She’s got what it takes

Written By: - Date published: 12:23 am, September 17th, 2017 - 73 comments
Categories: jacinda ardern - Tags:

Great read in London today – full page Guardian article headlined “I’ve got what it takes, says the charismatic Labour leader taking New Zealand by storm.” Send it far and wide.

Some choice quotes:

Every stage of this job that I’ve been in, I’ve simply thrown myself into it and every time just had the belief that I’ve got what it takes and just powered through, and that will take me right through to the top job.

It is hard to dismiss Ardern as ‘stardust,’ as National Party leader and incumbent prime Mill English did..Her political nous is leavened by a generous dollop of uncultivated charm and good humour. In New Zealand politics, this is a rare combination…”

How true.

For UK Labour, which holds its Conference next week, the Guardian says:

Do it for all of us,’ Jeremy Corbyn recently urged her, reflecting the hopes of many Labour voters inside and outside New Zealand.

I am certainly going to try to keep positive momentum for the progressive movements                  from around the world, says Ardern. But I can only be myself…I’m Jacinda Ardern, and I hope that I can bring it home this election.

And she will.

73 comments on “She’s got what it takes ”

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  1. Patricia Bremner 1
    17 September 2017 at 1:37 am

    Jacinda is a rare find. A total game changer. We are fortunate to have her.

    I am glad to lived to see this, and at 75 I am excited.

    I met and liked Andrew, admired his sincere efforts to build the team.

    I thought ’till Jacinda did her first stand up, we would win in 2020.

    But, when I saw that I knew. Surefooted social and emotional intelligence and leadership.

    When she put Andrew at number 3, I knew she had the team behind her.

    So yes, let us light a path for others watching on. A new way is coming. I am glad.

    • Nick 1.1
      17 September 2017 at 5:51 am

      Nice Patricia.

    • ScottGN 1.2
      17 September 2017 at 6:44 am

      I hope you’re right Patricia.

    • marty mars 1.3
      17 September 2017 at 7:39 am

      awesome comment Patricia

      Yes I agree. Jacinda is real and powerful because she is authentic and genuine – I have great hope for a real change for people.

    • cleangreen 1.4
      17 September 2017 at 11:01 am

      Truly jacinda is a gift to us, as she has definately got what it takes, and is highly able to take the PM on, so we are seeing history in the making.

      At 73 I am so full of hope as she showed her skills this morning on Q+A as she was interviewed by Corin Dann and Jacinda’s responses were sharp & precise again so we are 100% convinced she has what it takes.

      Jacinda said (to us) the most important policy that was “she will need to hear the voices of the people” before she decides, and this is true to her pledge she made at her first speech at the Auckland town hall.

      Bless her.

      ‘Let’s do this.’

      @ilovejacinda

    • mary_a 1.5
      17 September 2017 at 11:54 am

      Well said Patricia (1)

      A change is coming for the better.

      # Let’s do this …

  2. One Anonymous Bloke 2
    17 September 2017 at 7:04 am

    I’m not buying it until I see something more concrete than vague obscurantism preceded by “let me be clear about this”.

    • Heather Grimwood 2.1
      17 September 2017 at 7:28 am

      Let’s do this !!!!!
      We owe this to our grandchildren ( great-grandchildren for me) and theirs.

    • garibaldi 2.2
      17 September 2017 at 10:03 am

      Dead right OAB. Words are cheap. Can/Will she deliver?
      For example imo she will have to quickly purge the psa of the bastards running it now along with all the other cronie appointments made by National. A big task.

      • left_forward 2.2.1
        17 September 2017 at 10:56 am

        Like a word such as, say… obscurantism, used to label someone with dishonesty before they have even had an opportunity.

        • David C 2.2.1.1
          17 September 2017 at 11:47 am

          Taxcinda has had nine years of sucking down a MPs salary to come up with a coherent tax policy …. plenty of opportunity… so either lacking the ability to do so or the honesty to front up about it.

          • North 2.2.1.1.1
            17 September 2017 at 12:32 pm

            It’s my position that unless Jacinda gives personal guarantees on all manner of things……..then I’d rather just stick with the old lot thank you very much.

