National leader Simon Bridges doesn't think the way he talks has anything to do with his low personal polling, and won't be seeking voice training. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Simon Bridges' accent has had some premium coverage this week, courtesy of an attack ad from the Greens which featured an exaggerated accent mocking the National leader's distinctly Kiwi vowels.
The ad was a disaster for the Greens and was pulled following a tsunami of criticism, but it was gold for Bridges, temporarily turning one of his political handicaps into an advantage.
Bridges fronted media within an hour of the video going live, joking that he was happy for his accent to be held to account.
The way he talks is seen by many as a reason why he has struggled to resonate with voters; poll numbers suggest that only about one in eight National supporters want him leading the country.
Seasoned politicians surveyed by the Weekend Herald said that the way Bridges presents himself, including his accent, is a turn-off for voters.
"Voices are actually more important than appearance," says former Act leader Richard Prebble.
"Very successful politicians in New Zealand have nearly always had remarkable voices: [Former Prime Ministers] David Lange, Rob Muldoon, Keith Holyoake. People with unfortunate voices like Bill Rowling [PM from 1974 to 1975] - quite a handsome man, but a very weak voice."
Prebble says if Bridges hasn't had any voice training, he should.
"Not just his accent, but his projection. It's obvious he hasn't connected with the electorate, and I'm not sure that he can.
"Here's one problem. If he's got a sense of humour, I've never seen it."
Former United Future leader Peter Dunne says if Bridges wanted to be Prime Minister, he needed to sound like one.
"I think he really needs to get some sharp elocution lessons, frankly.
"It is an issue, and I think something has be done about it. It's been an issue with previous Prime Ministers, to various degrees, and they've all done something about it."
Before her election to lead the UK in 1979, Margaret Thatcher took lessons to lower her pitch and develop a calm, authoritative tone.
Helen Clark's popularity hovered at around 2 per cent as Opposition leader until weeks out from the 1996 election, when her use of a media-trained quiet, gentle voice saw a boost to her ratings.
Clark biographer and former journalist Brian Edwards, who trained her after previously dismissing Clark's presentation issues as "insurmountable", has said the change saved her leadership.
But Bridges has no intention of getting any voice training.
"It is what it is. I'm not changing it," he says in a Weekend Herald interview in his parliamentary office.
Despite being written off countless times in the last year, he remains steadfastly optimistic and puts his low personal polling down to voters' disinterest at this point in the electoral cycle.
He doesn't think his voice is related to his general likeability, a view that has the support of Massey University Professor Claire Robinson, an expert in political messaging and communications.
"We have this thing in our culture that we expect our political leaders to be ordinary but extraordinary, and his accent is part of his ordinariness," Robinson says.
"His problem is not his accent. He doesn't have the thing that makes him extraordinary. And that's possibly why people focus on how he speaks so much."
Robinson says Bridges' lack of an x-factor means he struggles to get cut-through, but he is far from unique in this respect and it's not a reason to think he can't win in 2020.
"Phil Goff tried to dye his hair. Andrew Little got rid of his specs. They try to do things, but it's about familiarity. How they speak counts for much less.
"None of them need to go. They just need to hang in there and last the distance."
If Bridges doesn't need x-factor, he certainly rates it, as he alluded to in his comments this week about Boris Johnson's "buffoon-like quality".
"There's that colourful personality, the buffoon-like aspects, but also the brilliance," Bridges said.
"Ultimately that's why he's now the Prime Minister of the UK. He wouldn't have been without both of those qualities."
Robinson adds that there is nothing exceptional in Bridges' low preferred Prime Minister rating, as polls generally favour the incumbent until an election campaign.
"The things that are going to make a difference for Simon Bridges, and what he's started to do now, is attack everything Labour does, everything the Greens do."
She says relentless attacks, while not a particularly kind brand of politics, could undermine trust in the Government's ability to do what it says it will do.
"Elections come down to simple things like trustworthiness, not someone's accent."
National's recent ads attacking the Government's feebate scheme on vehicles followed a meeting between Bridges and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison earlier this month.
Bridges is inspired by Morrison's victory in Australia, which countered the trend in the polls and was driven by what Morrison called the "quiet Australians".
Morrison used a series of attack ads in a strategy that included a social media guru who had been on loan from Team Bridges.
