As we prepare to look at the first results, what clues do we have about young voter numbers? The idea of a youthquake has gained currency across this election, spurred by the evidence that young people appear motivated by Labour leader Jacinda Ardern, talk of a generational tide, and reference to the achievement of Jeremy … Read more
Election Night 2017: The numbers tend to change in the final count. Here’s what we reckon are the thresholds for survival in advanced votes. We’ve been banging on about advance votes and the enrol’n’vote combo offer and special votes for a bit now, but as we await the great democratic sky with our arms outstretched, … Read more
Which electorates to watch? In some of them, the spread of the party vote will tell you heaps about how the whole night is going. In others, high-profile local candidates will confound the big trends. Who said it’s just about counting the numbers. Sure, the relative size of the urban swing to Labour and the … Read more
The simple answer: we could know super-fast, and it could take an age. Toby Manhire explains. Much like Bill English’s historic walk-run innovation, the election results will come at two paces: fast, right up in the grill, and slow, almost downright leisurely. But first, the Electoral Commission’s official targets: All advanced vote numbers available by … Read more
It’s been a wonderful time, entirely composed of good-natured debates over the issues that matter. Here the Spinoff relives the thrills, spills and for-fuck’s-sake-please-chills of the 2017 New Zealand election campaign. ATTENTION PLEASE: The Spinoff will be smashing out quick takes from 7pm Saturday to keep the internet informed of how the big dance ends. … Read more
The campaign for the Māori seats has been defined by drama and intrigue, with noble families protecting ancient fiefdoms and usurpers lurking around every corner like some kind of popular fantasy series. As of 19 September, 241,602 people were enrolled on the Māori electoral roll with the 18 – 24 group by far the largest … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today: a look back at some of the faces and sounds of the election campaign.
With one side calling it a working class win and the other fearing a return to the 1970s, Jihee Junn attempts to separate fact from fiction when it comes to Labour’s Fair Pay Agreements. Earlier this year, former Labour leader Andrew Little got up on stage at E tū union’s Auckland headquarters to share his … Read more
Pollwatch: The Newshub poll again shows National with a decent lead, but still suggests it could go either way. Not that kingmaker Winston Peters gives a rat’s arse, obviously. To recap once more: there was Incredibly explosive, then Volatile and telling, then Dramatic and devastating. Tonight’s Paddy poll, conducted by Reid Research for Newshub, was … Read more
Has the Jacindaphoria evaporated? Who won the last debate? Are National’s attack lines defensible? What happened to NZ First? Who will win the election? The Gone By Lunchtime team fearlessly answer these questions with definitive and irrefutable opinions. We’re leaving together. But still it’s farewell. And maybe we’ll come back, To earth, who can tell? I … Read more
Election day isn’t just for voting, there are countless rules to follow between the hours of 12am and 7pm on September 23rd. Professional voter Madeleine Chapman spells them out. At 11:59pm on Friday September 22nd, New Zealand will be as it has been for the past two months. Drowning in a swamp of an election, … Read more
Who’s going to be an MP when this is all over? Simon Wilson has been studying the candidate battles, counting down the lists and poring over the chicken entrails. Who’s going to be an MP on Sunday? That depends on how well the parties do in the election, of course, but it also depends on … Read more
Last night’s poll suggests the election might be slipping away from Labour. Former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp gives his perspective on the slide. Wednesday’s TV1 poll confirmed a trend of the last two weeks. That voters are shifting back to National. Of course a poll is only a poll – it might be wrong. … Read more
Since the Policy tool launched on the Spinoff last month, its creators have watched people arrive by the tens of thousands to learn about the parties’ positions. What lessons have they drawn? There’s a right way and a wrong way to think about voting. First you have to care. Easy enough. Then you’ve got to … Read more
