Andrea Vance

I do not generally consider myself a fan of Andrea Vance's journalism. This is because I believe she's fundamentally a Tory, and that does come through in this book. She remembers things quite differently from how I (and NZ lefty twitter) interpreted at the time, and glosses over some of the truly omnishambolic moments of the last few years. Like, it's one thing to say that Hamish Price organised the Posonby meet n' greet, and that it was obviously staged (as Vance does), and quite another to point out that Hamish Price pretended on-camera to be an adoring member of the public but was immediately recognised by everyone because of his ridiculous clown shoes. Seriously, if you google him the first things that come up are "Hamish Price NZ" and "Hamish Price shoes". They belong in Te Papa!

All that said, this is a cracking read, and gives a fascinating insider view to the public/private flailing we've all witnessed since John Key's departure. Highly recommended for all my fellow NZ politics nerds!… (meer)