POLITICAL SWING

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 173, 24 July 1941, Page 5

POLITICAL SWING

TO NATIONAL PARTY J MR. LEE SEES TENDENCY l The opinion that the National 'party has "the best cause to be jpleased" with the result of the Waijtemaia by-election is expressed by iMr. J. A. Lee, M.P., in his weekly journal. In an article discussing !various aspects of the campaign he j says that the Labour vote dropped by 40 per cent, and the Labour 'majority of 2000 became a Labour j minority. ; "Labour's chiefs will acclaim the defeat of Democratic Labour, and ipromise all sorts of sulphurous gifts Uo Mr. Barnard and myself," says Mr. Loo. "We shall both take a ihuge amount of laying by the heels, but what is obvious is that a huge number of political Labour corpses will certainly be laid out on the t'ub next polling day. B<-.~we;! and Barclay, Thorn and Lee Martin. iMoncur and Colt-man, and (Jullerf, Roberts and Hobert.-on and I .wry. Mc-achon. C'arr ;.r.d Dt-r.l.um a:vi Imany other.--, on curixiit tr<-ml.-\ are just waiting for 'ho sweep of the election scythe. There are fully half the urban seat? as well about to topple. Labour has held its machine .vote, but ail the radicals who build ! a machine vote are elsewhere these days, and that machine vote is a deteriorating finality. Democratic Labour will glow and Labour will wilt at ea<h conu-.-t . . ." "Holland Triumph, or Coalition" Democratic Labour. Mr. T.ee goes on. run riot only aeainst the 'dwinclliiic mass of a repimepted vote but coinpeu-- with "a definite swing to the * Right. This unfortunate tendency, the re.-uit of bosiism and loss of confidence iinvins Labour is ,;o bo dfplorc-d. 1.-it ti:«-re it is. If lh« Holland par:;.' makes adequatu

use of Gordon Coatcs in the coming election Sidne\' Holland will become Prime Minister. The thought may cause us to shudder, but let us face 'the facts." This "swing to the {Right" which Mr. Lee detect!?, involves "the eentainty of a idefeat and a Holland triumph or of |some sort of coalition." He expresses confidence that his ova iparty will benefit, because "whatjever" happens the swing must no 'Left after the coalition or election. ljlt will travel Leftward with a ■ 'greater ■ pace after an election in I which Sidney Holland becomes .Prime Minister. Probably the klowT |est movement would occur if Mr. became a Coalition Prime t Minister, giving way later to Mr. I Holland as Ramsay Mac Donald gave " way to Baldwin . . ." As a further possibility Mr. Lee r says that Labour may prolong its r life without coalilion, *"a scarcely likely contingency."