            • cleangreen 2.2.1.1.1.1
              17 September 2017 at 12:49 pm

              Noth,

              If you are going to ‘stick with ‘the old lot”?

              Question;

              Are you happy with the last 9 yrs of over 500 recorded lies youv’e been given?

              And now with the emergence of the PM lying about the ‘saudi sheep deal’ forced to pay a $12 million dollar payout issue,

              And now the issue of Todd Barclay bolting out of NZ when he is under a police investigation?????

              These issues are huge!!

              Then you give labour no chance to prove themselves!!!!!!!!

              Sounds funny to me.

              • Ian …
                17 September 2017 at 5:43 pm

                I remember another bolter to London.From memory his name was Darren Hughes and at the time he was flatting with Annette King.
                Sort of puts Barclays retirement intp perspective,don’t you think ?

                • Muttonbird …
                  17 September 2017 at 5:45 pm

                  Ah, polluting farmer in chief is here to have a go at gay people. Good times.

                • Robert Guyton …
                  17 September 2017 at 5:47 pm

                  No. Perspective around Barclay is a stand alone. You will seek to obscure his position, Ian, but no one’s fooled. Face the situation with honesty, Ian, rather than smearing all and sundry. Barclay in Britain, waddayathink?

                  • Ian …
                    17 September 2017 at 7:33 pm

                    I am not smearing anyone Robert.Just pointing out that young people often make mistakes .Todd Barclay,Darren Hughes we have seen it all before .

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      18 September 2017 at 1:21 pm

                      “Labour did it too”.

                      Does that excuse work on the farm? Most people gave up this crap when they were at primary school.

          • WILD KATIPO 2.2.1.1.2
            17 September 2017 at 12:53 pm

            Yeah but ,…. National has had 9 years to bring wages up so the OECD didn’t have anything to moan about , and homelessness too,… but all they seem to have managed is talk a whole bunch of shit about ‘ brighter futures’ and ‘rockstar economy’s ‘ … much like the shit the cows do into our rivers and lakes…

          • left_forward 2.2.1.1.3
            17 September 2017 at 1:30 pm

            Struggling with this point David? Parliament isn’t the same as Government is it?

          • Graeme&Claire Stanley 2.2.1.1.4
            18 September 2017 at 3:12 pm

            Bill English Prime Minister instead of standing on his record in government has overseen the dirtiest scaremongering campaign of lies and innuendo at a time when he lost his honesty, integrity and transparency over The Todd Barclay Scandal.Time for a new team,a new generation a new leader.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 2.2.1.2
          17 September 2017 at 2:44 pm

          If I meant dishonesty I’d’ve said so. If you can provide a recent example of “let me clear about this” followed by clarity I’d like to see it.

  3. Reality 3
    17 September 2017 at 8:27 am

    Jacinda is a breath of fresh air. I hope so much she makes it to the top job. Bill has been around for so long it’s like recirculating stale air.

    Even Jacinda’s partner’s Herald article was refreshingly different and enjoyable.

    It’s time for a new era in New Zealand.

  4. Zeroque 4
    17 September 2017 at 9:06 am

    Yes, I agree, she does seem different in a good way.

  5. Anthony Rimell 5
    17 September 2017 at 9:37 am

    In seven days we’ll wake up. What will our country look like?

    Will it be more of the narrow, tired, economics of self interest? Will ‘Joycing’ the facts have taken the electorate for a ride? Will we see rivers remain unswimmable, homelessness at record levels, rising mental health issues, growing housing unaffordability?

    Or will we wake up to a progressive Government that is committed to cleaning up our rivers, ending poverty, getting more families into affordable homes, and confronting mental health?

    In seven days we’ll know.

    And each of us have a moral and urgent duty to talk to every family member, every neighbour, every workmate, every stranger in the street and get them to vote.

    We’ve got six days to do this, so that in seven days we wake up to a better, fairer New Zealand. To quote a certain ‘stardust’, “Let’s do this!”

  6. WILD KATIPO 6
    17 September 2017 at 9:40 am

    I don’t think you can really go wrong with having an open personality like Adern for leader of the country.

