Heather du Plessis-Allan: Labour doesn't need the next Prime Minister- it needs Hipkins

Chris Hipkins is staying on as the leader of the Labour Party- for now.

Which I think is the right thing for Labour, and I'll explain why. But first, I'll get you across what has happened.

They made the call today in a nearly two-hour caucus meeting. It was supposed to wrap up at 2pm this afternoon, but it ran all the way until quarter past 3.

Clearly there was more to discuss than they thought. It could be that they were debating what to do with the leadership, could be that some people were cross in there- or it could just be something as simple as taking longer to farewell their departing colleagues, who knows.

But when he emerged, the faces were drawn. People were not happy, they were looking really sad. And he emerged without a full-throated endorsement of his caucus.

Basically, they haven't decided that they actually like him, they've just deferred making a decision to another day. They did not hold a vote today, there wasn't a challenge today, they've decided to leave it until after the special votes are counted and they know their full caucus.

It doesn't sound like the Labour caucus are all stoked with Chippy. There are multiple reports already that say there are Labour MPs who blame him for the result on Saturday night, because he made the calls on things like ruling out a wealth tax, they think that lost them the election.

And he definitely didn't bring all of his energy at the start. One insider has reportedly described him as 'f***ing useless'.

Having said all that- they made the right call to leave him in the job.

Because they don't need the next Prime Minister in that job right now, they need someone who can do opposition well.

They need someone who can have a crack at the Nats and ACT in Question Time, who can run a good attack line through the media, who knows how opposition works, who knows how to run a team.

Chris Hipkins can do all of these things. There are others in there, like Grant Robertson, who can do them as well, if not better- but they are on their way out.

They're clearly going to leave, and they need some senior experience. Chris Hipkins brings that.

The Labour Party rules require that they do make a decision in three months from now. Even then, it might be too early to toss Chris Hipkins out because leadership battles are ugly.

And I reckon they might just need time to steady the ship and recover from the trauma of what happened on Saturday night to actually think straight and make a call.

Chippy's clearly not their next Prime Minister- but for now, he's the right leader.

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