United Future party members have decided unanimously to disband the party, according to a leaked email.
The email, purporting to be from fledgling leader Damian Light and circulating among party members, says members made the unanimous decision at the annual meeting at the weekend. Mr Light was unable to be contacted last night and former leader Peter Dunne declined to comment.
The email says the party has been having ‘‘robust discussions’’ about its future and that despite its successes in Parliament ‘‘it is no secret that we have struggled at election time’’.
‘‘Since the election we’ve been investigating why — we’ve talked to members and non-members, those who voted for us and those that didn’t.
‘‘We know people like our policies and vision but it hasn’t translated into votes.’’
While the reasons varied, what had become clear was that the party would not be able to achieve the significant number of votes required to break the threshold, the email said.
‘‘Therefore we have decided it is time to disband the United Future party.’’
The party board would be working through the technicalities in the coming weeks.
Mr Light was leader of United Future for barely a month before the election after party leader and Ohariu MP Peter Dunne stepped down.
Mr Light had a brief flurry of popularity when he was compared with Hollywood megastar Ryan Gosling following a minor leaders’ televised debate during the campaign.
But it was not enough to get the party over the line. United Future won just 0.1% of the party vote.
Mr Light said in his letter to members that ‘‘we have unfinished business’’ but United Future was not the vehicle to achieve it.
