Jacinda Ardern says in debate with PM she is taking nothing for granted after poll gives her party a two-point advantage

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The New Zealand Labour party has continued its extraordinary surge under the month-old leadership of Jacinda Ardern, with a new poll putting its support at a 10-year high and for the first time ahead of the governing National party in campaigning for September’s general election.

Ardern took control of the party on 1 August with Labour at an all-time low in the polls and has almost single-handedly reignited its chances of forming the next government.



New Zealand gripped by 'Jacindamania' as new Labour leader soars in polls Read more

Labour’s projected share of the vote has risen from 26% to 43% since Ardern, 37, became the party’s youngest leader. Labour now stands two points ahead of the National party, led by the prime minister, Bill English. The election takes place on 23 September.

Ardern and English met in a leaders’ debate on Thursday in which English was asked in the opening question: “Bill, why are you losing?”

Ardern, whose charisma and rising popularity prompted domestic media to coin the term “Jacindamania”, told the moderator, Mike Hosking, that she was not taking anything for granted.



“I’m certainly not going to decide that it’s somehow a done deal right now,” she said of Labour’s poll lead.

English and Hosking tussled over the poll and whether the prime minister could reveal another private polling number, which he claimed was better.

The debate between the two leaders was dominated by housing, tax and immigration. Ardern’s biggest challenge going into the debate was expected to be whether she could hold her own on economic issues alongside English, who is a former finance minister, as well as claims that Labour lacks clarity on future tax plans.Labour’s fiscal plan includes spending an additional $20bn (£11bn) over four years.

Political analysts were divided over which of the party leaders came out on top. Grant Duncan, an associate professor of political theory and New Zealand politics at Massey University, called it a draw. “The moderator put more pressure on Jacinda compared with the challenges to Bill over his government’s performance, handing Bill the advantage,” he said.

The New Zealand Herald’s political editor, Audrey Young, favoured Ardern. “It was Bill English but not as we know him. He sounded as though he has been in a debating bootcamp for the past week, learning about gesticulation, intonation, brevity and how good it is to smile.

“It doesn’t come naturally to him. She [Ardern] looked relaxed and assured and won hands down on presentation.”

English attacked what he called Labour’s “vague and confusing” policies and reiterated his party’s tax cut policies. “People can’t go shopping with your values … every person in New Zealand who does not have children will be worse off under Labour,” he said.

Ardern attacked National’s record on housing, reiterating a Labour plan to build 10,000 houses a year. Home ownership rates in New Zealand have fallen to their lowest since 1951 and affordability is one of the greatest challenges, with prices increasing 34% in the last three years.

English said affordability was better than it had been in 2008 due to low interest rates, to which Ardern replied: “Tell someone in Auckland that a $150,000 deposit is affordable.”

English asked whether Labour would tell meat workers why it would take $1,000 a year from them by cancelling tax cuts to make university “a bit cheaper for lawyers”. Ardern had announced on Tuesday that she would fast-track a Labour policy to phase in three years of free tertiary education.

Ardern said the money for Labour’s fiscal plan would come from cancelling tax cuts, paying off debt more slowly and cracking down on international tax avoidance.

</s>The Jacinda Ardern tsunami has swept Labour into the lead in polling over National, giving her a boost as the election nears. .

The surprising result, less than a month after she took the Labour leadership on August 1, puts Ardern in the box seat to be prime minister after the September 23 election.

However, it was later revealed the poll doesn't reflect Labour's internal polls.

On Thursday night Labour leader Jacinda Ardern said she was "surprised" by the results, and while they were "heartening" she wasn't taking anything for granted.

Speaking in her home electorate of Mt Albert on Friday, Ardern confirmed Labour's internal polls did not have her party ahead of National.

While Labour's polls had the party tracking up, it didn't reflect the same jump the Colmar Brunton poll displayed.

"It is heartening for us, we are moving in the right direction, but as I said last night, the Colmar Bruton poll did surprise me. We're not taking anything for granted.

Ardern said despite the positive poll result there was a lot of hard work ahead, adding that poll results were changeable.

"Ultimately, there's only one that counts, as the cliche goes."

On Thursday, a 1 News Colmar Brunton poll put Labour at 43 per cent, ahead of National on 41 per cent.

It's the first time the Colmar Brunton poll has put Labour ahead of National in 12 years.

There is also better news for the Green Party, a key ally of Labour, which rises to the 5 per cent MMP threshold needed to be sure of winning seats in the next Parliament.

In the previous 1 News Colmar Brunton poll the Greens registered just 4 per cent and were in danger of being swept out of the House entirely.

With just over three weeks to go until the election the result will be a devastating blow for English and National, which looked to be cruising towards a huge lead over Labour when on July 30 it polled its worst ever result - 24 per cent - the day before Andrew Little stood aside for Ardern.

