Will Jacinda’s elevation change the narrative for Labour?
The newly sworn-in Labour leader has asked, and rightly so, for 72 hours to take stock of the situation about where her party is currently at, just eight weeks before the elections.
While Jacinda Ardern takes stock of the situation and the nation waits to see how she can turn around the narrative that Andrew Little believed had gone wrong, understandably after recent polls started showing the Labour hovering badly around the lower twenties.
“The recent polls had built a narrative that was damaging to Labour,” Mr Little said.
“I had ‘amazing comments’ from all my colleagues, but was aware the party needed to break the narrative,” Mr Little said while speaking to the media immediately after making caucus aware of his decision to step-down.
It is this narrative that Ms Ardern will set out to change once she comes out of her forced ‘time-out’ of the public glare after being almost reluctantly elevated to the position.
Ms Ardern always had the good fortune, apart from the talent, to have the entire Labour Party collectively looking forward to her elevation to leadership positions made available within the caucus on more than one occasion.
Earlier in March this year, the party had overwhelmingly favoured Ms Ardern’s elevation as the party’s deputy leader, to an extent forcing the long serving but embattled Annette King to eventually tender her resignation.
In a somewhat similar turn of events on Tuesday, the party had once again gave a collective go-ahead to Ms Ardern for the top position and thus forcing Andrew Little to make up his mind and step down from the top position.
On both occasions, the outgoing individuals were forced into a position of acceptance of resignation, while Ms Ardern maintained a disarming reluctance to accept the new ‘responsibility’.
The similarity on both these occasions could not be a stark coincidence.
It demonstrates to some extent Labour’s jadedness in sitting in opposition for three consecutive terms, and possibly the fourth and therefore a propensity to offer Ms Ardern a leadership role when she publically chose to remain reluctant about those opportunities.
Clearly, it is Ms Ardern’s vote-winning potential that the party is so desperately relying upon that is driving such changes within the Labour leadership.
How will the party justify their charge of ‘jadedness’ against the current National government after three consecutive terms, when they appear jaded of sitting in opposition remains to be seen?
However, the focus of this piece is on how Ms Ardern will change the narrative that has gone southward in relatively last few weeks and not long ago.
The One News-Colmar Brunton poll, which reported Labour polling alarmingly low at 24 per cent which precipitated Andrew Little’s eventual departure had earlier shown Labour polling at a respectable 30 per cent in the month of June.
Something has changed drastically over the course of last few weeks, which have altered the narrative for the Party.
In last few weeks, more than ever before, Andrew Little had tried too many things in vain to attract the attention of ‘un-interested’ voters at the centre.
One notable thing (and important for our audience), was the over the top bombastic approach toward cutting down immigration numbers.
In the Andrew Little led Labour Party’s narrative cutting down record level of immigration numbers was the panacea of all major problems New Zealand was facing.
Apparently, the intention was to shake up the uninterested voters from their slumber by highlighting that New Zealand was in some kind of crisis, which majority of economic and social indicators suggest is not the case.
However, this does not mean that Labour does not deserve a chance to call for the change of the government on the basis of a better vision for everyone.
Only if, the Andrew Little led Labour Party would have sought the chance from the voters, more subtly, on the basis of merit of its alternative vision for New Zealand.
Instead, they chose to rattle everyone by making noises loud enough to suggest that New Zealand was in some kind of crisis.
Fortunately, New Zealand is not in the midst of any crisis.
The fact is that New Zealand is neither in a crisis as Labour suggests, nor is it as good as the National Party would like everyone to believe.
It is for there to be taken by a political party, which can weave the most believable narrative about the future of New Zealand.
To top it all, the problem in Labour’s narrative was an apparent lack of confidence and the degree of unpreparedness among those who wove and disseminated this narrative so earnestly.
Otherwise what will explain the Little led Labour Party’s repeated failure on numerous occasions to give the actual figure of revenue that the country will stand to lose from an abrupt cutting of the number of immigrants coming to the country.
A policy so important for the Labour Party in this election should have been backed up with accurate calculations and numbers.
This has obviously exposed the apparent lack of preparedness of their narrative, and it is to the credit of the New Zealand public who were able to see through this lacuna quite clearly.
The fact that the numbers lost by Labour in the One News-Colmar Brunton poll have gone to further left to the Greens, and not to the right to New Zealand First, is a vindication of the fact that voters who have left the Labour camp are not swayed by over the top bombastic narrative.
It may be a time for change.
Although Ms Ardern is untested, to her credit is the fact that she has not spoken outlandishly on many issues of importance.
So she can clearly bring some subtlety to Labour’s narrative in this election.
The newly sworn-in Labour leader has asked, and rightly so, for 72 hours to take stock of the situation about where her party is currently at, just eight weeks before the elections.
