The New Zealand Elections - huge vote swing to the Left..

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's Labour Party is well on the way to setting an all time record in the whole history of NZ elections. No party has ever done this well before, so early (about a third of the votes counted so far) and what is most remarkable is that many of "hard core" conservative seats (the National Party) are falling like ninepins to Labour.

This is unprecendented. Her handling of the Covid threat and her gracious demeanour (the latter brought a breath of fresh air to NZ politics) together with her acute mind may be the three factors that turned hardline Conservatives toward supporting her and her party so astonishingly (for them).

I hope that voting wave continues over here next month with a new Congress and in the presidential office. I am not normally political, but I cannot stand four more years of great failures for the USA. This current administration has just been an embarrassment of huge proportions.

And to think she did all that and had a baby too.

I'm not being facetious. I was once in the position of trying to be professional and be a mother at the same time, at a time when it was considered impossible to do both at once.

I am heartened to hear of such a successful woman, both for the future of all women and for all the people of New Zealand.

A landslide victory, and projected to win a rare outright parliamentary majority.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-54519628

Hmm, wish we had a PM like her. Or any politician like her.

Good to see some voters out there with some sense

Ardern has some remarkably different attributes from other political leaders in the world. She uses her power to empower others no matter what their political affiliations. She is a uniter, and despises the politics of division - to her, the ethos of "divide and rule" is anathema. When she first became Prime Minister after the previous election, the attack dogs of the opposition - in very sexist ways - tried to dismiss her as "a piece of fluff with a nice smile, no substance whatsoever". They kept it up for months, during her pregnancy, scoffing at the idea that "a young and politically inexperienced woman - an unmarried mother!" had anything to offer. They ran a personal attack campaign during the run up to this election, instead of focusing on anything they had to offer. They were caught out telling lies, in stark contrast to Ardern, that rarity in politics as someone doesn't lie. She values truth and respect, and people trust her values. She has exercised good judgment, and the attacks on that were pitiful.

I hope that her extraordinary success - and the reasons for it - will resonate around the world. Ardern is no piece of fluff, her insight and political instincts combine with enormous personal strength.

Only one candidate from the Maori Party gained a seat in the coming Parliament, and it would not surprise me if Ardern offers her a role in this Labour government, rather than leaving her to sit in Parliament as an outsider alone. This would also be a first; though it would be consistent with Ardern's prime role as a uniter, and she doesn't have a racist bone in her body.

The victory is likely to be even bigger still when the "special votes" are counted, which tend to favour Labour. These take a few weeks to count as they are made up of overseas votes from NZ citizens abroad, a sizeable number. Prime Ministers and others like the Dalai Lama from around the world are fulsomely congratulating her. There is no word from Trump yet, an exception amongst NZ allies and member countries of the "five eyes". He is the only exception thus far, though this might yet change.

Well this goes against the global trend. Much of this is due to the incredible popularity of Jacinda Arden who comes across as competent, intelligent but also kind, compassionate and caring (so rare in world leaders).

Many in Australia wish she was a leader here given we are stuck with old men with 1950s mindsets running the place

Same with the U.S., but those old men would never allow a female president. Look at how they tore into Hillary Clinton. They only opposed her because she was a woman who dared to “leave the kitchen“—much like they opposed Obama because he was black.