    Its pretty hard to be a shower pissing , pony tail pulling , SIS manipulating lackey for an American President or a bean counting housing allowance manipulator when you are quite clearly empathetic and genuinely seeing the plight of so many poor people you meet.

    No worries , mate . Its Adern for the next Prime Minister,… and just quietly ?

    The Greens are going to romp home to make up the coalition.

    You just wait and see.

    • mary_a 6.1
      17 September 2017 at 12:11 pm

      Wild Katipo (6) …

      “Its pretty hard to be a shower pissing , pony tail pulling , SIS manipulating lackey for an American President or a bean counting housing allowance manipulator …”

      Oh dear God WK, you are so brilliantly descriptive, no difficulty conjuring up the images of who you are referring to. Love it 🙂

      However, nothing to be proud of, having two consecutive PMs wallowing in the slimy, corrupt cesspit you so concisely describe!

    • patricia bremner 6.2
      17 September 2017 at 11:41 pm

      Wild Katipo 6, I look forward to your comments!! They always have me nodding away, often laughing or agreeing wholeheartedly. Creative description indeed. xx

  7. BM 7
    17 September 2017 at 9:49 am

    Heavily left-wing New Zealand based reporter writes a fawning article about a left-wing politician for a UK left-wing new site, OMG stop the presses!!

    Truth is I don’t think she’s remotely ready for the top job if we’re going to have a Labour-led government I’d prefer Andrew Little to Jacinda Ardern any day.

    You just have to read this article from only three months ago to know that Jacinda Ardern is not PM material.

    http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/06/poll-jacinda-ardern-s-popularity-plummets.html

    • WILD KATIPO 7.1
      17 September 2017 at 9:54 am

      … ” You just have to read this article from only three months ago to know that Jacinda Ardern is not PM material ” …

      HA ! , – in that case , – neither is Bill English !

      And no one has to read any article to know that .

      L00L !

      Adern will leave English with his second defeat and then go on to become one NZ’s most successful Prime Ministers its ever known. Right up there with Savage and Kirk.

      Pull the other one , mate!

    • marty mars 7.2
      17 September 2017 at 9:59 am

      Your dross, bm, is a ringing endorsement for Jacinda – thanks mate.

    • Muttonbird 7.3
      17 September 2017 at 10:19 am

      Luckily for NZ your opinion counts for nothing.

    • lprent 7.4
      17 September 2017 at 10:31 am

      Curiously, if I remember correctly, I think that you always prefer the previous Labour leader to the current one. Possibly not with David Cunliffe – but even then I think that you muttered something about Little being less charismatic.

      Why is that?

      • BM 7.4.1
        17 September 2017 at 10:42 am

        Andrew Little was actually growing on me, after getting beaten up a bit by that defamation case and spending a bit of time around John Key he’d lost most of that arrogance was starting to look a bit more rounded.

        If I was going to rate the last lot of Labour Leaders it would be

        1) Goff
        2) Tie between Shearer and Little
        3) Cunlliffe
        4) Ardern

    • left_forward 7.5
      17 September 2017 at 10:58 am

      You should have stopped at… ‘Truth is, I don’t think’.

    • Psycho Milt 7.6
      17 September 2017 at 11:09 am

      You just have to read this article from only three months ago to know that Jacinda Ardern is not PM material.

      Yep, you can’t picture John Key ever either having this level of self-doubt or allowing it to escape out of his mouth. That’s one reason I think she’ll make a great PM: “The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.”

      • BM 7.6.1
        17 September 2017 at 11:24 am

        I actually think Jacinda is a very intelligent woman, unlike many people she knows her limitations, that’s a strength, not a weakness.

        As she stated in that article I linked to.

        I hate letting people down. I hate feeling like I’m not doing the job as well as I should. I’ve got a pretty big weight of responsibility right now; I can’t imagine doing much more than that,” she says.

        “When you’re a bit of an anxious person, and you constantly worry about things, there comes a point where certain jobs are just really bad for you.

        Running for the what is one of the most stressful and demanding jobs in the country when you suffer from anxiety and know it, is leaving me a bit puzzled?

        There are tough decisions that need to be made as PM, this is not a job for someone who suffers from anxiety and self-doubt

        • garibaldi 7.6.1.1
          17 September 2017 at 11:52 am

          No one other than a right wing prick would get your approval anyway BM.

