Hipkins’ biggest challenge: relevance

Hipkins’ biggest challenge: relevance
Chris Hipkins might well be the first in a string of leaders Labour will try. (Image: Getty)
Pattrick Smellie
Jacinda Ardern’s sudden departure and her replacement as prime minister by Chris Hipkins over the weekend has allowed Labour to do what all political parties seek to do: capture the agenda.Since Ardern’s announcement on Thursday, political media have given wall-to-wall attention to who would replace New Zealand’s most internationally feted leader ever.Apart from an ill-judged comment suggesting the extraordinary level of nastiness directed at Ardern was no more than business as usual for a political leader, National’s Ch...

More Opinion

A brush with Auckland’s unseemly side
Opinion

Maria Slade: A brush with Auckland’s unseemly side

Firms fear the city’s flagging reputation will deter much-anticipated extra traffic.

Sizing up a Williams Corporation IPO
Opinion

Eden Bradfield: Sizing up a Williams Corporation IPO

Crunching the property developer’s numbers.

Eden Bradfield 18 Oct 2025
The ERA’s midlife crisis at 25
Opinion

Bronwyn Heenan: The ERA’s midlife crisis at 25

In my opinion, we need to strengthen the mediation service and resource it properly.

Bronwyn Heenan 17 Oct 2025