Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper questions Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during a post-Cabinet media conference. Video / NZ Herald
For the past year New Zealand's political reporters have gone head-to-head with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during question time at press conferences.
Often it can be heated, sometimes it can be quirky, and other times it can be downright bizarre.
And while tensions can be high at times, it turns out Ardern has ended the year with the gallery reporters on a rather humorous note.
Today, the reporters from the gallery received a rather cheeky gift poking fun at both a habit the Prime Minister has picked up and the battle to get the first question out following press conferences.
Taking to Twitter, Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper revealed the gift he received from Ardern - a face mask that said "then Barry".
The "then Barry" is reference to both the Prime Minister's habit of allowing One News' Jessica Mutch McKay and Newshub's Tova O'Brien to ask their questions first, as well as the PM's recent heated interactions with Soper.
In November, Soper pressed Ardern to take more of his questions, saying he was on deadline, with the PM eventually telling him: "I'm going to ask for a bit of decorum".
Soper left the conference in order to make his radio deadlines.
In an opinion piece responding to the incident, Soper said Ardern's style of press conferences is all about control.
"It's all about control, to cut off a line of questioning before something difficult takes hold. If it runs the risk of taking hold, she'll overtalk the questioner through the power of the podium microphone and move on.
"With the flick of a hand, she'll switch to another questioner. She's trained the media to raise their hands which allows her to rattle off the order in which the questions are to be asked.
"If you're working to a deadline, which if you have to go on-air in radio is constant, it's of no consequence to Ardern, television takes precedence."
At times press conferences have been heated. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Prime Minister's present to both Soper and the rest of the gallery received mixed reactions on social media.
The gift went down well. Photo / Barry Soper
Some praised Ardern for her sense of humour.
"At the end of the day, none of it is personal, all just doing jobs. Cool gift," one said.
Another added: "Aww, she's a lovely lady. Humour is a great leveller."
However, one person said the gift had a hidden message behind it, writing: "Sending a good-humoured gift to Barry does not exonerate her of her one-eyed bias and desire to control others for her own wishes ... it just highlights how aware she is that's she's doing it."
Another took aim at Soper, saying he should be thankful the Prime Minister can see the funny side.
