Sore Loser? Labours Steve Gibson takes swing - at Cunliffe SUBTLE ADVICE: David Cunliffe should jump in the lake, says renegade candidate Steve Gibson, who claims hed be a better Labour leader. Renegade Labour candidate Steve Gibson says the election campaign has left him totally broke and Labour leader David Cunliffe should go jump in the lake. Gibson was Labours candidate for the South Canterbury seat of Rangitata and made headlines for all the wrong reasons during the campaign. He was put on notice by David Cunliffe after calling Prime Minister John Key a nasty little creep and labelling him Shonky Jonkey Shylock in an August Facebook post. Cunliffe said Gibson was on a last chance after making the comments but in early September Gibson again found himself in hot water when he described the National party as a bunch of dicks. Following the remarks, Cunliffe told Newstalk ZB Gibson had no future in Labour. By then, though, it was too late to deselect him. Gibson was up against Nationals Jo Goodhew, who increased her 2011 majority during the campaign by 101 per cent to 13,152. It was the largest increase to an incumbents majority across all 71 electorates. Gibson blamed Cunliffe for Labours poor showing in the seat. Ive given my all and Ive been shafted by a guy who thinks hes a leader, Gibson said. You didnt see the All Blacks jumping all over Richie McCaw when he gave away a penalty earlier this year. First and foremost you support your team. Ditching David Shearer had been a fatal mistake for Labour and Cunliffe needed to go, he said. Ideally Labour should be looking at someone like me to lead them. Theyve been relying on insiders for too long and maybe they should look to an outsider. But thered be an ice cubes chance in hell of me getting into there. Gibson said his full-time campaigning had taken its toll financially. I dont know where my next $250 for rent is coming from this week. Ive got a wife and a three year-old daughter to support. He said he was considering putting his Labour Party t-shirt up for sale to help ends meet. Im thinking of writing Shylock in vivid marker on it and auctioning it on Trademe. I bloody need the dough. Despite his crushing defeat and being publicly humiliated by his leader, Gibson had no regrets. I gave it a go for what I thought were the old Labour principles.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 03:04:49 +0000