That was one percentage point lower than it polled in 2014.

The latest poll shows that the momentum generated by Labour's leadership change has not yet peaked.

In the last 1 News Colmar Brunton poll on August 18, Labour surged to 37 per cent, its highest level in 10 years.

Ardern was then at 30 per cent support as preferred prime minister - putting her on level pegging with English.

Ardern said she was yet to watch Thursday night's first leaders debate between herself and National's Bill English and she hoped to spend some time reviewing her performance.

"There's always going to be areas I'll want to improve. I'll always be my harshest critic."

Ardern said she needed to work on getting to the point a bit faster.

"But that's probably something politicians can all do."</s>"This is a bombshell," said Bryce Edwards, political analyst at Wellington-based Critical Politics. "It does mean that this campaign has turned on its head. National being in second place is entirely unexpected for the last ten years."

Ardern, 37, took the helm of the Labour Party on August 1, after poor poll results prompted the resignation of Andrew Little, breathing fresh air into an election that until then had been widely considered a slam dunk for National.

Speaking in her home electorate of Mount Albert on Friday, Ardern said Labour's own polls did not have her party ahead of National, although they showed the party tracking up.

"It is heartening for us, we are moving in the right direction, but as I said last night, the Colmar Bruton poll did surprise me. We're not taking anything for granted."

National or Labour would still need to strike a deal with smaller parties to form a government.

The Green Party, with which Labour has an agreement to work, edged up to 5 per cent. The two parties would probably still need the nationalist New Zealand First party, which slipped two points to 8 per cent, to form a government.</s>WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The race to form New Zealand's next government took an unexpected turn on Thursday (Aug 31) as a "bombshell" poll showed the opposition Labour party had overtaken the ruling National party, threatening its almost decade-long hold on power.

Prime Minister Bill English, 55, a political veteran and former finance minister, faces a highly contested race against Labour's Jacinda Ardern, 37, whose charisma and rising popularity have prompted domestic media to coin the term "Jacindamania".

National fell three points to 41 per cent, its lowest result since 2005, in a poll commissioned by 1 News and published on its website only an hour before Mr English and Ms Ardern face off in a debate.

Support for the newly invigorated Labour party jumped six points to 43 per cent, after the last-minute leadership change boosted its chances.

"This is a bombshell," said Mr Bryce Edwards, political analyst at Wellington-based Critical Politics. "It does mean that this campaign has turned on its head. National being in second place is entirely unexpected for the last ten years."

The result pushed the New Zealand currency to a three-month low of $0.7148 as the result at the Sept 23 election looks increasingly uncertain.

Ms Ardern, took the helm of the Labour Party this month, after poor poll results prompted the resignation of Mr Andrew Little, breathing fresh air into an election that until then had been widely considered a slam dunk for National.

National or Labour would still need to strike a deal with smaller parties to form a government in New Zealand's German-style proportional voting system.

The Green Party, with which Labour has an agreement to work, edged up to 5 per cent. The two parties would probably still need the nationalist New Zealand First party, which slipped two points to 8 per cent, to form a government.</s>New Zealand’s new opposition Labour party leader, Jacinda Ardern, speaks during an event held ahead of the national election at the Te Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand August 23, 2017. — Reuters picWELLINGTON, Aug 31 — New Zealand's opposition Labour Party today took the lead in opinion polls ahead of next month's election, continuing its resurgence under new leader Jacinda Ardern.

The widely respected 1News-Colmar Brunton poll put Labour on 43 per cent, two points ahead of the ruling National Party's 41.

It is the first time Labour has polled better than National since 2006 and means the centre-left party's support has soared 19 points since Ardern took over earlier this month.

The charismatic 37-year-old also edged ahead of Prime Minister Bill English as preferred leader, 34 per cent to 33.

In a phenomenon local media have dubbed "Jacinda-mania", Ardern has given the once moribund Labour Party a genuine chance of winning office in the September 23 election.

The poll was released just an hour before the first televised debate between Ardern and English, with both leaders downplaying its significance.

English said he believed National's support was stronger than indicated in the survey, although he refused to disclose what internal party polling was showing.

"We're seeing it bit stronger than that... it's clearly a close election, a drag race between the two major parties," he said.

Ardern said she was taking nothing for granted and there could be further momentum shifts during the campaign.

"I'm certainly not going to decide that it's a done deal right now," she said.

"There's been a huge amount of change in the last three to four weeks and it's been in Labour's favour, but it can turn in either direction."

English took over the New Zealand leadership late last year after the shock resignation of the popular John Key.

While he is yet to replicate Key's personal appeal, English has staked National's hopes of a record-equalling fourth term on maintaining the same policies as his predecessor.

