7 February 2001

Media Statement for Immediate Use

ENGLISH DEPUTY LEADERSHIP WON’T SAVE SHIPLEY - PETERS

Rt Hon Winston Peters MP, Leader of New Zealand First, today predicted that it would only be a matter of time before Jenny Shipley’s leadership of the National Party is undermined by her newly elected Deputy Bill English.

“No one – save the politically naïve Mrs Shipley – believes Mr English’s assurances of support for the present National Party Leader. Seeking those assurances in the first place, as a condition for the Deputy Leadership, are the clear signs of a Leader in desperate trouble – not matter what “spin” Mrs Shipley attempts to put on it.

“In the coming months we will see Bill English and his supporters do precisely the same thing to Mrs Shipley that she did to former Prime Minister Jim Bolger,” said Mr Peters.

Mr Peters said that Jenny Shipley did not have the political skills in opposition that would be needed to avoid a showdown with Mr English and his supporters before the 2002 Election.

ENDS

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