New Zealand Election 2008

Well, I guess there's an outside chance we'll get Winston as PM at the head of a Labour/Greens/NZF coalition, maybe ... really wish something had come of the electoral reform commission back in 2012 or so to lower the party vote threshold.

Jacinda Ardern is the new prime minister.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/341958/honour-and-a-privilege-jacinda-ardern

An extraordinary turnaround from 2½ months ago, when she took over as Labour leader on 24% in the polls. Now Labour, NZ First and the Greens will attempt to form a government.

And National lose power for the first time since 2008. They'll go into opposition and count the lessons they have learned. Probably on one hand.

If nothing else, there was a slight swing away from the unashamedly rightwing parties this time. National/ACT/Conservatives got 49%, 51% and 52% of voters at the previous elections, but barely 45% this year. Seeing NZF as a "centrist" party feels weird when some of their policies are equally shitty, but apparently "centrist" is what they've decided to be. This week.

Ardern, Davis and Robertson looked pretty glum at that press conference. Any regrets?

Slight dread that the NZF-Labour coalition will be wobbly enough to give us another nine years of National in three years time, but yeah, fingers crossed. Worried about nativist/anti-immigration crossover between NZF & Labour. Big year for Jacinda, and curious as to what sort of portfolios the Greens will get.

I HATE Winston Peters. He used to come into the restaurant I worked at, and would always smoke cigars at his table (it was a non smoking restaurant) and my boss wouldn’t say anything. He was always really smug, rude and an asshole. And he’s a fucking racist.

I hate how much power his shit party always seems to have.

Anyone follow the spinoff? I’ve been loving the “kiwis of Snapchat” series - the latest one had me in tears: “it’s colonization, bitch”

Yeah, he's a pos. Has he been given a portfolio yet?

This is not all about him.

(btw, ministries should be known next week - https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/10/19/54586/labours-got-talent-and-nz-first)

It hasn't had time to sink in yet, but I'm astounded that National are out of power. Stunning stuff! Maybe the coalition will turn sour, but they've got 3 years to show Kiwis that NZ can be something better than a poor-hating tax haven. They can do it, but they've got to be bold.

This election's real 'queenmaker':

Back in July, the speech that Metiria Turei gave to the Greens AGM on her experiences as a beneficiary in the 1990s (including an admission she broke the law) was the pebble that started yesterday’s avalanche.

It led to a not insignificant number of Labour voters switching support to the Greens. Which then drove Labour’s poll ratings down to the low-mid 20s. Which caused Andrew Little to resign as leader. Which put Jacinda Ardern in charge of Labour. After which, the rest is history. - (TheSpinoff.co.nz)

:-O Story of the year! But do you reckon it's got a chance of passing?

- http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/342008/cannabis-referendum-part-of-greens-deal, aroha-bridge-predicted-it

https://media.giphy.com/media/3ov9jQnSgyMXQ8S0Rq/giphy.gif

Hi @FirstCatofNZ Paddles! I'm First Dog @usembassynz. Glad your mommy @jacindaardern got a call from @POTUS! Congrats & let's be buddies🐾🐶🐱 pic.twitter.com/xDAaLrj7C8

— Gracie Brown (@DiploDogGracie) October 23, 2017

Can her first act of office be transferring the US embassy to a dirt road outside of Invercargill?

Mads Chapman on-point as usual:

https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/15-02-2018/a-step-by-step-guide-to-writing-a-jacinda-ardern-profile/

Meanwhile, Bill English has resigned, and no clue how serious people are contending for the leadership or if it's seen as a poisoned chalice / one for a caretaker figure.

Time to retweet this pic.twitter.com/7JByeNnomS

— Colin Jackson (@ThisCJ) February 13, 2018

https://images.thespinoff.co.nz/1/2022/04/pisscountry.jpg