By Gurbir Singh
New Zealand, August 2, 2017: Will 37-year-old Jacinda Ardern be New Zealand’s next and youngest PM? Can a PM take maternity leave if elected? Does the media have a right to ask new female opposition leader having a baby or a career?
The country is already buzzing with this debate since Jacinda Arden, MP was elected unopposed as the new opposition leader of Labour Party yesterday, Aug 1 after Andrew Little stepped down barely less than seven and a half weeks to elections.
Andrew Little took the decision to step aside from the leadership role after his party dropped to 24 percent in Colmar Brunton poll, its lowest in more than 20 years. He is reported to have conceded, "at 24 (%), you don't get to form a government".
Kelvin Davis, MP and former school principal, was also elected unopposed to the position of Deputy Leader, a post held by Jacinda.
In her statement released to the media, Jacinda said, “As a party, we have huge aspirations for New Zealand. A place where everyone has a roof over their head and meaningful work, where education is free and good ideas flourish, where children live surrounded by creativity not poverty, and where we build a reputation as world leaders on environmental issues”.
There is already an excitement in the air - especially in the labour camps.
Jacinda and her team are now preparing to run the 'campaign of our lives' in the lead-up to the September election and she has already called upon the PM, Bill English “not to be complacent”.
There has been a visible upsurge in support for the party. In the 24-hour since her taking over, the party has reportedly already received over $270,000 in donations (all in small donations) and over 1000 new volunteers have come forward to assist.
Jacinda, a Communications Graduate from Waikato University, joined Labour at the age of 17.
In her first election, in 2008, she was unsuccessful but entered Parliament as Labour’s list MP, making her the youngest sitting MP.
She won a landslide victory in the Mt Albert, Auckland by-election at the start of the year, with 77 percent of the vote, and in March, Jacinda was unanimously elected as the deputy leader.
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Gurbir Singh is a New Zealand-based feature writer & journalist. He can be reached at: gurbir@journalist.com