King makes shift from MP to aunty
In 33 years, veteran MP Annette King has never seen an election campaign like Jacinda Ardern’s. Jo Moir sits down with King.
After 33 years in Parliament, veteran Labour politician Annette King is more than happy to make the switch from MP to aunty, after Jacinda Ardern asked her to be at her side on the campaign trail.
King and Ardern have been friends for years - they first met more than a decade ago when King was a minister and Ardern was living in London.
‘‘We’ve always got on, we just clicked, but she does things like buy me clothes. She’ll see a jacket and text me and say there’s a jacket made by so-and-so, it’s your size and I’ve bought it for you.
‘‘She’s bought me clothes, we’ve talked, we’ve text. She’s always phoned and asked me what I thought,’’ said King.
‘‘There’s 32 years difference, it’s hard to be the same as a friend, I don’t even understand the music they play. It’s more like an aunt and a niece or something, although, we talk about all sorts of things - personal things, political things, we both love clothes, makeup and shoes.’’
When Ardern asked if King would come along on the campaign trail with her, she said it was because she valued her support and would really like a mentor and friend there with her.
‘‘Maybe I’m a sounding board and I certainly don’t tell her what to do - I don’t see that as my role. I’m not there directing or instructing, she’s very decisive and she makes decisions quickly when she has to - she doesn’t dither,’’ said King.
While King’s time as an MP is about to end, she said she would never say goodbye to the Labour Party but it was definitely time for the ‘‘next generation’s turn’’.
‘‘Us baby boomers, we’ve had our time and it’s time we handed over to the next generation to make the decisions. I think we need to do that in all walks of life, whether it’s politics, business or government departments. We’ve dominated for years.’’
So is King optimistic about Labour’s future under Ardern?
‘‘I’ve always known she’s had ability and I knew she really connected and was popular. I had no idea the impact when you went out into the community was going to be what it was, because let’s face it, most politicians have never seen it.’’
King hasn’t felt this optimistic about the party since 2005.
‘‘The truth is, until we changed the leader eight weeks out from the election we were looking at once again being in Opposition. Those were the facts and they’re facts I really give credit to Andrew (Little) for acknowledging.’’
Ardern and her deputy, Kelvin Davis, took over the leadership on August 1 after Little stepped aside on the back of disastrous polling for the party that saw it hit a low of 23 per cent.
Six days earlier, Little had asked Ardern to step up but she refused and told him to stick it out but after a Colmar Brunton poll confirmed what its own polls were saying, Little made the call to hand over the reins.
Since then, Ardern has taken the party to new heights in the polls.
King said the change of leadership had ‘‘brought hope’’ and in her mind Labour was in with a ‘‘good chance of leading the next government’’.
The 70-year-old, who celebrated the milestone birthday last week, said she had no regrets. ‘‘I haven’t felt this optimistic probably since 2005. 2008 was a really hard campaign and we fought hard and I didn’t see a reason why we’d lose other than our time was up.
‘‘It was always going to be an impossible task for Phil Goff to win three years later with such a popular leader and 2014 it was a hard slog. You just knew we weren’t going to win.’’
King said she had a better role to play now, which was ‘‘helping people and being a part of any organisational change’’ and using her ‘‘broad experience’’ from 15 different portfolios.
Being on the campaign trail as a mentor has given King, for the first time in decades, a chance to stand back and watch.
‘‘Watching the crowds, the mood, watching Jacinda and watching her just grow. It’s a totally different role to one I’ve ever had before.’’
King said she missed being in her own bed - one of the few perks of the campaign trail is staying put in your electorate - but she was at peace with giving up the Rongotai seat. ‘‘When I gave up the seat last year, that had taken me a year to think about that. I was really prepared to give up Rongotai and since I’ve done that I’ve had all this time to let go of things.’’
She said the only advice she had given to Ardern over the past five weeks was ‘‘just be yourself’’. She had never seen crowds like the ones Ardern had pulled recently ‘‘it isn’t the ordinary, everyday campaign I’ve been used to’’.
‘‘I see people truly just loving her as a person. She’s the warmest and most empathetic politician I’ve ever met and it’s genuine.’’
For King, the final stretch has been all about ‘‘freedom’’ - ‘‘it is all care and no responsibility’’.
‘‘I don’t have to make political decisions, just other ones, like, have I got enough clothes with me?’’ said King. ‘‘I have no regrets. As Jacinda would say, I am ready.’’