Chris Hipkins and Jacinda Ardern. Photo: NZ HeraldThe usually solid political management skills of the Labour Party demonstrated over the past five years have been decidedly shaky in the past 12 months, but over the last three days it has reacted perfectly to an unexpected crisis. This could have been a terribly divisive process, especially as the most logical successor to Ms Ardern, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson, had created a power vacuum by immediately ruling himself out. The rise of Mr Hipkins to the top job is a logical one, but little in politics is logical and some kind of leadership contest was entirely possible. But, for now, Labour has handily cleared what could have been a first fence fall in the election race.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 22, 2023 22:13 UTC