New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern begins re-election campaign after successful coronavirus response
- Ardern hit 60 per cent support in the latest surveys after her leadership through Christchurch mosque attacks, White Island volcanic eruption and the pandemic
- A country of 5 million people, New Zealand has had only 22 Covid-19 deaths and it has been 99 days since the last recorded case of infection from an unknown source
Before the virus forced New Zealand to seal its borders, the polls had pointed to a cliffhanger election on September 19, but support swung sharply towards the centre-left Labour Party as the country eliminated community transmission in a matter on months.
“When people ask, is this a Covid election, my answer is yes, it is,” the charismatic 40-year-old said as she launched the campaign with a NZ$311 million (US$205 million) pledge to boost jobs.
“Businesses large and small are crucial to our economic recovery.”
Labour is the senior partner in a three-party coalition government but if it can maintain the support shown in recent opinion polls, where it has consistently been above 50 per cent, it could govern alone after the election.
Ardern was an unheralded MP when thrust into the Labour leadership shortly before the 2017 election when the party was struggling and “there were plenty who thought it couldn’t [win]”, she said.