        • AB 7.6.1.2
          17 September 2017 at 11:54 am

          “Running for the what is one of the most stressful and demanding jobs in the country when you suffer from anxiety is leaving me a bit puzzled”
          No it’s not BM – you are not puzzled, you are just scraping the bottom of the barrel for another attack line. The only people with no anxiety about anything are dead. And what you don’t get is that most people actually like her honesty about this.
          It’s a pretty lame bit of stirring even by your standards – can see your energy flagging.

          • WILD KATIPO 7.6.1.2.1
            17 September 2017 at 12:06 pm

            … ” No it’s not BM – you are not puzzled, you are just scraping the bottom of the barrel for another attack line ” …

            Yeah , … its almost a microcosm of the panicking far right crowd, really,… find a statement , – any old statement will do , – and twist it and take it out of context.

            … ” And what you don’t get is that most people actually like her honesty about this ” …

            And it is exactly this quality that have drawn people to Adern like a moth to the flame ,… warmth , empathy , teachability , a willingness to be human , even admit a mistake… these very same quality’s that the far right know deep down are going to cause their downfall.

            And that is why they are panicking and grasping at straws.

        • Psycho Milt 7.6.1.3
          17 September 2017 at 12:59 pm

          There are tough decisions that need to be made as PM, this is not a job for someone who suffers from anxiety and self-doubt

          Well, not a job for someone who lets anxiety and self-doubt paralyse their decision-making capacity, sure. But Ardern doesn’t seem like that’s a problem in her case. Again, I think her level of self-awareness is a good thing because people who lack self-doubt make really bad decisions with the same level of confidence they make good ones.

    • cleangreen 7.7
      17 September 2017 at 11:09 am

      BM stands for ‘Bullshit Mate’?

      Looks like it!!!

      Letsdothis @ilovejacinda

  8. Ethica 8
    17 September 2017 at 11:12 am

    Many, mostly older white men who dominate our media underestimate her widespread appeal. They also fear losing their power.

    There are also some very nasty attack ads going around. It has been a very tough campaign for her but she is still smiling.

  9. mac1 9
    17 September 2017 at 12:42 pm

    Four points about Jacinda which I like. She is clever, she is articulate and a debater, and she has a high empathy rating (what Patricia Bremner at #1 calls emotional intelligence).

    Fourthly, she has real leadership qualities demonstrated by her dealing with errant MPs and a tax policy timing revisit.This quality is partly shown by the point of that index finger which I would not like having aimed at me, as silly Mark Richardson has already found out.

    I am impressed by her ability to step up, to lead, and to be a genuinely warm and caring person.

    At 68 years of age I have hope for my Seventies!

  10. Ad 10
    17 September 2017 at 12:57 pm

    She better have.

  11. BM 11
    17 September 2017 at 1:18 pm

    Gazing into my crystal ball, my prediction is…….drumroll

    If Labour wins expect to see Jacinda Ardern step aside just before the Christmas break and be replaced by Grant Robertson sometime early in the new year,

    • weka 11.1
      17 September 2017 at 1:21 pm

      Why? (although I’m sure I’ll regret asking).

      • BM 11.1.1
        17 September 2017 at 1:30 pm

        Because three months ago she had absolutely no interest in stepping into the leadership role, she was talking family and admitted to struggling with the extra pressures of being the deputy leader of the opposition.

        PM is about 10 steps up in pressure from the role she had 3 months ago, no one that has anxiety issues would ever take a role on like this unless it was very short term.

        • weka 11.1.1.1
          17 September 2017 at 2:44 pm

          She changed her mind on the leadership role, she’s not into having a baby at this point, I didn’t see the pressures stuff but am going to guess you are misrepresenting what she said, anyone in the role of PM will experience anxiety, it’s what you do with that that counts.

          Which isn’t to say that she will definitely stay in the job, just that I don’t see anything convincing about Ardern in particularly that makes me think she can’t hack it.

          Gareth Morgan remaining a politician, on the other hand, lots of actual evidence that he will do a runner after the election.

