Lover blamed for Lange's downfall

Former Labour Prime Minister David Lange's political judgement was weakened by complications of his gastric bypass surgery, called "dumping syndrome", a new book claims.

Working with David: Inside the Lange Cabinet, by former Labour minister Dr Michael Bassett, claims that Lange's worsening health problems made him vulnerable to pressure from his lover and speechwriter Margaret Pope.

Bassett says Pope pushed Lange to stand up to his Finance Minister Roger Douglas, contributing to the bitter and public falling out between Lange and Douglas over the finance minister's proposals for a flat tax.

"You are dealing with a man who even at the peak of his existence was not strong at confronting problems. By the time he gets sick and his lady love is very, very much at his elbow, pushing him all the time, you're dealing with a bit of a cot case," Bassett told the Sunday Star- Times.

Bassett, a historian who took notes throughout his time in office, was a close ally of Douglas. Lange, in his 2005 autobiography My Life, described Bassett as "always venomous".

But Pope, who married Lange in 1992, told the Star-Times that while by 1997 Lange suffered increasingly from pain and discomfort from rapid gastric emptying, the suggestion it affected his decisions were "nonsense".

And she rejected Bassett's claim that she was a major factor in the collapse of the Lange government.

"It's a badge of honour to be so comprehensively attacked in this book," she said. "What the falling out was over was a disagreement over what direction politics was going in.

"What David did in standing up to those people by himself was one of the bravest acts in all of modern politics. It took incredible courage and he did it because he was a better person than his opponents," Pope said.

"He believed that if Douglas's prescription was followed, the government would be ruined and the country would be ruined."

And Pope said while Lange had little interest in political theory, he knew very well who the Labour Party represented.

"You didn't need to have a degree in politics or economics to know that Douglas's policies were skewed towards benefiting quite a small group in the population."

Pope says one of the things that most shook Lange was when, in the 1987 election, Labour almost won the wealthy seat of Remuera, Auckland. Lange knew then his government's policies were dangerously out of step with its own supporters.

In his book, released tomorrow, Bassett says Lange became a different man after the 1987 election, withdrawing from his ministers.

"As Lange's health teetered in a downward direction, she became a more significant factor in the government's chances of survival than any of the cabinet realised until it was too late.

"By 1987 when Lange began conspiring against Roger Douglas, his commitment to Pope who hated everything that the Rogernomes stood for, was complete; no compromise could be entertained. Margaret Pope became the single biggest factor in the collapse of David Lange's government.

"David Lange's political career resembled a meteor that filled the sky for a relatively short time then careered into a darkness of ill-health, alcohol and political make-believe, interspersed with occasional flashes of the genius that had so captivated his fellow countrymen, and especially his closest colleagues," writes Bassett.

"Dumping syndrome" or rapid gastric emptying, happens when the lower end of the small intestine fills too quickly with undigested food from the stomach. It is characterised by nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhoea, dizziness, sweating and fatigue.

Bassett says Lange told him shortly after the 1987 election he had been vomiting all night, had diarrhoea and had been ill since the second week of the campaign. Lange had gastric bypass surgery in 1982 to tackle his obesity. He had also had type 2 diabetes from age 35 and had heart problems that by June 1988 saw him admitted to hospital for an angioplasty.

Dr Pat Frengley, who oversaw Lange's medical treatment for many years, said while Lange had increasingly been troubled by dumping syndrome, the condition was intermittent. He did not believe Lange health problems were serious enough to have affected his judgement.

- © Fairfax NZ News