Hipkins revives Labour’s fortunes – but the election will be about more than ‘bread and butter issues’

For now at least, the sense of entropy that surrounded Labour during the final part of Jacinda Ardern’s reign has gone. In 2020, former prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s rhetoric of transformation sounded promising. The problem with moderationWith the exception of the current one, every administration formed since the first MMP election in 1996 has needed the support of at least one other parliamentary party to govern. What if significant policy change is needed to address what the prime minister is calling the “bread and butter issues” facing New Zealanders? The departure of a woman from the role of prime minister may mean some of the repugnant behaviour that has become increasingly normalised receives less publicity.