The Front Page revisited: Five years in, have Labour and Jacinda Ardern lost their stardust?

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern faces an uphill battle in 2023. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Over the next few weeks, The Front Page podcast is revisiting some of the major stories covered in 2022.

Labour celebrated five years in government earlier this year, but recent polling suggests securing a third term will be a battle.

Numerous polls have put National and Act ahead of Labour and the Greens, and the Prime Minister’s preferred PM rating has also declined steadily.

This does not bode well for Labour in the leadup to an election year for a Government that has faced the most tumultuous tenure any Prime Minister has seen.

The pandemic, two terrorist attacks and a volcanic eruption are just some of the challenges Ardern and the Labour Party faced.

Newstalk ZB deputy political editor Jason Walls joined us in October to rate the last five years, and consider whether Jacinda Ardern still has enough stardust to drag Labour toward another election victory.

“She was incredibly popular,” Walls told The Front Page.

”During Covid-19, her preferred Prime Minister rating was up in the 60s, almost hitting 70 per cent in some polls. It was absolutely stratospheric. We haven’t seen anything like that. Even John Key didn’t get to those levels of popularity.”

Walls argues that the Labour Party will not be able to win the next election solely on the popularity and Covid track record of Ardern.

“They’re going to have to come out with some pretty meaty, substantial policies to bring votes back to Labour.”

Contributing to Labour’s recent struggles is the fact that some of their policies have not resonated with the public as well as they should have.

No recent policy has proven more divisive than Three Waters, which has faced opposition around the country and given talking points to Opposition politicians looking to capitalise on frustrated New Zealanders.

When you combine that with the cost-of-living crisis and the potential for a recession, the road to victory looks incredibly tough for Labour.

So do they have any chance of winning? And does a political amateur like Luxon have what it takes to challenge a smart political operator like Ardern on the campaign trail?

Listen to the full episode of The Front Page podcast for a breakdown of Labour’s prospects of pulling another win out of the bag in 2023.