CHAPTER 1 JACINDAMANIA On On August 31 2017 Jacinda Ardern took her place on stage The first debate of the New Zealand election was about to begin Her opponent Bill English led the National Party He had 26 years of experience in government Plus he was currently serving as prime minister Ardern was only 37 years old She had been the Labour Party’s leader for only a month Even so she was quickly gaining support from voters Jacinda Ardern helped the Labour Party gain support with a campaign promising change 5
People felt that she spoke about topics that concerned them such as families and housing Young people liked her youth and energy Plus her feminist views appealed to many women In fact after just one week with Ardern as its leader Labour had begun to catch up to National in polls The media called her rise in popularity Jacindamania During the debate English downplayed Ardern’s popularity He claimed that the buzz about her would soon settle down Instead he focused on the state of the economy under his leadership In contrast Ardern talked about poverty climate change and the high cost of education No one she said should settle for the problems facing New Zealand On September 23 people around the country cast their votes To control the government in 6
New Zealand a party must win a majority of seats in Parliament either on its own or by agreeing to work with another party Neither Labour nor National had enough seats for a majority Both won fewer than 61 of the 120 seats in Parliament As a result they needed to form coalitions by convincing other parties to join with them FORMING A MAJORITY Five political parties won seats in New Zealand’s Parliament in 2017 Labour NZ First Green ACT 46 seats 9 seats 8 seats 1 seat Total 120 seats Speaker 7 National 56 seats
