New Zealand Listener – March 02, 2018

10 LISTENER MARCH 10 2018

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Externally, he shouldn’t have nearly as big a

problem. Simon Bridges’ election will energise

our politics. He’s boisterous, gutsy, personable

and smart. There’s no risk, as there often is with

Opposition leaders, of his boring the public. And

since generational change is the premier political

appetite these days, he and Prime Minister Jacinda

Ardern make an uncannily photogenic cruet set for

the glossy mags.

Bridges ticks so many boxes it’s a bit corny. He is

Westie-born, made his career in provincial Tau-

ranga, speaks like a tradie rather than the Oxford

masters law graduate he is, is a father of three – and,

wouldn’t you know it, is also kind to animals. His

first political coup was a successful private mem-

ber’s bill to increase penalties for animal cruelty.

Bridges has flasher academic qualifications than

any National leader, or indeed New Zealand prime

minister, since he’s been alive. And though he’s not

yet a media darling, he shares with Sir John Key a

welcome inability to say “No comment” or any of

its variants. It’s always time for Simon Says.

However, as with all contested caucus votes, not

all his colleagues are as confident

about him as he is, and that he won

on the second ballot shows he has

a majority of them to convince. He

appears to have suffered from “cool-

est kid in school” syndrome, being

far cleverer than anyone else in most

rooms and – a cardinal sin in New

Zealand culture – failing to pretend

not to know it.

THE GOLDEN RULE

The five-way contest to replace

Bill English brought up yet again a

golden rule that a surprising number

of politicians never learn – or vainly

assume couldn’t possibly apply to

them. It’s the one about being courte-

ous, especially to those junior to or

less gifted than oneself.

How they treat people on the way

up may not prevent serial ill-treaters

from reaching the top, but it sure

accelerates the greasing of the skids

under them later. Labour’s David

Cunliffe would have been lucky

to scrounge a gnawed pencil stub

from his caucus by the end of his

short leadership stint. Australia’s

Kevin Rudd’s nadir was at more than

30,000 feet, making a stewardess cry

because he disliked his sandwich –

the appalling resonance with voters

accelerating his demise.

It’s not complicated. If lots of the

people you work with think you’re a

bit of an arse, voters take an impor-

tant message from that. Bridges and

one of his unsuccessful rivals, former

Finance Minister Steven Joyce, had

both treated many colleagues so

brusquely that each lost votes they

could otherwise have had. By some

accounts, Bridges would have bolted

home had he shown the humility

and good sense to mend fences with

MPs he had rubbed up the wrong

way. Amy Adams’ support was bal-

lasted by MPs vehemently resistant

to Bridges, and Mark Mitchell’s

run – shelved at the last minute but

comfortably into double figures – was

aided by an anti-

Bridges sentiment, too.

Also unsuccessful

for misconstruing

the inflection in the

phrase “charm offen-

sive” was the public

favourite, Judith

Collins. While culti-

vating and mentoring

younger colleagues,

she has calculatedly

brought so much

S

ometimes there’s no getting away

from the puns in politics. The

new National leader has some

bridges to build – the first over a

troubled caucus.

POLITICS

There’s no risk of National’s new leader boring us.

There goes climbin’ Simon

JANE

CLIFTON

Bridges speaks like a

tradie rather than the

Oxford masters law

graduate he is.

Westie power:

deputy Paula

Bennett and

new leader

Simon Bridges.