Following on from my earlier post … ‘Hamish Rutherford always looks grim these days‘, well, it seems that enough is enough for Hamish Rutherford (and fair enough too).
Stuff reports:
[Rutherford’s] message said: “It has been an absolute honour to work for Christopher Luxon both in Opposition and for the year since the election, but it has become clear to me over the past few months that I am not prepared to do the full term. I’m available until the end of the year as required.”
Well, he would say that.
Rutherford said he was looking forward to a decent summer break and wanted to spend more time with his family.
Let’s face it, Christopher Luxon is a train wreck as prime minister — weak, clumsy, confused, jargon-riddled and indecisive. This brittle, two-faced little man doesn’t handle criticism, or even questioning, without getting petulant. He shoots his mouth off, facts be damned, and frequently comes across as dodgy and dishonest.
Luxon blames MMP and ‘the Coalition agreement’ for his own lack of leadership and vision, and his retrograde administration’s venal capitulation to various industry lobby groups and fringes. What a terrible embarrassment he has been so far. Such a lack.
I’m speculating, but I would say Hamish Rutherford must surely have become exasperated at Luxon’s continuous bungling of his role, and the frequent clean-up jobs and ‘clarifications’ required.
Luxon’s tone-deaf pursuit of cheap laughs on TikTok must also be hard to stomach.
Good luck to Hamish. Notable that he actually deployed the ‘spend more time with family’ trope. I know how very tough these parliamentary roles are on relationships and family, so I’m sure there’s truth to this, even if it sounds like a cliché.**
That line “it has become clear to me over the past few months that I am not prepared to do the full term” speaks volumes. I for one would read Hamish’s tell-all memoir about his time working in that particular hothouse, if he were ever so inclined to write it.
In the meantime, Hamish’s days of frowning as he watches his deeply unlikable boss repeatedly muck up media interactions are now thankfully numbered, and that’s got to be a relief.
– P
** Update 27 Sept: a fuller reporting of Hamish’s message to the press gallery, courtesy of NZ Herald, elaborated:
“Several of you have messaged me this morning. I can confirm that I have resigned as chief press secretary,” Rutherford wrote.
“It has been an absolute honour to work for Christopher Luxon both in Opposition and for the year since the election, but it has become clear to me over the past few months that I am not prepared to do the full term. I’m available until the end of the year as required.
“In terms of what comes next, right now I’m looking forward to a decent summer break and spending more time with my family. The one consistent piece of parenting advice I’ve received is that you will miss your kids being small. Frankie was born less than a month after I started in 2022 so that’s the priority in the near term.”
Archive copy [PDF] of Stuff article ‘Christopher Luxon’s chief press secretary Hamish Rutherford is resigning’
Archive copy [PDF] of NZ Herald ‘Media Insider’ column ‘Former top broadcaster Rachel Smalley eyed for PM’s communications role’
