The mandate to govern alone, responding to a global pandemic and some resignations thrown into the mix for good measure; it's been quite a year for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party.
Ardern was in Australia when New Zealand’s first positive Covid-19 case was confirmed but once she was back on Kiwi soil, she didn’t hesitate to make bold moves – even if she struggled to follow her own advice early on like when she was on a trip to Rotorua to visit the tourism sector.
Soon after came the border restrictions, the mandatory quarantine and the 1pm briefings where a message of “go hard, go early” was heavily promoted.
Mid year, Ardern’s popularity was sky-high with a record-breaking 63 per cent in the preferred Prime Minister stakes.
Things weren’t so rosy for her former Health Minister, though, with David Clark getting tied up in the somewhat farcical story where he was telling everyone to stay home while taking his family to the beach and going for a bike ride.
He soon after lost his portfolio but the dramas weren’t over for Labour with then-Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway losing his role after an affair with a public servant from one of his agencies was revealed.
Labour powered on though, heading towards a September election before the date was moved back, giving more time for new National leader Judith Collins to try and make ground on Ardern at debates.
But come election night, it wasn’t enough.
Enter 22 new MPs and a new era for the Labour Party, who were given a clear mandate to govern alone.
Ardern was asked earlier this month how she would describe 2020 and her answer put a pretty decent fullstop on a very long political year.
“Horrendous.”
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