While Jacinda Ardern takes stock of the situation and the nation waits to see how she can turn around the narrative...
The newly sworn-in Labour leader has asked, and rightly so, for 72 hours to take stock of the situation about where her party is currently at, just eight weeks before the elections.
While Jacinda Ardern takes stock of the situation and the nation waits to see how she can turn around the narrative that Andrew Little believed had gone wrong, understandably after recent polls started showing the Labour hovering badly around the lower twenties.
“The recent polls had built a narrative that was damaging to Labour,” Mr Little said.
“I had ‘amazing comments’ from all my colleagues, but was aware the party needed to break the narrative,” Mr Little said while speaking to the media immediately after making caucus aware of his decision to step-down.
It is this narrative that Ms Ardern will set out to change once she comes out of her forced ‘time-out’ of the public glare after being almost reluctantly elevated to the position.
Ms Ardern always had the good fortune, apart from the talent, to have the entire Labour Party collectively looking forward to her elevation to leadership positions made available within the caucus on more than one occasion.
Earlier in March this year, the party had overwhelmingly favoured Ms Ardern’s elevation as the party’s deputy leader, to an extent forcing the long serving but embattled Annette King to eventually tender her resignation.
In a somewhat similar turn of events on Tuesday, the party had once again gave a collective go-ahead to Ms Ardern for the top position and thus forcing Andrew Little to make up his mind and step down from the top position.
On both occasions, the outgoing individuals were forced into a position of acceptance of resignation, while Ms Ardern maintained a disarming reluctance to accept the new ‘responsibility’.
The similarity on both these occasions could not be a stark coincidence.
It demonstrates to some extent Labour’s jadedness in sitting in opposition for three consecutive terms, and possibly the fourth and therefore a propensity to offer Ms Ardern a leadership role when she publically chose to remain reluctant about those opportunities.
Clearly, it is Ms Ardern’s vote-winning potential that the party is so desperately relying upon that is driving such changes within the Labour leadership.
How will the party justify their charge of ‘jadedness’ against the current National government after three consecutive terms, when they appear jaded of sitting in opposition remains to be seen?
However, the focus of this piece is on how Ms Ardern will change the narrative that has gone southward in relatively last few weeks and not long ago.
The One News-Colmar Brunton poll, which reported Labour polling alarmingly low at 24 per cent which precipitated Andrew Little’s eventual departure had earlier shown Labour polling at a respectable 30 per cent in the month of June.
Something has changed drastically over the course of last few weeks, which have altered the narrative for the Party.
In last few weeks, more than ever before, Andrew Little had tried too many things in vain to attract the attention of ‘un-interested’ voters at the centre.
One notable thing (and important for our audience), was the over the top bombastic approach toward cutting down immigration numbers.
In the Andrew Little led Labour Party’s narrative cutting down record level of immigration numbers was the panacea of all major problems New Zealand was facing.
Apparently, the intention was to shake up the uninterested voters from their slumber by highlighting that New Zealand was in some kind of crisis, which majority of economic and social indicators suggest is not the case.
However, this does not mean that Labour does not deserve a chance to call for the change of the government on the basis of a better vision for everyone.
Only if, the Andrew Little led Labour Party would have sought the chance from the voters, more subtly, on the basis of merit of its alternative vision for New Zealand.
Instead, they chose to rattle everyone by making noises loud enough to suggest that New Zealand was in some kind of crisis.
Fortunately, New Zealand is not in the midst of any crisis.
The fact is that New Zealand is neither in a crisis as Labour suggests, nor is it as good as the National Party would like everyone to believe.
It is for there to be taken by a political party, which can weave the most believable narrative about the future of New Zealand.
To top it all, the problem in Labour’s narrative was an apparent lack of confidence and the degree of unpreparedness among those who wove and disseminated this narrative so earnestly.
Otherwise what will explain the Little led Labour Party’s repeated failure on numerous occasions to give the actual figure of revenue that the country will stand to lose from an abrupt cutting of the number of immigrants coming to the country.
A policy so important for the Labour Party in this election should have been backed up with accurate calculations and numbers.
This has obviously exposed the apparent lack of preparedness of their narrative, and it is to the credit of the New Zealand public who were able to see through this lacuna quite clearly.
The fact that the numbers lost by Labour in the One News-Colmar Brunton poll have gone to further left to the Greens, and not to the right to New Zealand First, is a vindication of the fact that voters who have left the Labour camp are not swayed by over the top bombastic narrative.
It may be a time for change.
Although Ms Ardern is untested, to her credit is the fact that she has not spoken outlandishly on many issues of importance.
So she can clearly bring some subtlety to Labour’s narrative in this election.
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