        • Muttonbird 11.1.1.2
          17 September 2017 at 3:03 pm

          The pressure got too much for ponytail-puller. Happens to everyone.

    • marty mars 11.2
      17 September 2017 at 1:24 pm

      Lol you have no fucken clue at all – so funny, you remind me of billshitter, he’s completely lost too.

      I predict every single useless gnat minister will be out of a job in a week or so.

    • patricia bremner 11.3
      17 September 2017 at 3:00 pm

      Jacinda will see the job through, to leave it half done is not her way.

      She will understand your fear of change, having the nouse to anticipate it.

      Jacinda knows it isn’t about us, though she cares, it is about the changes rushing at us,

      which will hugely impact her generation and the ones after that.

      Her grasp of the enormity of the role caused her pause because she is a thinker.

      Many will underestimate her strength and clarity of perception, but will come to

      admire her for her ability to sell an idea and to get people to see it through.

      Reflect that 6 short weeks ago we had a good man as leader with no stardust.

      We did not anticipate an electoral win.

      He knew her to be a better Leader for these times and in this place. Thank you Andrew

      Because of that we are really in the race, though the “slithy toves do gyre and gimble”

      • Muttonbird 11.3.1
        17 September 2017 at 3:06 pm

        Yep. Old, white, privileged pricks like BM are scared witless of change. They are yesterday’s men and their egos are troubled by their increasing irrelevance. That’s why BM lashes out.

        • Johan 11.3.1.1
          17 September 2017 at 5:18 pm

          The pain of all those RWNJs are clearly being registered. There should a graph or scale for panicking Tories;-))))

      • cleangreen 11.3.2
        17 September 2017 at 8:35 pm

        100% Patricia.

        Got it in one.

    • Robert Guyton 11.4
      17 September 2017 at 5:49 pm

      Your prediction, BM?
      We couldn’t care less.

    • AB 11.5
      17 September 2017 at 11:24 pm

      Drumroll. My prediction. Shortly before Xmas BM will be abducted by aliens and subjected to minute genital inspection (aliens always do that) before being implanted with electrodes and catapulted into the National party leadership as a rank outsider. A promising start will be spoiled by his falling in love with Judith Collins and having her cryogenically preserved inside a swamp kauri stump by Oravida Immortality Inc. National party insiders will move against him and he will end up sharing a basement beds it in Peckham with Todd Barclay.

  12. Gee Brunnen 12
    17 September 2017 at 2:14 pm

    [deleted]

    [too much sexism in that to wade through. You’re welcome to try again, but as you are new here I’d suggest reading the Policy first and taking some time to get to know where the boundaries are. It’s not a free for all – weka]

  13. cleangreen 13
    17 September 2017 at 8:29 pm

    BM you are are persistant troll for Nats aren’t you.

    Try going for your mate gareth morgan now he wants attention too?

  14. cleangreen 14
    17 September 2017 at 8:32 pm

    Here’s why we need Jacinda folks.

    What I see as a real issue now; regarding rental property/proerty prices.

    History of National’s disasterous tinkering with the property market.

    Since national took over the housing issues, and turned it into a very expensive asset for landlords, and for renters alike is that it came from a list of issues.

    Firstly the result of the GFC caused insurance companies to go to the financial wall through their own speculation on the stock market we assume.

    Then these insurance companies all seemed to cry ‘help’ and were bailed out by us when our governments responded,

    But then, next the insurance companies cried foul by saying they needed to become ‘risk adverse’ (a new term we did not hear before) which then caused a whole raft of ‘building regulations’ to spring up from our Building minister “Maurice Williams; remember?

    So the National government assisted the insurance companies to restrict all ‘handymen’ not to be allowed to fix their own properties!!!!!

    So then next became a ‘tradesmen storage’ and contractors labour costs all rose dramatically.

    So still there is the other ‘elephant in the room, and that was that these new ‘compliance costs made rents shoot up as building compliance costs rose and now all things National had done have built up to the ‘perfect storm’ we have now, – which is an overpriced property to rental market.

    Simple to see that national alone caused this bloody mess that was to hard for them to obviously see it was going to happen under National’s own watch as they eagerly cranked up all these compliance costs onto us renters and property owners alike.