I see the plan.

Labour is sweating the current Māori Party meltdown, so they have rolled out Willie Jackson, who claims Takuta Ferris is handing political extremists ammunition to paint the Māori Party as too weird to ever do business with Labour.

There are several problems with the plan.

Firstly, post the by-election Willie has no credibility.

Willie couldn’t win a raffle, far less a vote. And not only couldn’t he win the vote, he couldn’t get anyone out to even contemplate voting. What we saw a couple of weeks ago in Auckland was the biggest by-election shambles in many a long year.

The next problem is the Māori Party are too wacky to ever be in Government, Ferris or no Ferris. In citing Ferris as some sort of issue, you are forgetting Packer, Waititi, and Maipi-Clark, and all the others who found themselves in front of the Privileges Committee and sanctioned in a way we had not seen previously.

These are not people remotely interested in working with others.

In that is the real issue for Labour. It's not the Māori Party's problem.

If the Māori Party weren't attached to a centre-left bloc by polling, none of this Ferris nonsense would be of any interest to anyone.

But because mathematically they are needed in an invented deal for polling purposes, they take on a larger importance.

Without them Labour stand zero chance in the election next year.

To make the story interesting, the pollsters and the media have to align all three parties otherwise the narrative doesn’t work.

Then there's the other issue for Willie: the so-called "political extremists" he talks of. Another name for them is middle New Zealand, who saw what Labour, and Labour alone, did with Māoridom 2020-2023 with the obsession, the name changes, the new rules and courses and the compulsion around all things Māori. Talk about turning the punter off with obsession.

Between the Greens with their Palestine and wealth tax fascination and the Māori Party and their separatism, no wonder Labour are worried.

They have freaks for friends.

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Alan Davies is a well-known funnyman.

He’s best known for starring in Jonathan Creek and for his permanent spot on QI, as well as his nearly 40 years of stand-up comedy.

Davies has had a busy career, and in amongst it all he’s written two memoirs, Just Ignore Him, released in 2020, and White Male Stand-Up, released just this month.

In both the memoir and his latest stand-up performances, Davies covers his extensive career, the highs, the lows, and the struggles he’s had with the abuse he experienced as a child.

He joined Mike Hosking for a chat, delving into his struggles, comedy, and White Male Stand-Up.

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On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 16th of September, the state of our economy took another hit with the 18th straight month of contractions in our services sector. Q2 GDP numbers on Thursday will be fascinating.

Yet again we are looking at Eden Park and whether more concerts could be held there. Can we just get on and do something about it?

Alan Davies of Jonathan's Creek and QI fame is on for a chat about his new book titled "White Male Stand-Up".

Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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