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National | Elections

Mixed reactions from voters about Ardern-Davis leadership

The swift change in leadership has political commentator Ella Henry comparing this year's election to Game of Thrones. Te Kāea hit the streets to gauge the reaction of constituents about the Ardern-Davis pairing.

Te Kāea asked the people what they thought of Labour’s new leadership.

One woman says, "It's pretty exciting I'm glad Andrew is no longer the leader."

A young voter says, "As long as they beat National, I'm happy."

While a staunch Labour supporter says, “The future is not looking good" for the party.

Some thought the leadership change this close to the Election would mean positive things for Labour, while others didn’t care.

"Everyone seems to be talking about Jacinda and I haven't really heard anything about anyone else,” says one.

“I think it gives more hope to Labour to be in Government but bold move, she's pretty young”, says another.

One man took favour with Kelvin Davis as deputy but says the number of leadership changes over the years was disappointing, saying, “It’s like going back to square one.”

Political commentator Ella Henry says the new pair will take Labour to new heights that Andrew Little could not.

"I think a Jacinda-Kelvin combination is sexy. The Labour Party had to be bold and brave and this is a very bold, very brave move to have a woman and a Māori leading the party instead of one of another endless troop of lefty white men that tend to dominate the Labour Party."

Henry says Davis as deputy could improve Māori-Labour relationships.

"This is an opportunity for him to really mark out Labour's relationship with Māori, which has failed on a number of occasions in the last few years back to 2004 with the Foreshore and Seabed Act."

The Māori Party and Greens have said they are open to working with the new leadership.