What happened to the scandals?

A cautionary tale about the wisdom of mixing politics and religion. When the Exclusive Brethren rocketed onto the scene after being unveiled as the force behind a series of anti-Greens and anti- Labour pamphlets, Dr Brash's prospects of being elected the next prime minister sank like a stone.

The supposedly secretive sect proved itself to be not at all averse to the limelight and proceeded to stage a press conference at which they swore they were acting on His instructions.

Quite why He had instructed them on the one hand not to vote, while urging them to get involved in political pamphleteering, polling and providing the muscle for whichever National MP needed a hand erecting billboards was never made clear.

So far this election they have failed to resurface – Labour would claim that as a victory for the Electoral Finance Act's tightening of the screws on third-party advertising. But the more likely reason is new leader John Key's refusal to touch them with a barge pole. He wasn't born yesterday.