It was make or break for Daenerys and Stannis Jacinda and Bill tonight on the back of a horrorshow poll result for Labour. So did either deliver a knockout blow? Duncan Greive: this election is going to be incredibly close and I don’t know who will win An original take, I know, but to be … Read more
A statement from The Opportunities Party, supplied by its communications director Sean Plunket, responding to Mike Joy’s assertion that he did not endorse TOP. Mike Joy has since accepted this version of events, and we have updated his story to reflect this. Let us start by saying we have enormous respect for Dr Mike Joy and … Read more
Bill English and Steven Joyce’s ruthless strategy appears to be thriving, as the drag race nears the finish line. For a while now, the National Party strategy has been two-pronged. First, scare the living shit out of wavering voters over the economic credibility of the Labour Party. Second, stare sternly at old-school blue voters who … Read more
Scientist Dr Mike Joy writes about his experience of watching a private Facebook status become a very public endorsement. Editors update: after publishing the below piece The Spinoff received a phone call hotly disputing it from TOP’s Sean Plunket. He claimed to possess and has since provided an email from Mike Joy dated 11.17am on … Read more
The 36 Questions Project is a series in which Meg Williams takes a politician on a date and asks them the 36 Questions, a series of conversation starters designed to make two people fall in love. In this final instalment, Williams dates Green Party candidate Chlöe Swarbrick. Previously on the 36 Questions Project: United Future … Read more
We present the five most interesting takeaways from analysis of the vast trove of data thrown up by our Policy tool in the lead-up to this election. Since its debut on August 14, more than 120,000 people have viewed over 1.3 million pages of Policy, our tool for comparing parties’ different positions across various areas. … Read more
In 1996, NZ First went into coalition with Winston Peters’ old party. In 2005 it propped up a Labour government. Branko Marcetic looks back at those examples and how they fared. Only a few months ago, with Labour in polling doldrums and an apparent mood of anti-establishment change in the air, New Zealand First seemed … Read more
On Friday the Māori Party issued a press release that criticised Labour for legalising same sex marriage. An aghast Laura O’Connell Rapira responds. It’s never easy being takatāpui. Within the queer community, we can be subjected to exclusion and discrimination based on our culture and heritage. In the Māori community (and indeed in society as … Read more
After several years of flirting with the bloodsport we call politics, 2014 New Zealander of the Year Dr Lance O’Sullivan has entered the fracas, announcing he will run for the Māori Party in 2020. But why? And what does he stand for? Don Rowe finds out. When I profiled Dr Lance O’Sullivan last year he … Read more
Five days out from the election, is the Jacinda effect still alive? As farmers protest in Morrinsville amid talk of a rural-urban divide, Toby Manhire joins the Labour leader on the trail in Whanganui. Jacinda Ardern is up the front, in 1C. On a big plane, it’s a posh seat – but there are no … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today: Bill English and Jacinda Ardern ruminate on their campaigns so far.
Farmers rallied against Labour and the Greens in Jacinda Ardern’s hometown Morrinsville yesterday. Simon Wilson went along to see what they had to say for themselves. The farmers stood around like cows outside the milking shed, pressed together, mostly all facing the same way, and the journalists moved among them like jackals, notebooks open, mics … Read more
In the 36 Questions Project, Meg Williams takes a politician on a date and asks them the 36 Questions, a series of conversation starters designed to make two people fall in love. In this episode, Williams meets brand new United Future leader, 33-year-old Damian Light, for Japanese food. Previously on the 36 Questions Project: The … Read more
Five days out from the election, Kiri Allan writes about being both a first-time candidate and first-time mum in the latest instalment of her campaign diary. Read more candidate diaries for the Spinoff here It’s been about 17 days since I’ve had a good night’s sleep. Well, actually, perhaps a little longer than that. But given … Read more
Why did Bill English raise the prospect of slaughtering the dairy herd yesterday? As farmers prepare to protest in Jacinda Ardern’s hometown Morrinsville, Simon Wilson wants to know why we are suddenly being asked to believe there is a deep urban/rural divide. I’ve driven through quite a bit of the North Island in the last … Read more