What do you think of this call today for Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon to both stand down before any coalition talks begin?

It’s coming from former ACT leader Richard Prebble who says, regardless of the election result, it’s clear that New Zealanders don’t want either of these two to be the next Prime Minister.

And he’s spot on, isn’t he?

Even before voting started, people were saying, “Do we really have to choose between these two?”

And, as the results so far show, a lot of people didn’t choose either of them. So, of course, they should both read the room and stand down.

Or their MPs should read the room and tell their leaders that their time is up.

Richard Prebble reckons that Labour’s Kieran McAnulty could replace Hipkins and Erica Stanford could replace Christopher Luxon. How refreshing would those two be, aye?

Because I don’t see how either Luxon or Hipkins can claim victory or claim to have a mandate to lead the country for the next three years. They don’t.

Yes, National has more seats than Labour.

But, considering the party vote count at this stage is neck-and-neck, there’s only 0.2 percent between them. Labour is on 29.4 percent and National is on 29.2 percent.

That’s a split vote on their leadership. That’s essentially what the party vote is, a popularity contest between the leaders.

And neither of them have won.

So, I agree with Richard Prebble. They’ve both been rejected and they should both stand down.

The second part of what he’s saying makes a lot of sense to me too. The timing. He thinks both parties should have new leaders before coalition talks begin.

Because, as much as a coalition deal is a deal between the parties, it’s also a deal between the leaders of each party. Because they’re the ones who have to work together and make the coalition work.

So, it makes perfect sense to me to have the leader who is going to be there for the full term in place right from the get-go.

Richard Prebble says it could be tempting for either party to give their leader a bit longer. Because neither of them are completely hopeless. But they’re not quite good enough, either.

As he says in the NZ Herald: “What do you do with someone who is nearly good enough? A decent person trying their hardest.”

Which I think we can say applies to both Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins.

Prebble adds: “The temptation is to give them more time. Sometimes it works. Often, it does not.”

“It is the not quite good enough, (people) who lead organisations, businesses, political parties and countries to ruin.”

He says there is never an easy time to replace a leader. But there is no better time than straight after an election.

Noting how, after elections, there’s always a lot of finger-pointing. Which we’re seeing already. The other day Vanessa Weenink was saying people in Banks Peninsula hate National because they think the party’s gone too far to the right.

Chris Bishop is another MP who has lost his job who has been publicly criticising his own party’s negative campaign.

But, as Richard Prebble says, instead of blaming the campaign and the campaign manager, or the advertising agency or whatever, it is the party leader who is ultimately responsible for the outcome.

And with neither Christopher Luxon nor Chris Hipkins getting a ringing endorsement from voters, he says they should both go as soon as possible, before any coalition talks start.

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