When Jacinda Ardern first came to notoriety in New Zealand, reactions were radically different right from the start. One person said, “I like the way she speaks.” Another summed her up saying, “She’s a dangerous woman.” In short, the lack of awareness was a problem and she fooled a lot of people.
Ardern came into prominence when Labour leader Andrew Little realised he did not stand a chance of winning the 2017 election. He stood aside and the relatively young and practically unknown female politician that most people had never heard of was thrust upon the country as the new Labour Party leader and, although she didn’t win that election, with the support of NZ First, Ardern became PM.
Ardern’s popularity rose during the Covid debacle until just after the 2020 election but then it rapidly plummeted. It was extraordinary that she fell from such heights to an extreme low. It was not simply the normal shift of fortune among parties and leaders: it became shockingly evident that Kiwis who once adored her no longer trusted her; in fact, they detested her. It was a Brobdingnagian shift, as in Jonathon’s Swift’s 1726 satirical novel Gulliver’s Travels. The undoing of Ardern was exceptional: the scale of the colossal collapse had never been seen before in our lifetime.
One of New Zealand’s well-known property investors, author and former politician, Sir Bob Jones, explains the bizarre situation in a recent article. He blames the people.
[…] So, when I hear people say they’re proud to be a New Zealander, I flinch. First because of their language misuse, pride after all relating to accomplishment and simply being born is hardly an achievement.
On the other side of the ledger there’s two uniquely New Zealand occurrences that have made me embarrassed to be a Kiwi.
The first was the Jacindamania insanity (for which I don’t blame Jacinda) when the nation lost its sanity.
The old boxing adage, “the bigger they are, the harder they fall” springs to mind when, having initially decided Jacinda was the second coming, this insanity then swung 180 degrees to equally irrational hatred, which prevails still today. […].
The polarisation of support for the former leader, as Sir Bob says, does remain after four years. It galls many Kiwis that Ardern left our country divided, angry and almost bankrupt. Many would see the people as silly sheep, blindly following Ardern as she cleverly acted out her Marxist ideology on a trusting nation.
In Psychology Today, Leadership 2022, Riggio says of followers of bad leaders:
Key points
Dictators thrive because they appear to be strong and effective, but they are really arrogant and narcissistic.
The inner circle of followers (“henchmen”) support bad leaders because they share in the power.
All too often, we value leader effectiveness without taking into account the means by which the leader succeeds.
The antidote to bad leadership is engaged and courageous followers.
Ardern gave the impression of being a strong, effective and successful leader. Stating she will be the country’s ‘single source of truth’ would be described psychologically as the height of arrogance and narcissism.
After she knew she was not liked within NZ she resigned and skipped the country. It seems many around the world have chosen to ignore these facts. Ardern reportedly can command six figure speaking fees from groups who exhibit wilful blindness. The Post reports of the speaking fee here.
It is almost laughable that she is proud she is the founder of the ‘Field Fellowship’, a 12-month programme that supports global political leaders that draws on the strength of kindness and empathy, when she was the complete opposite. The Herald article is here.
Sir Bob is right to blame the insanity of Kiwis deciding this prime minister was the ‘second coming’. But there will be robust disagreement with him that it was not the fault of Ardern. Sharp condemnation must go to Ardern, who was a ‘dangerous’ leader who caused untold misery and division in New Zealand.
Stuff NZ reports Ardern is busy crisscrossing countries around the world here.
Kiwis saw through Ardern and are appalled she is making huge bucks when, at home, many see her as a failed leader.
