If you bump into Chris Hipkins today, can you tell him he’s dreaming?

Because, now that we know this year’s election is happening on 7 November, Chris Hipkins is saying that Labour can get more than 40 percent of the party vote and form the next government.

He also wants Labour to win back Auckland.

He’s dreaming. Because I don’t think voters, generally, are ready yet to give Labour another chance. And I don’t think voters in Auckland, especially, are ready to trust Labour again.

Hipkins is doing what leaders do - especially in election year. They rally the troops. But it’s going to be a big task keeping the troops rallied for 10 months.

And I know Labour will be disappointed that the election isn’t happening sooner. An earlier election would have meant less time for the economy to recover. Plus, Labour has nowhere near the same campaign resources that the likes of the National Party has.

So it’s going to be a tough winter for the party.

The thing is: what would we need to see from Labour or hear from Labour to buy into this talk from Chris Hipkins that it’s a different party from last time around? Rather than banging-on about changing and being different, we need to hear what it is the party has accepted about itself that has driven this so-called change. It’s very easy to say “oh, we’ve changed. we’re different now, you’re gonna love the new us”. That’s just telling people what you think people want to hear.

To even think about giving Labour another chance so soon, people need to see the difference.

Let me give you an example: you’re running a cafe but customers are leaving in droves because they don’t like the way you and your staff treat them when they come in for lunch or a coffee. You’re a bunch of grumps. Terrible vibe. So people give you the flick. You realise what’s happening and you go onto your Facebook page and you say “hey guys, I’m hearing that some of you haven’t been that impressed with our service. Hey, I’ve had a word to the team and we’re different now, we’ve changed our ways, so come on back.”

Would you buy into that? I’m picking voters will be exactly the same with Labour.

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