Don Brash quits as the National Party leader.

National Party leader Don Brash has stood down.

He made the announcement at a news conference on Thursday afternoon, and thanked his wife, chief of staff and all those who have advised him in his three years as party leader.

He was expected to clear the way for a controversial book on the party to be published.

The book by Nicky Hager was blocked by an injunction taken out last week by Brash, to stop stolen emails from being made public. It contains some of those emails which Hager claims were leaked to him by party insiders.

Hager says the book will show the National Party was saying one thing to the public during last year's election campaign but doing the opposite.

Prior to the announcement a political commentator said even if the injunction was lifted the damage had already been done to Brash.

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Brash seems to have made the same mistake that Nixon made he tried to contain or make the Exclusive Brethren scandal go away by straight out denials. Ultimately it seems to have cost Brash his political future.

[edit on 22-11-2006 by xpert11]

Xpert, Good find...been waiting for this to happen. Not really a participant in NZ politics as I am still going through the permanent residence process (U.S. expat). But one thing has caught my attention since coming to NZ...this man talks outa both sides of his mouth at the same time...alot. I'm not a big fan of Helen...she seems disinginuos at times...but Brash I have no trust in at all...he's guilty of trying to please to many groups/parties/people at the same time.

Deadbang welcome to New Zealand !
Back on the topic Brash has gone from Hero to villain in a short space of time.
While Brash brought right wing voters back to National he was unable to capture the middle ground. Much of National policys are the same old same old story and while I support tax cuts giving the majority of people an extra $8 per week in exchange for the likes of higher health care costs is hardly going to appeal to anyone.

Heres an update.

As expected, a smiling John Key emerged from National's special caucus meeting on Monday as the party's new leader and his deputy is Bill English.

National is selling it as the dream team but critics say it is a disaster waiting to happen. Both men went into the ballot unopposed and analysts say the pair in their forties give the party a new, young look.

Don Brash, 66, quit the leadership after three years on Thursday, because of what he called corrosive speculation about his future.

While Key is being warmly welcomed to the role of party leader, the response to English as deputy is less than enthusiastic.

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I'm going to take a wait and see approach when it comes to John Keys leadership but if he to fails National will almost have no where to go in terms of leadership.