3News 12 November 2013
Prime Minister John Key says Colin Craig’s deeply held opposition to gay marriage won’t be a stumbling block when it comes to forming a potential coalition after next year’s election.
With National’s poll ratings beginning to slip and current partners ACT and United facing oblivion, Mr Key has in recent weeks begun openly courting Mr Craig’s untested Conservative Party.
Polling at 2.7 percent in the latest 3 News/Reid Research poll, if the Conservatives were to win a seat they could be National’s ticket to a third term in power. And with the latest census showing strong population growth on the North Shore, the creation of a new electorate overlapping Mr Craig’s support base could see the two leaders sit down for a ‘cup of tea’ ahead of the election.
They’re yet to meet face-to-face to discuss a deal, but Mr Key says that’s likely to change in the new year.
“I think he can read the public messaging that I’ve been putting out there, and he can also read your poll and see that in principle, if he won a seat it would be a guaranteed National-Conservatives government,” Mr Key said on Firstline this morning.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Craigs-gay-marriage-views-dont-matter—Key/tabid/1607/articleID/320966/Default.aspx#.UoFYqtT2-Ul
