Tweet of the Day - 13 May 2012

Today's offering, even though it was tweeted yesterday, comes from 3News political reporter Patrick Gower:

Patrick Gower ‏ @patrickgowernz

Cunliffe no-show on @theNationtv3 clearly shows he's been gagged by Labour hierachy fearing he appears up for leadership challenge

This is interesting. David Cunliffe was reported to have been the choice of the Labour Party rank and file last year when the party's leadership was contested. Despite not getting the plum role of Labour's finance spokesman, Cunliffe has been active in selling his economic vision for Labour.

Last week David Shearer gazzumped Cunliffe over the resumption of contibutions to the Cullen Fund. This week Shearer has effectively muzzled Cunliffe by ordering him not to appear on The Nation on TV3.

Perhaps David Shearer is made of tougher stuff that we anticipated. Or perhaps Labour's inner sanctum is desperate to shut down stories about a leadership challenge. Either way, we don't expect David Cunliffe to take these kinds of setbacks lying down; that's not his style. Watch this space.