Analysis: LNP takes little comfort in leader’s post-election email
A four-paragraph statement to LNP members from Deb Frecklington the morning after the election has failed to soften the blow of the defeat, writes Steven Wardill.
Opinion
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Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington yesterday penned a brief note to her forlorn LNP team that offered little insight into their latest election shellacking at the hands of Labor.
“While the result was obviously not the one we had been working towards, you should all take immense pride in the support you have received from your local communities,” Frecklington insisted in the email, obtained by The Courier-Mail.
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Yet the party’s MPs – particularly those still watching the count and wondering whether they’ll be joining Queensland’s nation-leading jobless queue – were struggling to see any silver lining in Saturday’s storm.
This was an epic fizzer, one that neither party picked, as undecided voters who’d previously backed Pauline Hanson chose Labor and Annastacia Palaszczuk en masse.
Behind-the-scenes there had been concern among MPs for some time.
First it was the little things, like Wednesday night when campaign offices were told to trim 2cm off all the giant corflutes featuring Frecklington and Scott Morrison because they were slightly too large under electoral rules.
It was a small error, but illustrative nonetheless.
Then there was the bigger picture, with disquiet over whether the LNP’s major policies such as the New Bradfield Scheme and $300 vehicle registration rebate were cutting through with voters.
It was when Frecklington announced a youth curfew policy eight days before the election that concern turned to alarm for some, as this indicated the party was having to throw the kitchen sink at Townsville and Cairns seats.
It’s all academic now.
Frecklington’s loss looks like being the worst since 2009, although at that election the LNP gained rather than lost seats.
She has insisted she wants to lead again, telling MPs she’ll “convene a party room at the earliest opportunity”.
While there’s plenty of sympathy for Frecklington’s plight, she’ll need more than a four-paragraph statement to win MPs over if the mood for change gathers momentum.
Originally published as Analysis: LNP takes little comfort in leader’s post-election email