With the economy in good health and growing about three percent a year, he said the election was a chance for voters to "build on our success".

"We've got a track record on delivery, our opponents have got vague, high-level statements and not much detail," he said.

Ardern said she wanted to see all New Zealanders share in the country's prosperity, emphasising issues such as education, health and housing affordability.

"I believe that New Zealand can be better than it is, that we can achieve much, much more than we are now," she said.</s>WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Three weeks before a general election, the dramatic rise of New Zealand opposition leader Jacinda Ardern has been highlighted by an opinion poll that puts her liberal party ahead of the ruling conservatives for the first time in more than a decade.

The unexpected result caused the New Zealand dollar to drop late Thursday before regaining some ground as traders priced in an uncertain election outcome.

Commissioned by Television New Zealand, the poll indicated that Ardern's Labour Party is by 43 of voters, compared to 41 who the incumbent National Party, led by Prime Minister Bill English.

A similar poll taken just before 37-year-old Ardern took the reins a month ago showed the Labour Party on 24 support and the National Party on 47 .</s>WELLINGTON, New Zealand >> Three weeks before a general election, the dramatic rise of New Zealand opposition leader Jacinda Ardern was highlighted by an opinion poll that put her liberal party ahead of the ruling conservatives for the first time in more than a decade.

The unexpected result late Thursday caused the New Zealand dollar to drop before regaining some ground as traders priced in an uncertain election outcome.

Commissioned by Television New Zealand, the poll indicated that Ardern’s Labour Party is favored by 43 percent of voters, compared to 41 percent who favor the incumbent National Party, led by Prime Minister Bill English.

That result seemed unthinkable a month ago. A similar poll taken just before the previous leader quit and Ardern took the reins showed the Labour Party on 24 percent support and the National Party on 47 percent. Most commentators at the time were predicting National would easily win the election.

Some New Zealanders are describing the new mood as “Jacinda-mania,” and the 37-year-old’s rapid ascent as similar to that achieved by other young, charismatic leaders such as President Emmanuel Macron in France and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Canada.

Yet National retains strong support and it remains unclear which party will be in a position to govern after the election. That’s because large parties typically must form alliances with smaller parties under the nation’s proportional voting system. And one key small party, New Zealand First, has yet to say which of the larger parties it will back.

The poll result came ahead of the first televised debate between Ardern and English. The leaders were polite with each other as they tussled over taxes, housing and immigration. Both appeared to perform relatively well and neither made any obvious gaffes.

One of Ardern’s stronger moments came in response to a viewer question. A cancer patient asked if either candidate would consider legalizing medical marijuana. Told by moderator Mike Hosking she had 30 seconds to respond, Ardern said: “I don’t need 30 seconds, Mike. The answer is absolutely yes.”

English performed well when discussing the nation’s relatively strong economy, which he has helped guide over the past nine years. He said Ardern wanted to increase taxes while he would reduce them. “We can achieve our social and environmental objectives at the same time as have a strong economy, not at the expense of it,” he said.</s>Meet Jacinda Ardern, the woman behind the 'Jacindamania' sweeping New Zealand

A month ago, just 24 per cent of New Zealanders supported the country's Labour Party.

Now the latest opinion poll shows that number has jumped to 43 per cent — the highest it's been in more than 10 years.

And its almost all thanks to Jacinda Ardern and what local media are calling 'Jacindamania'.

Ms Ardern is the new leader of New Zealand's Labour Party, and the country's new Opposition Leader.

She took over from former Labour leader, Andrew Little, just one month ago during some pretty dire poll figures.

At 37, she's the party's youngest ever leader and has been compared to the likes of France's Emmanuel Macron and Canada's Justin Trudeau.

She's also the MP for the Auckland electorate of Mount Albert.

Why is she so popular?

According to Barry Soper, the political editor for New Zealand's Newstalk ZB radio network, it's because she's a great communicator.

"What she has done, she has been able to communicate," he told The World Today.

But he said the country's apparent desire for change was also boosting her popularity ahead of the election.

"She's struck a note obviously with the general public … so it's sort of this sweeping mood for change," he said.

What does she stand for?

During the first televised leaders' debate, Ms Ardern had some particularly strong things to say about housing and medical marijuana.

On housing, she said she wanted to make sure her generation could get into the market.

(ICYMI: New Zealand is at the moment suffering from a skilled labour shortage and is struggling to build enough houses to meet growing demand).

But on medical marijuana she was even stronger.

Given 30 seconds to respond to a cancer patient's question of whether she would consider legalising the treatment, she said this:

What challenges does she face?

While Ms Ardern has managed to take Labour to an unlikely two-point opinion poll lead, she still faces some heavy challenges.

