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Darren Hughes Stood Down From Portfolios
Darren Hughes Stood Down From Portfolios
Report - By The Scoop Team.
Labour leader Phil Goff has announced Darren Hughes has been stood down from his education and chief whip responsibilities.
Goff added that Hughes will remain an Member of Parliament while the Police investigation continues pending a conclusion into a complaint made against him.
MP for Mt Albert David Shearer has been promoted to acting education spokesman, and MP Steve Chadwick has been appointed senior whip.
Yesterday Police confirmed that an investigation was underway, sparked by a complaint about an incident involving an MP and made by an 18 year old male. Later Hughes issued a statement admitting that he was the MP under investigation but adding that he had done nothing wrong.
Today, speculation has been rife that Goff's leadership is being questioned by Labour's caucus members, fueled by criticisms that he knew of the Police complaint for two weeks but did not go public with the information and permitted Hughes to remain responsible to his portfolios.
Goff has defended his handling of the issue saying his decision not to go public was the right one and adding that he has the full support of caucus.
More info to come...
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