Ardern revamps campaign as cash flows
THAT baby question brings a rebuke
Jacinda Ardern has moved swiftly to stamp her mark on the Labour Party election campaign – and the first thing to go will be the slogan.
‘‘A fresh approach’’ was the banner under which Ardern’s predecessor, Andrew Little, campaigned. The slogan is on their billboards and campaign advertisements.
But Ardern confirmed yesterday it would not survive.
The slogan is not the only thing being tossed out – Ardern said she was overhauling the entire campaign plan: ’’What we will be doing on the road, what our tag line is likely to look like, what the vibe of the campaign will be.’’
Ardern has the luxury of money and volunteers to make good on her plans.
The Labour Party has received a serious boost in volunteer and financial support in the last two days.
In the 24 hours after the Mt Albert MP took the top job, the party said it received about $250,000 in donations – with a peak of $700 a minute in the hours just after the announcement.
It wasn’t just money; party general secretary Andrew Kirton said 1000 new volunteers also got in touch.
‘‘I’ve never seen anything remotely like this,’’ he said.
The party’s website – where it said $150,000 of its donations were received – was swiftly updated to reflect the new leader.
The median online donation amount was $33, which was an option on the site.
‘‘From the minute she was announced as leader it started coming in quite large volumes but quite small amounts – the average is about $30,’’ Kirton said.
It is understood the $100,000 received offline was in much larger chunks. Labour’s new leader Jacinda Ardern has told a broadcaster his comment that employers should know women’s baby plans before hiring are ‘‘totally unacceptable’’ in 2017.
Ardern appeared on the AM Show yesterday and told Mark Richardson he had gone too far.
Richardson had said: ‘‘I think this is a legitimate question for New Zealand, because she could be the prime minister running this country
On the same day, the National Party declared two large donations adding up to $168,000.
Labour won’t say what a normal day looks like but claimed this represented a serious upsurge.
‘‘What I can say is that we were – she has our best interests at heart, so we need to know these things.
‘‘If you are the employer of a company you need to know that type of thing from the woman you are employing ... the question is, is it OK for a PM to take maternity leave while in office?’’
Ardern said it was acceptable to ask her those questions because she had made it clear she would answer them.
receiving in hours what we usually get in weeks,’’ Kirton said.
It appears to be the first concrete sign of an upsurge in support for Labour following the leadership change.
No new poll releases were
‘‘For other women, it is totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace. It is the woman’s decision about when they choose to have children’’ she said.
‘‘Would you ask a man if they are likely to have kids in the future?’’ Richardson said yes. Ardern has spoken openly about wanting children.
expected in the immediate future, after the triple-whammy of three polls putting Labour’s support at 24 per cent or lower on Sunday and Monday forced Little to resign.
The party will need the cash and volunteers. It faces a mammoth effort replacing billboards bearing Little’s face, re-filming and re-promoting a campaign advert, and likely destroying reams of printed material.
Ardern confidently said the party had enough money to do this but the new boost would be welcome news.
One Auckland supporter said she donated $250 to Labour in response to the change.
‘‘She’s motivated me to support Labour to do better. I also like that they made a Maori member deputy,’’ she said.
Party president Nigel Haworth said all of the signs with Little’s face would be removed within 48 hours.
Despite the bad polling and sudden shift at the wheel seven weeks out from the election, MPS both on and off the record seemed more optimistic than they had been before the change.