Ardern has the knack of sounding consensual while promoting Labour policies and values - narrowing income and wealth gaps, increasing social spending, tackling climate change, focusing on child and maternal care. Her empathetic response to the Christchurch slaughter of Muslims at prayer won her the world’s respect but her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic sealed the deal with the electorate. New Zealand imposed one of the toughest lockdowns that saw the economy contract 12.2%, but also resulted in only 25 Covid fatalities. It was hard to believe our eyes as we saw crowds at her packed election rallies; and as she hugged and shook hands with supporters and volunteers. Thanks to her handling of the crisis this could happen safely. Not for the Kiwis a campaign played out on Zoom.
The Dalai Lama congratulated her on her victory admiring ‘the courage, wisdom and leadership, as well as the calm, compassion and respect for others, she has shown in these challenging times’. Compare that to the harsh things he has had to say about Trump’s presidency, his low key congratulations to Boris Johnson and his palpable disappointment at Brexit.
It’s not that our politicians haven’t promised a new type of politics. They’ve all had a go at that. It’s just that they haven’t delivered. Jeremy Corbyn began his leadership offering ‘a kinder politics’ and an end to ‘personal abuse’.
He urged his supporters to ‘treat people with respect’ and said there would be ‘no rudeness from me’. He held to that high standard himself but had plenty around him who didn’t. Here in Scotland the SNP assured us that their nationalism was of the ‘joyous’ and ‘civic’ kind yet it so often comes across as one long abusive tantrum at their perceived victimhood.
Somehow we need to learn from New Zealand how we can have political leadership that is ‘popular’ without being ‘populist’. Speaking to supporters at Auckland town hall after her victory was declared, Ardern thanked the nation for the strong mandate. She said elections ‘don’t have to be divisive’ and promised to govern with positivity.
As a veteran of staying up all night to endure TV election results programmes, I found the New Zealand results programme refreshingly different. For a start the counting and declarations were carried out at a more civilised hour than we do here in the U.K. The presenters had a light engaging touch, and the panels talked intelligently about what was unfolding with insight and even some humour. It took me some time to be sure who was representing which party on the panel.
I am not so naive as to think their campaign wouldn’t have had its moments but on the whole it seemed an uplifting experience. Viewed from where I stand, the U.K. and New Zealand really are poles apart, and not just geographically.