Jhe surprises The January 19 resignation of Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s much-loved Prime Minister, could have sparked bloodshed within the ruling Labor Party. But he chose a new leader with remarkably little ado. Within two days of Ms Ardern’s announcement, Labor MPs had rallied behind Chris Hipkins, the Education Minister. He was officially named Labor leader on January 22 and will be sworn in as Prime Minister on January 25. “Leadership contests don’t have to be like hunger gamesjoked the diminutive Mr. Hipkins.
No radical change of course is expected of him. Mr Hipkins, 44, is a close friend and ally of Ms Ardern, whom he hailed as ‘one of our great prime ministers’. He also borrowed one of his lines, promising to rule with “the heart”.
Mr. Hipkins is renowned in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, for his quiet competence, says Ben Thomas, a former adviser to the opposition National Party. During Labour’s two terms in power, he was given a series of issues to deal with. As health minister, he was tasked with implementing New Zealand’s tough response to covid-19, one of Ms Ardern’s best-known and recently most controversial policies. Last year, as the government tried to tackle a surge in gang violence and robbery, Mr Hipkins was appointed police minister.
Mr Hipkins will replace Ms Ardern’s Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson with Carmel Sepuloni, the current Minister for Social Development. She will be the first female politician of peaceful descent (Samoan and Tongan) to hold this position. A more in-depth cabinet reshuffle is expected to follow.
The goodwill towards Mrs. Ardern in her party is not feigned. New Zealand politicians are unaccustomed to the global popularity she has gained as a charismatic cheerleader for progressive values and moderation. Yet her popularity has waned as past voter endorsement of Ms Ardern’s covid-19 policies – which helped her win an impressive majority in 2020 – gave way to a familiar reproach about inflation high (currently around 7%). A recent survey suggests that Ms Ardern’s net approval rating is slightly negative. His main opponent, Christopher Luxon, leader of the center-right National Party, had the same note. Labor has trailed National in the polls for months, 32% to 37% currently. With elections due in October, Mr. Hipkins’ tenure as prime minister could be brief.
He pledged to restore his party’s reputation by focusing on “the core issues that people care about”. This, he says, will include tackling the “inflation pandemic” and making “the tax system fairer”. In fact, his best chance of signaling a change of course will lie in abandoning a handful of unpopular reforms that Ms Ardern had pushed. A costly merger between national television and the country’s broadcasters is likely to be scrapped. Unpopular legislation to overhaul the management of the country’s water infrastructure – which has enraged conservatives and left other voters cold – could also be reconsidered.
That could be enough to put Labor back in contention. Mr Luxon, former chief executive of Air New Zealand, seems beatable. And Mr Hipkins, a strawberry blonde known to colleagues as “Chippy”, has a down-to-earth, self-deprecating manner that Kiwis tend to love. Aside from dealing with Covid-19, he is perhaps best known for subsisting on a diet of cola and sausage rolls. And for Kiwis who crave another trailblazer at the helm, the strawberry-blonde Mr. Hipkins has an identity and political appeal all his own. ‘It’s about time we got a ginger at the top,’ he joked, after being appointed to replace Ms Ardern.■
