Normal service resumes?

Note: this post originally appeared on ‘Douglas to Dancing’, a blog I maintained from 2007-9 on the ACT New Zealand political party. The blog was an extension of the thesis I wrote about the Act Party in 2007, From Douglas to Dancing: explaining the lack of success of ACT New Zealand and evaluating its future prospects (PDF).

After an extended break, I’m back and hope to provide some useful commentary on ACT in the election campaign. From now on I will try to make posts more timely and topical and move away from the extended, but irregular analysis pieces which I preferred earlier in the year. Expect Douglas to Dancing to be more concise and follow the news agenda more closely from now on, although I’ll still try to provide original material and comments not available elsewhere (the unique selling point of any blog). I can’t promise daily updates, but will attempt to provide commentary at least several times per week.

Naturally for a blog focusing on a small party, this blog has a small readership. Its future will partly depend on ACT’s fortunes in the 2008 election: if ACT does manage to put Sir Roger Douglas in as Minister of Finance, its survival in its present form is assured – anything less and it may not be. For example, if ACT’s party vote decreases from the 1.5% it attained in 2005, the time may be nigh to put the full stop on the ACT story. I suspect the ultimate outcome will fall somewhere in between. The ultimate dividing line between success and failure will be whether the support from ACT – either in a coalition or in a more informal arrangement – determines the composition of the next government. It’s worth noting, however, that Jim Anderton (via his Progressive Party) has been in coalition with Labour for the last two parliamentary terms, yet I don’t think anyone could find enough interest or material to create a blog on him (except Anderton himself, perhaps!)

Please remember to send comments and questions to me at any time, either via the in-built comments feature or to my e-mail address (details at left).