It seems the Prime Minister is not showing MP Georgina Beyer the door after all. Following media reports that Beyer was on Helen Clark's list of MPs who were being encouraged to leave before the end of the parliamentary term in order to rejuvenate Labour's line-up, the Prime Minister phoned Beyer to assure her she was not being asked to leave. "I've assured her that as long as she wishes to serve, she's got my full support,” Clark told the Dominion Post. Beyer told the NZ Herald that she had been hurt by a conversation with the Prime Minister in which she was told that the party would not stand in her way if she found "new opportunities". She believed this was part of a PC backlash against Labour. The former MP for Wairarapa's parliamentary career has been characterised by on-again off-again announcements. During both her first and second terms she announced her retirement, but then changed her mind.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Monday, 24th October 2005 - 12:00pm