‘On Monday night I was scratching my head about how to inspire Labour supporters. And then along came Jacinda. I’ve known her since I was a teenager, and we’re claiming her as an East Coaster’, writes Kiri Allan in the latest instalment of her candidate diary. Read more candidate diaries for the Spinoff here They say a … Read more
It’s 24 hours since Jacinda Ardern assumed leadership of the Labour Party. Maddie Holden looks back at the waves of sexism that elicited from opposition MPs, media and others. If you have so much as a passing interest in the movements of New Zealand politics, you’ll be aware by now that Andrew Little has stepped … Read more
Has the Labour Party finally found the leader it’s been longing for? Simon Wilson thinks the answer just might be yes. I wanted to like Andrew Little. I thought most of the policies he presided over were pretty good. I admired that he united a fractious caucus and never faltered in his desire to take … Read more
The Spinoff’s Gone By Lunchtime trio frantically gather their thoughts following the exit of Labour leader Andrew Little, who has been replaced by Jacinda Ardern, with Kelvin Davis as her deputy, with just over 50 days to an election. Within seconds of watching Jacinda Ardern conduct her first press conference as Labour leader, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee … Read more
Following Andrew Little’s resignation, Jacinda Ardern has been unanimously elected as Labour leader, with Kelvin Davis as her deputy. Here’s a quick survey of the pros and cons. At her first press conference as leader of the Labour Party, Jacinda Ardern has promised to run “the campaign of our lives”. She and new deputy Kelvin … Read more
Andrew Little poured petrol all over himself yesterday and now he’s standing there with the lighter in his hands, screaming at us, ‘Is this what you want?’ If he burns, though, who will replace him? Well, maybe he’s not screaming it at all of us, but when he said he and his senior team had … Read more
Better than algebra! The Greens’ Chlöe Swarbrick and Labour’s Jacinda Ardern talk personal aspirations and politics with students at an Auckland inner-city school. Jacinda Ardern told the students at ACG Senior College this week she got saddled with a nickname when she entered parliament: “Socialist Cindy”. She hates being called Cindy, although her mother has … Read more
Gone By Lunchtime meets The Breakfast Club as leading NZ politics podcasters Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire splinter desperately into millennial solidarity. In the historic first ever Spinoff Gone By Lunchtime podcast since the arrival of LifeDirect as sponsor of the politics section, we discuss a range of important topical issues, before eventually … Read more
After the Mt Albert byelection and with Labour stuck in polling doldrums, the case for Jacinda Ardern’s elevation to the deputy leadership had become irresistible. But what happens when she overtakes Little in the preferred leader polling, wonders Toby Manhire The politics gods’ simmering fury with the New Zealand Labour Party was evidenced again on … Read more
The party with the most to do after Saturday’s by-election is the Greens. But the party that came out of the weekend in the worst shape may turn out to be Act, writes Simon Wilson There’s a whole bunch of reasons why the Greens didn’t do well in Mt Albert and none of them should … Read more
The run up to the Mt Albert by-election might seem quiet but the results are likely to have a huge impact on the NZ political year. Meanwhile, over in Maungakiekie, Green wunderkind Chlöe Swarbrick has been demoted to humble foot soldier. Strange days in Auckland politics, writes Simon Wilson. Did you know there’s a candidate … Read more
Jacinda Ardern, Julie Anne Genter and Geoff Simmons meet to do battle at our special live-streamed debate this Wednesday at 7pm. Will they wave the white flag or fight on to the death? Why vote for Jacinda when you can choose Julie Anne? Or maybe that should be the other way round. Why vote for … Read more
National list MP and Mt Roskill candidate Parmjeet Parmar wins Simon Wilson’s award for the most emotionally unintelligent politician of 2016 as he weighs up the contest in the byelection phoney war. Parmjeet Parmar made a constituent cry at an electorate meeting in a Mt Roskill school hall last Monday evening. It was a bit … Read more
A pantheon of observers of New Zealand politics were asked to cast their minds over 2015, select champs and flops, ups and downs, and the story to look out for in 2016. Today, Part One: The Champs. We asked our experts to rank the three best performing individuals in politics for 2015. Below, read the … Read more
The Spinoff enters the tittle-tattle market with a thrilling new zeitgeist-defining column, Jamboree. This week, All Blacks, boobies, women of influence, Steve Braunias, Camilla P-B, and Kate Hawkesby lets rip.News arrives from Jamboree’s London bureau of disappointment in the British capital when the All Blacks, on cloud nine following their Rugby World Cup victory at … Read more
Arbitrarily split into five political players whose power is growing and five going the other way, these rankings will become a monthly event. For the purposes of this glittering premiere, however, the month of August will be considered to run from August 1 through to September 10. All complaints should be directed to your local … Read more