I suppose the ultimate question is, what do you want in a leader, or more specifically, the Prime Minister?

Chris Hipkins is immersed in a growing mess around social media and an angry ex-wife.

Hand on heart, if it hadn't been sent to me I would not have asked, because I genuinely don’t care.

I still subscribe to the broad idea that personal lives are off limits, unless you decide they're fair game.

Social media has changed all the rules. Did the post of me at the pub or the charity run give you clearance to troll through every detail?

Does a political figure asking for your vote entitle you to know everything about them and, if so, where is the line? And is the line not different for each and every one of us?

Equally, it has a chilling effect. For everything that may be/could be said about you that isn't true (or is said with malice with a bit of added spice that isn't strictly true but designed to damage) it must put people off public office, there but for the grace of God.

Who needs that grief? No one is squeaky clean.

If the Parliament is supposed to be representative, I suppose you could argue Hipkins and his ex represent a large slice of the New Zealand countryside; married, divorced, things got messy – that's life experience.

You could argue she's toxic. You could argue he's a prick. You could argue a lot of stuff, which is why it is probably best left, given it doesn’t cross the threshold of requiring the authorities.

In others’ words it's domestic, it's not illegal, it's not involving police, or authorities, or courts, or charges, or investigations. It's she said, he said.

I would love to know (and AI will tell us one day) how many have reacted to the allegations strongly because they hate Hipkins and want him taken down, versus how many reacted strongly because of the accusations in isolation, versus how many haven't reacted at all, versus how many have reacted against her for seeking revenge, versus how many have gone out of their way to track down the comments because they are nosey.

What a mix – public life, social media, gossip, innuendo, anger, broken hearts, revenge, toxicity, and sticky beak-ery.

Who would be an MP?

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Mike's Minute: The Hipkins allegations and effect

The Mike Hosking Breakfast