On the Tiles: Jacinda Ardern’s legacy and what comes next for Labour

Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. Photo / Mark Mitchell

New Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has promised a review of Labour’s current policies and a reset of their priorities - but just how much he’ll be able to change before the election in October remains to be seen.

Hipkins was sworn in as Prime Minister this week, six days after Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation from the role after five-and-a-half years at the top.

On the first episode of the year of On the Tiles, the New Zealand Herald’s politics podcast, host and Herald deputy political editor Thomas Coughlan is joined by Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls to recap the past week and what legacy Ardern leaves behind.

Coughlan noted that much of the commentary has focused on her as a reluctant Prime Minister, which doesn’t fully reflect the reality of how she operated.

“People underrate Ardern as a political tactician. She is often parodied as just an everyperson who became Prime Minister almost by accident, and that doesn’t do the political triangulation justice. Her political thinking is very long-term.”

He noted that two of her big wins were getting the Zero Carbon Bill and the Child Poverty Reduction Act over the line, and negotiating with the National Party on both pieces of legislation so it will be tied to the legislation as well.

However, the cloud hanging over her tenure and the Labour Government going forwards was their record on housing. KiwiBuild was one of Labour’s early failures in Government, and Walls disagreed with a recent rating by Audrey Young giving Labour a 5 out of 10 on housing - “It was more of a 2 or a 3″.

“I still think we didn’t go hard enough as a society and an electorate to say they failed miserably. You promised the heavens and Earth and delivered the dregs.”

Housing remains one of the many challenges facing Hipkins and his new Cabinet, with a reshuffle and the reprioritisation expected to come next week. The question remains how big a reset it can be, with just over eight months left before the election. Many budgetary bids from ministers have already been handed over to Finance Minister Grant Robertson, and the pressures from a rising cost of living and inflation will clash with any budget sweeteners.

“It could be one of the most boring election year budgets in history,” Coughlan said. “It is an election year - you can’t say people want me to get inflation under control, therefore I’m hiking everyone’s taxes.”

Walls added that going too over the top with spending would see Labour hammered by National, but not offering anything new would likely disappoint Labour’s base.

Listen to the full podcast above for more on where Ardern succeeded and struggled, and predictions for who could be demoted and promoted in the reshuffle next week.

On the Tiles is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are available on Fridays.