Gareth Morgan, founder of The Opportunities Party, has resigned
Party Leader Geoff Simmons has accepted the resignation of Dr Morgan from all roles, including the Policy Committee. It
seems that politics is too similar to herding cats for his liking, and he can’t wait to sink his claws into his many
other interests.
Dr Morgan started the party in 2016 to contest the 2017 election. His no-nonsense style and innovative, well-researched
policy attracted followers from all ages. At the 2017 election, The Opportunities Party secured 2.4% of the party vote.
Party Leader Geoff Simmons explains the way forward for the party:
“The Opportunities Party is now truly a movement and will contest the 2020 election as a broad-based, member-led party.
We will always be grateful to Dr. Morgan for the initial momentum he provided. Achieving his vision of a fairer, cleaner
and more prosperous New Zealand for all Kiwis was always going to require more than the drive of one person. Some early
policies have now moved into the mainstream, largely due to Dr. Morgan’s influence, but there are plenty of thorny
issues that need fresh, future thinking.
New Zealand needs The Opportunities Party at the parliamentary table to address the larger, longer-term problems that
most career politicians will not address. We want to thank Dr. Morgan for his foresight in creating the party and will
honour his legacy by discarding irrelevant, outdated notions of political ideology and focussing on “Not left, not right
- just doing what works.”
The Opportunities Party rebooted after the last election and its membership continues to grow - it lists around 4,200
core members and over 30,000 followers on social media. The Opportunities Party’s social media program garnered 5.5
million views within 6 months during the 2017 election.
We call upon anyone that recognises that our current political system does not address important issues like the
Environment, the New Economy and Fair Taxation to join us and become part of the movement.
The conversation continues at TOP.ORG.NZ.
Party leader Geoff Simmons is an economist and author with experience in New Zealand Treasury, the UK Civil Service, as a consultant and heading
up the think-tank The Morgan Foundation. He was co-Deputy Leader of The Opportunities Party and developed a lot of the
policy used during the 2017 Opportunities Party campaign.
-ENDS-