Sex scandal a killer for opposition Labour Party in New Zealand
March 28th, 2011 - 12:43 pm ICT by ANI
Wellington (New Zealand), Mar. 28 (ANI): It’s election year in New Zealand, but the conservative National Party, which has been in power since 2008, is proving tough to beat thanks to the sky-high popularity of leader John Key, further boosted after the Christchurch earthquake.
The opposition Labour Party’s woes have increased with fresh allegations against one of its star performers, chief whip Darren Hughes, who resigned from parliament last week amid allegations of a sexual incident.
The charges against the 32-year-old relate to an 18-year-old male student. It is understood that the scandal involved a naked man who was found on the street near Hughes’ Wellington home.
While the affair has had a catastrophic impact on Hughes political fortunes, Labour itself threatens to be the bigger casualty.
The affair has created a huge headache for Labour leader Phil Goff and deputy leader Annette King, with whom Hughes was boarding when the incident happened.
Goff, who revealed he’d known about it for two weeks before it was leaked to the media.
The party is losing favour with voters, with new poll results released today showing Labour is set to win just 31.4 per cent of votes ahead of the November 26 election, down from 40 per cent a few months ago. (ANI)
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