, Columnist
We Want Governments to Tackle Covid. Who Knew?
Jacinda Ardern’s landslide election victory is a lesson for leaders who have adopted a more passive strategy.
Jacinda Ardern’s aggressive Covid response has reaped rewards.
Photographer: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
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For governments facing a growing wave of coronavirus cases as fall turns to winter, there’s a stark lesson in Saturday’s stunning election victory for New Zealand’s incumbent Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: Voters really want their governments to suppress the pandemic.
A landslide victory means Ardern could govern with the first outright majority since her country adopted proportional representation in the 1990s, with her Labour party on track to win the largest share of the vote in 70 years.