Kia ora koutou, a great result last Saturday and the second time in my lifetime its happened. This kind of election result whether under MMP or not is rare in our electoral history and many are the questions as to why it happened. Here, for your eyes only, I reveal the secret…
In 1938 the Labour Party was fronted by Michael Joseph Savage who’d been leader since 1933 and then led the Labour party to their historic victory in 1935, and who whooshed to power again in 1938, this time in a landslide. Named Michael when he was born, he added the name Joseph, in memory of his brother Joseph, who died young and so ever after, Michael was Michael Joseph. I admire him for all sorts of reasons not least of which is that he liked dancing. Its endearing to think of this man, a devout Roman Catholic (which has all sorts of no–nos for me, not least their stance against contraception), who never married, who boarded with the same family most of his life, having this one frivolous streak. A winning streak I wonder?
This is clearly and admittedly a speculative thesis but somewhere, some day, some keen student wanting to gain a PHD (with honours), will work on it. Plenty of research to do but if you can get a grant to research what slater beetles do around compost heaps in the winter, surely you can get a grant for research that poses the question, ‘If the PM is a dancer, will this lead to landslide election results second time round?’
And the further burning question – Should political parties encourage their leaders to dance in order to get landslide victories?
It is the fate of all political parties of whatever hue to rise or fall on the public perception of its leader. Lets look at them in the light of this new research focus.
Michael Joseph, we know liked to dance, ut what about Peter Fraser (L)? I don’t think he danced, good Education Minister though. Sidney Holland (N), Keith Holyoake (N) – not sure either Sid or Keith liked dancing. I suspect not. Norman Kirk (L). Don’t know if he liked dancing and in any case his career was tragically cut short by his untimely death in 1972. Bill Rowling (L) who took over? I think not. Robert Muldoon (N). Not sure he liked dancing either but aha – he appeared in The Rocky Horror Show in Auckland wearing red stockings – did that count? No. Apparently not. No landslide.
David Lange (L), who, whether he danced or not, fell from grace when his party went bonkers with Rogernomics in 1986, although they stumbled on for another three years. Jim Bolger (N). Does he like dancing? Possibly. Dame Jenny? (N) Not sure. Helen Clarke (L) Seabed and Foreshore issue – not much to dance about there but she did deliver an apology to the Chinese community for the bad and racist treatment they and their ancestors had received. John Key (N) – FFS John? Pulling someone’s pigtail? No history of dancing – are we surprised? Bill Englsh (N) Unknown. Probably not. No landslide anyway.
All had their moment in the sun and all fell from grace. None since Michael Joseph got a landslide in their second election. Until now. My little grey cells are not saying aha, they are saying, one two three, one two three…
Winning or losing is such a fall of the dice. There’s lots of hard, sometimes seemingly insurmountable loads and loads of work that has to be done and there’s the unknown, the unexpected. The terrible heartbreaking Mosque shootings March 15, 2019, the volcanic eruption on Whakaari, White Island, December 9, 20i9, Covid 19, 2020, all singly would have seen off a lot of leaders but Jacinda Adern stayed the course with three such events and displayed intelligence, grace and kindness. Whatever shade of politics we adhere to we have to tip our hats to her for the handling of these tragedies and their aftermath. She has a team and most of them work hard and those that don’t will be farewelled one way or another.
And another thing – of all these leaders, only one of them has come close to being loved in the same way that Michael Joseph Savage was loved and only that one has led her party to a landslide victory in the polls. So I’m wondering – is this because she likes to dance? Is this the secret weapon that wins landslides in the second term?
I’m sure there’s a creative streak there. Has to be. All great leaders have it. For example, Florence Nightingale, in between washing her hands and ordering everyone else to do the same (and we know what a good piece of advice that was, and what a huge difference it made to hygiene, nursing, and people’s health), well, between you and me, I’m told that Florence was not averse to dancing around with a lamp at times.
I’m sure that Princess Te Puea, after the government said they wanted her to send men to fight for their king and country and she said, ‘We have a King but we don’t have a country, so the answer’s no,’ did a little dance of triumph.
And there’s a strong possibility that even Kate Sheppard, in the privacy of her own home, paused from editing The White Ribbon and singing ‘Won’t you sign the pledge dear Friends today?‘ and said to Walter, ‘Darling, shall we dance?’
There is something about dancing that says you have to work together, get the steps synchronised and you also need to have fun. Yeah yeah David Seymour (ACT) did a dance or two but that was for television and it didn’t look like he (or his partner) got a lot of pleasure from it and I don’t need to point out he wasn’t leading the country at the time anyway. In any case he still has to do a first term, let alone a second.
I am delighted that Jacinda Adern is Prime Minister again and by such a good margin. Her innate kindness allied with high intelligence, her ability to work, her knowledge of the system and her clear–eyed view of the temporary nature of the job is admirable. I have only one piece of advice for her. Keep dancing.
And for any PHD student looking for a thesis, you are welcome to contact me. The only thing is you need to be able to dance.
And when the band started playing a couple of weeks ago, just like Michael Joseph Savage, Jacinda stepped out onto the floor and said, ‘Okay everyone, its time, let’s dance.’
And although, like all old ladies, I sat on the side and watched them all dancing, my feet were moving to the music – and I clapped the loudest on the night.
Renée
