Phil Goff: John Key

Helen Clark resigned on election night, and promised that "a new leader will be chosen before Christmas". Looks like it was already pre-chosen -Phil Goff is Labour's new leader, with Annette King taking Michael Cullen's place.

Phil Goff is on the right of the party (despite still being leftist nonetheless). After seeing John Key's win on Saturday, Labour was out looking for pragmatism, so Phil Goff was the ideal candidate (and was from the start). After all, he is not too different from John Key. Fundamentally, there is no difference between the two. Labour was merely looking for a candidate who hadn't fallen out of favour with the middle class (as the election result shows).

And where's Don Brash when you need him?