Party seeks new slogan to match new leader

Labour may take at least a fortnight to produce and erect up to 5000 new billboards, says new leader Jacinda Ardern.

First the campaign committee has to come up with a new tagline to replace the “Fresh approach” now gracing the old billboards with exleader Andrew Little and Ardern.

The bounce in donations in small amounts will help to pay for a new batch.

Labour general secretary Andrew Kirton said the party had received about $150,000 online in the 24 hours to 2pm. A further $100,000 had come offline and about 1000 people had contacted the party to volunteer.

“I feel a huge sense of responsibility from that,” Ardern said at Parliament. “That’s people reaching into their back pocket and giving their hard-earned cash to what we are fighting for this campaign and to support us and the team so — genuinely moved by that actually.”

But the transition is not going to happen within days.

“There is going to be a delay. Just logistically, printing, dispatching, getting them up, it is going to take a bit of time. It could be a couple of weeks.”

She confirmed that deputy leader Kelvin Davis would be number two on the party list as required under the constitution — the Te Tai Tokerau MP and the other five Maori electorate MPs had previously elected to stay off the list.

“We don’t have time to be playing with the constitution right now,” Ardern said.

She said she had not yet discussed Little’s role or list place with him but said at her first press conference she wanted him on the front bench (in Labour that is the top 12) and she wanted him in any Labour Cabinet.

“I don’t expect there to be many changes at all to the line-up of the senior Labour team.”

She had nothing to report on the 72-hour stocktake of policies and campaign approach she foreshadowed after being elected on Tuesday. But it may involve enhancements to its student policy.

“It certainly is an area where I’ve heard from students on the ground that they are really concerned about their ability to meet their cost of living,” she said. “That’s an area I want to have a little look at but nothing specific right now.”

Among her full schedule on day two in the job was to meet a group of students at Parliament, prompting questions about whether she could replicate the so-called “youth-quake” in the British elections.

“I’m not going to put that level of expectation on myself. Others might,” she said, “but . . . if I can turn out even a handful more of young people who might not otherwise have shown up, I’ll be pleased with that. I’m not putting a number on that, though, and I’m not raising expectation.” If the feedback I witnessed in the four hours of talkback Kerre (McIvor) and I did on the subject on Tuesday is anything to go by, this is a step in the right direction. Newstalk ZB’s Mark

If I can turn out even a handful more of young people . . . I’ll be pleased. Jacinda Ardern

I’ve seen her on the campaign trail and it is clear she has the x-factor. At a gathering in New Plymouth she was supposedly the warm up act to (Andrew) Little. But it was clear she was the main event.

Fairfax

Tracy Watkins,

She reduced the assembled hacks of the press gallery to laughter, several times. She reduced ol’ hatchet man Paddy Gower to something you might almost call adulation.

at The Spinoff

Simon Wilson Dye