Former Labour minister Iain Lees-Galloway, who was fired three years ago, says ascending party star Kiri Allan was under "constant pressure" from a "brutal" Parliament before her car crash and police arrest on Sunday.
He said he knew the experience of public scandal for Allan would be "horrid" after his own experience under the public eye.
Former prime minister Jacinda Ardern fired the then-immigration minister over an extramarital affair with a staffer several months before the 2020 general election.
Yesterday, Kiri Allan resigned from her ministerial portfolios, apologised, and said she would consider her political future. The now-former justice minister was arrested and charged with careless driving and resisting arrest after she crashed into a parked car.
The MP was allegedly over the legal alcohol limit when she crashed.
The ordeal for Allan has raised questions about the pressure put on politicians, with the former minister having faced what Prime Minister Chris Hipkins described as "extreme emotional distress".
Speaking to Breakfast, Lees-Galloway said the East Coast MP had been an ascending star within the Labour caucus after being first elected in 2017.
The former minister said today: "Kiri was identified early as a star, I think even as a candidate, she was identified and got a lot of media attention as a candidate," he said.
Chris Hipkins says he's expecting to speak with the East Coast MP later this week. (Source: Breakfast)
"There was a lot of expectation on her and she rose quickly. She was immediately one of the whips team when she came into Parliament.
"And that comes with a lot of extra pressure, plus the fact that there's an expectation that politicians live their whole lives in the public now — and I think Kiri did that."
At the time, observers and commentators speculated Allan could've been a contender for the leadership race to replace Ardern or deputy Grant Robertson earlier this year.
"She wore a lot of additional pressure and a lot of additional expectation. She's a very capable person, she deserved that attention, she deserved the opportunity to rise through the ranks as quickly as she did," Lees-Galloway said.
"What's really borne out here is that that constant pressure, that constant spotlight, it's not something that everybody can thrive in.
"You can not excuse the behaviour … but you can look at the context and feel for the person as a human being."
1News political editor Jessica Mutch McKay and deputy political editor Maiki Sherman gave their thoughts on the minister’s departure. (Source: 1News)
He said the incident demonstrated "Parliament is not a place that's well equipped to support people's mental health".
"Parliament is brutal, and I don't think you'll ever completely get rid of that because it is right that our elected representatives are held to account and that you're going to live your life in the spotlight," the former minister told Breakfast.
"But I think it's still got a long way to go.
"And I think this demonstrates that Parliament is not a place that's well equipped to support people's mental health. It's a very competitive, very low-trust environment, and people are on the lookout to see where others have tripped up."
The 2019 Francis Review delivered a scathing assessment of Parliament as a workplace — suggesting it had long been a toxic environment for staff.
A progress review released last week found the workplace had "improved significantly" but that there were still major areas where systems could be improved.
1News political editor Jessica Mutch McKay and deputy political editor Maiki Sherman gave their thoughts on the minister’s departure. (Source: 1News)
Becoming a disgraced minister is 'horrid'
Lees-Galloway said his own fall from grace had been a "tremendously difficult" experience.
"It's horrid. It's tremendously difficult," he said.
"The only way I could deal with it was just to keep myself to myself - kind of go to ground for awhile - spend time with my loved ones, and help them deal with what was going on too, because it affects your family and your friends as well," he said.
"I had people who got around me, who took care of me, and we made a plan for how I could get through that… You can work through it. But it is tiring. It is hard, and you need good people around you to do it."
The political observer added that he would be "surprised" if Kiri Allan's resignation didn't have an effect on Labour's chances at the election.
"I would be very, very surprised if this doesn't have some impact on Labour's polling. We've seen National struggle to pull away despite an environment where the opposition should really be thriving," Galloway said.
"But it makes it really, really hard. It's going to be a close election. The tiniest little thing could swing it one way or the other."
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