Caucus told to keep Jackson row quiet

Labour leader Andrew Little has told his caucus to keep their concerns about Willie Jackson in-house as he tries to contain any damage from his decision to bring Mr Jackson on board as a Labour candidate.

Willie Jackson
Willie Jackson
Mr Little met the Labour caucus yesterday morning and said afterwards he had driven home the need for them to raise concerns in caucus first rather than in public.

It followed MP Poto Williams' Facebook post at the weekend in which she said she could not support Mr Jackson unless he publicly apologised for his role in an interview on the Roast Busters case in 2014.

Mr Little told RNZ Ms Williams was right to raise those concerns but was surprised she had done so on social media.

He had explained to caucus why he was supporting Mr Jackson, and he was satisfied Mr Jackson had acknowledged his wrongdoing and had since been involved in domestic violence programmes as the head of the National Urban Maori Authority.

Mr Little also took the step of assuring some MPs they would not be disadvantaged by his promise to get Mr Jackson a high place on the list.

He told Fairfax he would expect MPs such as David Parker, Trevor Mallard and Kelvin Davis to be above Mr Jackson - a change in tune from earlier in the day when he refused to say whether he wanted Mr Jackson ranked higher than others.

The backdown indicates Mr Little came in for criticism over his handling of the situation, which appeared to blindside many in caucus.

The fallout from the announcement has turned into an unwanted distraction for Mr Little to deal with in the first week of Parliament.

Some Labour members are circulating an open letter calling on Labour's council to reject Mr Jackson's candidacy.

The issue has been picked up by

Prime Minister Bill English, who joked it could be a chapter in a book on "Lessons in Leadership'' by Mr Little: "Chapter 2 is 'how ... I picked a star political candidate and united the Labour Party'.'' - NZME

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