Kerre McIvor: Graft beats charisma

Charisma, or star power, is an indefinable trait.

For some, it comes with the position of office - Tony Blair had it while he was the British Prime Minister. Once he lost his job however, he was also stripped of the charisma.

I heard him once, when he came to New Zealand for a speaking engagement.

(I received free tickets and it was a wet afternoon and I had nothing else to do.)

In person, without the job, he had all the energy and vitality of an average English teacher in the second to last period on a Friday. Once he took off the mantle of power, he was just another ordinary Joe.

It wasn't like that with David Lange. The former Labour Prime Minister was a powerful presence in office and out of it. You either have charisma or you don't and it's not something that can be media trained into you if you suffer a deficiency.

So I was interested to see whether or not Jacinda Ardern had it. Since being handed the poisoned chalice of the Labour Party leadership, Ardern has given the party the elixir of life.

Labour's preferred party rating has rocketed up in the polls to the point that on Thursday night, Labour was ahead of National for the first time in 12 years.

The meteoric rise is being put down to the "Jacinda effect".

After a succession of middle-aged, well-meaning white men tried and failed to compete with John Key, who was also a middle-aged well-meaning white guy but just so much better at it, Ardern's arrival was a welcome relief.

At least for Labour-leaning voters.

You have to feel for Bill English. After succeeding Key as Prime Minister - and after a glance in the rear-view mirror to see Labour under Andrew Little trailing in his wake - a newly resurgent Labour under Ardern has not only drawn level with National, they've passed them, something that was unthinkable when English called the election this year.

Admittedly it was going to be tough to win a fourth term - that hasn't been done since the Holyoake years - but really. Labour, even with all the lefty mates it could cobble together among the minor parties, wasn't looking like much in the way of competition.

Then along came Ardern and it was game on. She's fortunate in that she replaced Little at an opportune time. There isn't really time for her to make mistakes.

I was looking forward to seeing how she would perform in the first of the televised debates this week. The white-hot glare of studio lights and the impersonal television cameras aimed at you like a firing squad can be intimidating. Combine that with the live aspect and even the most experienced of campaigners can get dry mouthed and sweaty palmed.

But Ardern did just fine. She held her own against the vastly more seasoned English and acquitted herself admirably.

I would have called the first debate a draw. English was knowledgeable, reassuring and civil - although he did try to evoke the spectre of the infamous Dancing Cossacks from the 1975 election campaign. The National Party used the animated Cossacks to equate Labour with Soviet-style Communism and very successfully too.

English's references to militant unionism and the 70s backfired when Ardern swiped straight back, saying his views on industrial relations were antiquated and last generation. Ouch.

We hosted Ardern for an hour in the Newstalk ZB studio on Friday afternoon, just as we had hosted the Prime Minister the fortnight before. Both leaders were personable, knowledgeable and passionate in their view that their party has the right policies for the country.

The "Jacinda effect" is the ability to have cut-through in a landscape cluttered with middle-aged men. She has the support of her party and, under her leadership, people believe they'll be able to vote for Labour without the party disintegrating before it can take office.

Neither English nor Ardern has charisma but that, I think, is a good thing. They're hard workers, bright and committed to a better New Zealand and they're going to have to get the job done without the benefit of jazz hands and the fairy dust.

They won't fade away when the going gets tough and the public approval turns to criticism.

Charisma is for rock stars, not good politicians. And in English and Ardern, we have two good politicians. Take your pick.