Firstly, Prime Minister Bill English and the National Party have retained strong support ahead of the election.

The party has been in power since 2008 and has been credited with helping grow a relatively strong economy for the country.

Soper said not even Ms Arden could deny that in the leaders' debate.

Secondly, Ms Ardern is also the newbie.

"She's relatively inexperienced. I mean, she only became deputy leader of the Labour party in February this year," Soper said.

And already she's faced questions about being a young woman in politics.

In fact she'd only been in the top job for less than 24 hours when she was first asked by TV host Jesse Mulligan on The Project about how she would balance her career and potential motherhood.

"A lot of women in New Zealand feel like they have to make a choice between having babies and having a career, or continuing their career at a certain point in their lives — late 30s," he said.

"Is that a decision that you feel you have to make, or that you feel that you've already made?"

Then just a few weeks later a minority party leader posted on Twitter that Ms Ardern needed to prove she was not "lipstick on a pig".

That prompted sharp criticism on social media, where many New Zealander women posted photos of themselves with tubes of lipgloss to call out what they said was misogyny.

And we also can't forget her diplomatic stoush with Australia.

In August, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop accused Ms Ardern's party of undermining the Australian Government after it was revealed that enquiries had been made about Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce's citizenship.

Ms Ardern described Ms Bishop's comments as "false claims" and invited Ms Bishop to call her to "clarify matters".

The election will take place on September 23.</s>WELLINGTON - New Zealand's opposition Labour Party on Thursday took the lead in opinion polls ahead of next month's election, continuing its resurgence under new leader Jacinda Ardern. The widely respected 1News-Colmar Brunton poll put Labour on 43 percent, two points ahead of the ruling National Party's 41. It is the first time Labour has polled better than National since 2006 and means the centre-left party's support has soared 19 points since Ardern took over earlier this month.The charismatic 37-year-old also edged ahead of Prime Minister Bill English as preferred leader, 34 percent to 33.</s>She's already said it's 'totally unacceptable' to ask women in 2017 if they're planning to have children.

But that didn't stop New Zealand's newly elected opposition leader Jacinda Ardern being asked what she was planning to wear before a major debate on Thursday.

Appearing on top-rating radio network Newstalk ZB, ahead of a leaders' debate with Prime Minister Bill English, Ms Ardern, 37, was quizzed on her outfit by host Mike Hosking.

After a question on what the opposition leader had been doing to prepare for the encounter, the presenter asked: 'What about outfit?'

Ms Ardern started by saying she had been considering what colour to wear, saying she narrowed it down to 'two options' and taken in the importance of the backdrop.

She then interrupted the host's next question to ask, lightheartedly: 'Are you asking Bill that question too?'

'I want it framed in exactly the same way,' she added. 'What's your outfit Bill?'

It's the second time in a month that Ms Ardern - who replaced Andrew Little in a surprise move as head of the Labour party - has faced questions that appear unconnected to her role as leader.

At the beginning of August, TV morning show AM host Mark Richardson asked Ms Ardern about her baby plans.

The sports presenter had suggested that, 'this is a legitimate question for New Zealand, because she could be the prime minister running this country. She has our best interests at heart, so we need to know these things'.

Ms Ardern, who is dating media personality Clarke Gayford but does not have any children, pointed her finger at Richardson as she flatly rejected his reasoning.

While she said she wasn't offended because she had talked about the issue in public before, she told the morning show host: 'For other women, it is totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace.'

'It is the woman's decision about when they choose to have children. It should not predetermine whether or not they get the job,' she added.

At the time, outraged viewers took to social media to slam Richardson for his comments.

'I see Jacinda Ardern has already been asked about babies vs career. Please can every nob who asks that ask the same of Bill English?' TVNZ presenter Hilary Barry tweeted.

'Not on board with asking Jacinda Ardern how she would juggle politics/parenting..,' weather presenter Ingrid Hipkiss added.

'I didn't realise Jacinda Ardern was the first person to ever run for Prime Minister who was also able to become a parent,' added another user.

Earlier this year Ms Ardern told the New Zealand Herald that she wanted to become a mother, which would make being the party's leader difficult.

'I don't think they're mutually exclusive,' she said at the time.

'If we want parliament to reflect New Zealand as a society, then we should be able to accommodate both. But at the same time, it's always going to be hard, because you're split-living,' she added.

Ms Ardern is the youngest Labour leader in the party's history and only the second woman in the position, former prime minister Helen Clark being the other. She was voted in as leader after Little bowed out due to a series of devastating polls for the party.
The Labour Party, led by Jacinda Ardern, surges in the polls and is neck-and-neck with the National Party, led by Bill English, for the race for Prime Minister of New Zealand.