunne decided to get out! Its more of the status quo than a clear vote for change.
Labour pinched seats off the Greens and Winston 1st primarily because the "bludger scandals" that followed Winston and Turia and scared some people back to the mothership.
Go look at the mix at the last election vs this one. There is no vote for change here. All that is is reshuffling the chairs on the deck but its clearly not a vote for change
hmmm 46% voted for National 54% voted against them it's quite simple really
35% voted for labour, 65% voted against them.
more people voted for opposition parties than for parties of Government. The support parties of the governing coalition have been significantly reduced.
People vote for or against retaining the status quo, which has been a Keysian government.
Neither proposition is the whole truth, but they are both much more truthful than the Nats in the last week of the campaign.
Also I think you'll find that the reason the votes went to Labour according to the pollsters wasn't because of the scandals, but because there was actually a Labour momentum to vote for and a Labour leader who had dedicated her career to the fight against child poverty. There was a real mood and momentum for change at that point and if the poll momentum had held there would be obituaries being written now. That tapped into the same anger at homelessness and poverty that the Metiria scandal did. Remember the Greens were polling 15% under her leadership and a moribund (but united) Labour.
Failure to deal clearly with the scare tactics or hit back saw Labour lose its way in the last week.
Otherwise the mood for change argument would have needed no elaboration. The right were feeling sick a week and a half out.
To claim there was no vote for change is facile and head in the sand stuff. To claim the vote was clearly for change is to ignore the election night numbers.
It was too close to call for the last couple of weeks and will be something similar after the specials we assume, with Winston choosing who sits on the treasury benches.