The Bull Ring

National losing voters to labour and ACT - Poll Labour is charging ahead in the latest 1 NEWS-Colmar Brunton Poll, securing enough seats to govern on its own.  Support for the party was up three percentage points from when the last poll was done between June 20 and 24, to 53%. Support for National was down six percentage points to 32%. . . However Judith Collins got 20% in the preferred prime minister ranks - a major improvement from when Todd Muller and Simon Bridges were National leader. Her approval rating was 27. Muller's was 10 and Bridges' -40. National also polled much better than in the Newshub-Reid Research Poll, released on Sunday, which had the party at only 25%.  The difference can in part be put down to timing. Newshub's was conducted between July 16 and 24, as Nikki Kaye, Amy Adams and Andrew Falloon announced their retirements, and it came to light Falloon sent pornographic images to young women. Meanwhile the 1 NEWS pol...

Fascist dictator to ban Tik Tok in US after being banned US President Donald Trump said on Friday (local time) that he was planning to sign an executive order as soon as Saturday banning Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok from the United States. . . The move would be the culmination of US national security concerns over the safety of the personal data that TikTok handles. It would represent a major blow for TikTok’s owner, Beijing-based ByteDance, which became one of only a handful of truly global Chinese conglomerates thanks to the app’s commercial success. “As far as TikTok is concerned, we are banning them from the United States... I will sign the document tomorrow,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. ByteDance and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment. . Newshub

Andrew Little recalls when he stepped aside for his good mate Jacinda Ardern . .

Election 2020: Andrew Little on his handover to Jacinda Ardern - 'I've never had a moment's regret' Former Labour leader Andrew Little has marked a turning point in New Zealand politics, recalling with pride the day Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern became Labour leader. The Justice Minister today posted a personal touching tribute to his boss on social media - complete with a red heart emoji - marking the anniversary when he handed over the reins of a Labour Party in dire freefall three years ago. With a picture of the pair embracing, he wrote how the decision to resign paved the way for his then deputy Ardern to succeed him to the top job. "Three eventful years ago today I nominated my mate Jacinda Ardern to succeed me as leader of the mighty New Zealand Labour Party. "The whole world can see why I've never had a moment's regret. Proud to keep moving with you boss," he posted today. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=...

US intelligence officials say Trump is full of shit US intelligence officials on Friday discounted the possibility of foreign countries mass producing fake ballots to interfere in the November elections, contradicting President Donald Trump's  continued insistence  that mail-in voting poses a significant threat to election security.  The closed-door House briefing was led by the US intelligence community's top election official, Bill Evanina, and senior intelligence officials who specialize in election security. Officials dismissed the possibility of foreign powers being able to interfere on a mass scale to produce and send fake ballots to voters and election authorities, a source said.  . . The issue of forged ballots only came up when a lawmaker asked about it, a source in attendance told CNN. Evanina didn't raise any alarms about that possibility, the source said.  The briefing highlighted the regular clash of views on election security ...

Which economic plan . .

Barbra Streisand publicly praises saint Jacinda for Covid-19 results Barbra Streisand is the latest global artist to publicly congratulate New Zealand on its success against Covid-19. The American singer and actress took to Twitter to suggest more countries should consider electing female leaders to be in charge of public health, judging by the success New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has had in the country's fight against the coronavirus pandemic. . . "We need more women in charge of public health. Jacinda Arden (sic), the PM in New Zealand, which has had only 22 deaths, had NO new cases in that island nation in 83 days," Streisand tweeted. . We need more women in charge of public health. Jacinda Arden, the PM in New Zealand, which has had only 22 deaths, had NO new cases in that island nation in 83 days. — Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) July 24, 2020 . Her tweet praising Ardern received more than 1400 retweets and has been lik...

Comparing Todd and Judith . .

Today in history: 2017. The second coming for New Zealand . .

Small business revenue impact and recovery The graph says it all New Zealand leading the way after COVID-19 Lockdown .

Judith Collins, A 'place-holder' leader . .

Only 50 Days to go. Yes good people. Only 50 days to go until the national party select a new leader.. .

Jacinda Ardern Top Global Leader Jacinda Ardern is the most "eloquent" leader in the world, a British professional development company believes. Development Academy has  compiled a list  of who it believes are the top 10 most eloquent global leaders after analysing "more than 100 hours of footage from press conferences, assemblies, political events and other public appearances" over the last year. It based its decision off "communication and presentation skills". . . Topping the list was Ardern, who the company said "employs an empathetic leadership style". "She challenges the common perception that emotional communication shows weakness, instead choosing to approach the public with softer touch. She has a measured and authoritative sincerity about her - she is kind and compassionate, without shying away from tough issues." She was followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ...

National Party slumps in new political poll The National Party has dropped in favourability in a new political poll, mirroring a similar result released by Newshub earlier in the week. The latest 1News Colmar Brunton poll has Labour up three points to 53 percent and National down six points to 32 percent, the Green Party is down one point to five percent and ACT is up two points to five percent. New Zealand First is unchanged on two percent, and New Conservative and the Māori Party are both on one percent, also unchanged. . . These results are similar to  the latest Newshub-Reid Research poll  that was released on Sunday, which also shows Labour could govern alone. Newshub's poll put Labour on 60.9 percent, National on 25.1 percent, the Greens on 5.7 percent, ACT at 3.3 percent and New Zealand First on two percent. National leader Judith Collins saw a rise in popularity in the preferred Prime Minister stakes in the Newshub poll, up 11.5 points to 14.6 per...

Under-dog National 'in the game' despite recent polling Despite National floundering in the latest polls, Simon Bridges believes the party remains "in the game" and that Kiwis deserve a contest of ideas, rather than a "coronation". . . Two public polls have been released over the last week, with Newshub-Reid Research putting  National on a dire 25.1 percent  - down 5.5 points from May - and Colmar Brunton showing the centre-right party  on 32 percent , a slide since its June poll. Labour's results consistently show it able to govern alone. National has said it expects the race to tighten ahead of the September 19 election as it suspects Kiwis will face harsh economic consequences resulting from COVID-19.  Simon Bridges - the former National leader who was rolled by Todd Muller in May - told The AM Show his party is the "underdog". "The polls are explainable. It is a situation where COVID-19 came around, the country ra...

Will Judith Collins announce her resignation tomorrow? . . Its time.. Will Judith Collins announce her resignation tomorrow?? .