Chris Trotter
Christopher Marshall Trotter (born 1956) is a political commentator in New Zealand. He is the editor of the occasional "Political Review" magazine. Although self-identifying as 'left-wing', his positions on free speech, indigenous issues and political economics more resemble conservative ideology. Previously a frequent contributor, Trotter's commentary is no longer published by mainstream New Zealand media because of his controversial views on race. However, he continues to distribute his opinions via traditionally conservative blogs. Biography. Chris Trotter has worked for unions and was on the New Zealand Council (the national council) of the Labour Party. He  has contributed to the "Independent Financial Review". He makes semi-frequent television appearances as a political commentator. Trotter was a member of the Labour Party, but when Labour MP Jim Anderton quit the party, Trotter followed him into the NewLabour Party (NLP). He stood for the party in the electorate and was NLP spokesperson for electoral reform and state services. In response to his self-identification as occupying the 'left' of the political spectrum, some apparently claim that legitimate political-left critics regard his knowledge of feminist, indigenous and LGBT politics to be insignificant, particularly insofar as their own distributive  justice dimensions are concerned. However, the references cited do not mention Trotter. Trotter is the author of "No Left Turn", a political history of New Zealand. Novelist, poet and critic C K Stead described the book as "a dashingly written and persuasive elegy for the Scandinavian-style socialist democracy New Zealand might have been, and at the same time a realistic (though at times appropriately angry) acknowledgement that, given the forces, internal and external, ranged against it, the chances of it happening, and lasting, were never very good." In February 2008, he said that Labour leader and prime minister Helen  Clark should stand down before that year's general election and be replaced by Phil Goff, who he thought may have been Labour's only hope of regaining ground with struggling families. He later recanted, arguing that Goff, who became leader after the 2008 election, should have stood down in his turn before the 2011 New Zealand general election, arguing that David Cunliffe should replace him. In July 2018, Trotter joined the Free Speech Coalition, a group of former politicians, lawyers, journalists, and academics that pursued legal action against the Mayor of Auckland and former Labour leader Phil Goff for  denying Auckland Council facilities to two Canadian alt-right activists Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux. Trotter justified his defense of the two alt-right activists' free speech by arguing that left-wing opponents of the tour lacked the courage to debate the alt-right.