There are many signs Clark is moving to election mode.

1. Announcement by Treasury today the economy is in recession. The sign is not the content as blind Freddy can see the economic situation is very bad. The sign is that Treasury have announced it long before the June quarter results are available. They're not due till next month. The reason for the early announcement is to clear the decks for Cullen and Clark - when the actuals are out they'll be in full blown election mode and will be able to say - "Oh, that's old news"

2. News UMR Research are testing voters sensitivity to Clark's leadership over Peters and whether she had shown strong leadership, along with questioning whether voters thought John key was slippery (yawn). Hat tip Farrar's place, Kiwiblog

3. The independent Speaker referring key Labour coalition partner and Minister, Winston Peters to the Privileges Committee to check his disclosures to the House.

4. Trailers written by all gallery hacks in the past week suggesting Clark needs to get through this week and get the Appropriations Bill through with its attendant question of Confidence, before cutting Peters loose.

5. One can only assume Clark and Cullen have advice the economy will be worse than dire and offers no advantage to wait till November. Best to have a crack now...very un-Clark but may be she's no longer in total control.