How to reach voters will be a key subject of National's annual conference in Christchurch today and tomorrow, which will see the party's message "reframed" to target everyday Kiwis.
Economic growth has fallen from 3.1 per cent when Labour took power to a predicted 2.4 per cent by 2022, which the Government puts down to a number of factors, including a slowing global economy.
"As Ronald Reagan said, 'Do I feel better off?'" Bridges says.
"Right now many New Zealanders don't. They potentially feel worse off. The real consequences of that are personal - the ability to pay for things, to have an overseas trip, to get a house.
"It's personal. It's about you. We will make sure it is better for you."
National must also entice voters, and it has released discussion documents on the environment, international affairs and the primary sector, with more to come.
Bridges also hints at tax cuts on top of his promise to move tax thresholds in line with inflation.
"The ability to provide tax relief through indexation, but possibly in other ways if the economic conditions allow, that's really important."
There is still plenty of room to attack the Government, given the failure of Kiwibuild, its flagship fees-free scheme failing to lift tertiary education numbers, and Jacinda Ardern's dumping of a capital gains tax - though the latter has deprived National of an effective line of attack.
But these issues, while important, are not necessarily ones that many voters care about, so National has been taking aim at what it believes could swing middle New Zealand voters: taxes on climate-unfriendly cars, petrol prices, roads and lower speed limits on dangerous roads.
It has also tried to hammer the Government on the cost of living and issues close to Labour's heart, like the long queue of beneficiaries outside an Auckland social welfare office.
Another area where National could target voters are the conscience issues of abortion and euthanasia, and the referendum on legalising recreational cannabis.
Bridges, a social conservative, may be hoping that conservative voters will notice his position on these issues, but he has no plan to campaign on them.
"As leader of the National Party, I represent a broad church and that requires some delicate balancing."
The party faithful will be buoyed by National's stubbornly high party vote, which remains consistently at 40 per cent or higher with the exception of one Newshub-Reid Research poll in June that was contradicted by a more favourable poll on the same day.
More poll results are expected soon, with voters being surveyed this week.
The difficulties of the last year make National's party vote even more remarkable.
There have been constant murmurings about Bridges' leadership, a popular Prime Minister, the changing of the guard with the departure of Sir Bill English and Steven Joyce, and a damaging break-up with Jami-Lee Ross that saw the release of a recording of Bridges describing National MP Maureen Pugh as not particularly useful.
The party has also been referred to the Serious Fraud Office over political donations; National has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
But the caucus has remained outwardly unified, the only ruffles coming from Judith Collins' repeated comments about her support for the National leader, whoever that might be.
Another key question facing National in 2020 is which party, if any, could help it command a majority in the House.
NZ First or the Greens failing to pass the 5 per cent threshold would dramatically change the 2020 equation, and while no small party supporting a Government has made the threshold at the following election, no one would bet the house on NZ First or the Greens falling short.
National's former allies are not faring well.
Act continues to cling to about 1 per cent support, the Māori Party lost its seats in 2017, and Peter Dunne decided not to contest in the face of likely defeat.
It makes a National victory seem unlikely, unless many factors align perfectly.
Bridges is confident other parties could perform well in the conservative or blue-green political spaces, even though the parties in those spaces are barely visible.
"They don't need to be seen by now. Don't discount the ability of small parties to get traction quite close to an election," Bridges says.
"I'm not saying I have a clear sense that will happen. But with the right candidates and the right people, it might happen. And there's still a Māori Party that has a couple of per cent on any kind of week. I think there will be options."
He will make an announcement next year on whether National will rule out working with Winston Peters and New Zealand First.
Peters has been especially disparaging of Bridges all term, but Bridges said it would be wrong to over-analyse Peters' comments and the damage is not irreparable.
By the time the 2020 campaign rolls around, Bridges still expects to be leading National, have a solid party vote behind him, and bring his accent door-to-door.
He will also bring his accent to televised debates, though he suggests that is not his strength.
"The reality is I'm better on the doorstep, on the hustings, than possibly I am in some other settings."
Great communication is something he admires, citing those qualities in Reagan and former US President Bill Clinton.
He has that quality too, he insists.
"As we get closer to an election and the glare of it all comes on, and I'm out there persuading individual voters, groups of voters, National is going to do well."
Steadfast optimism.
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