Readers will be familar with the recent attack on John Key by Labour lapdog Winston Peters over the staff levels in Key's office. This has stimulated an interesting analysis by David Farrar
Now what were staff numbers in 1999 and how have they changed in eight years?
Managers - up from 23 to 28 (22% increase)
Communicators (spin doctors) - up from 26 to 45 (a whopping 73% increase)
Portfolio Advisors - up from 62 to 111 (a 79% increase)
Political Advisors - up from 25 to 35 (40% increase)
Administrators - up from 52 to 67 (29% increase)
Total Staff - up from 188 to 286 (52% increase)
So under Labour they have increased total staff in Ministerial Offices by 52%, and spin doctors by 73%.
Oh and in case you were wondering about numbers in the Opposition Leader’s Office, a handy reader also has a July 1999 staff list for Helen Clark’s office. And Helen had 30 staff for 37 MPs. That is 0.81 staff per MP. While that terrible John Key has 36 staff for 38 MPs which is 0.75 staff per MP.
We suspect that Labour will be doing a little squirming over these figures and will not be thanking Winston for having raised the issue.
