Prime Minister

"Prime Minister" (2025) depicts an ideal politician, but one that was rejected by her constituency.  The subtitle is appropriate. "To rule is easy.  To lead is hard."  Mistakes are unavoidable.

To become Prime Minister required a lot of details to fall in place.  The Labour Party was trending downward in polls and the leader decided it would be better if he resigned, so he did.   Jacinda did not want the responsibility of party leader although she had earned the respect of the members.   She once said "...that's the power of saying yes, because there will also be a moment when someone will ask you to do sometihng beyond your comfort zone.  I am not unique."

New Zealand has a proportional representation system and the Labour Party finished second, however there was no majority.  This meant the third party could decide who would be the Prime Minister.  The top two parties negotiated with Winston Peters and he decided in favor of Jacinda.  One consequence reported in her book is that she decided not to legislate a capital gains tax.

Another challenge for Jacinda was that she was pregnant.  From the book again, she pointed out that both she and her partner Clarke Gayford had wanted a baby, but after some medical procedures were not able to.  As she was in her late 30's they were both pleasantly surprised.  This led to some adjustments.  Clarke handled many of the household and parental chores.  Jacinda had decided she wanted to breastfeed and with awkwardness was able to do so in Parliament, but did cut out after awhile.

She brought baby Neve to United Nations and heard one of Trump's rants.  The camera showed some of the other members reaction and it was mostly negative.  A bit later Stephen Colbert asked her about the laughter, prompting her to say that question could provoke a diplomatic incident.  She did point out that after Trump had said, "I wasn't expecting that.  But that's okay" the laughter was mostly with him and not so much at him.

As a progressive she was able to help steer legislation towards dealing with climate change, mental health and parental supports.  New Zealand improved access for abortions.  But soon enough crises took up much of her time and energy.

In 2019 a terrorist massacred in Christchurch 50 Muslim worshippers.  She flew down and did her best to comfort the survivors.  Jacinda felt even if they were refugees they were New Zealanders.  She refused to name the murderer, but made efforts to remember the victims.  Donald Trump, like other national leaders phoned to express his sympathy.  After he asked if there was anything he could do she told him sympathy and love for Muslims were what was needed" the response was silence

Jacinda was aware of a conflict between police procedures and Muslim burial customs.  She was able to be diplomatic to everyone's satisfaction.   A personal note, when my brother in law Ali, died after visiting family in Morocco, his wife, my sister Rebecca and one daughter were in Montreal. They had to quickly cut though some red tape so they could get over in time for Ali's burial.

Another consequence was to tackle gun laws.  In the book she recounts there is a strong cultural tie for hunting, but she checked hunters and resolved that some firepower was not needed.  The film shows people bringing in the newly banned guns. 

A relatively minor crisis was a volcano that killed a small number of people and required evacuation.  New Zealand has been formed by volcanic activity.  The city of Auckland is built on extinct volcanoes.

 

 To the left is me, inside an extinct volcano in Auckland.  A bit of a tourist attraction.

 

 

 

 

 The Covid pandemic was global and New Zealand was not spared.  Jacinda took decisive action including shutdowns.  Masks were required in some situations and when vaccinations were available some employees were required to get them.  Another consequence was inflation.  Protests soon started and some became violent with fires.  She found herself viciously verbally attacked.  In the film she explains she would explain why they may have done too much instead of doing too little, but the difference was lives.  In fact New Zealand did relatively well compared to other nations.

Polls were against Jacinda even as the pandemic wore down.  Protests continued and she admits that she was worn down and concerned she might not have enough to handle another crisis.  Clarke felt she should stick it out, but she made a decision to resign.

As the pandemic wound down she decided to make a trip to the Antarctica.  She was interested in the failed trip by Ernest Shackleton, but was struck by the fact that all the participants returned alive.

Joe Biden took over a mess mainly a direct result of Covid and Trump's poor management of it.  One unavoidable result was inflation.  Of course shutdowns and health restrictions hurt many and they were quick to blame Biden.  In fact the United States did better than all of the G7 nations, but the irony ended up that Trump with a sorry record was able to become president again.

Afterwards she and Clarke got married, an event that had been postponed for political crises.  They both ended up at Harvard University where she could lecture and take part in some climate change projects.  One statement shown from her university lectures where she pointed out that there is too much binary partisanship that blocked solving global problems.  If one side strongly feels they are right and the other side is wrong there is little chance for dialogue. 

There was a little snippet showing her watching the Kamala Harris/Donald Trump debate.

When there is a challenge such as Covid everyone might have to sacrifice, but unfortunately there always seems to be a minority that resents any restrictions and will stir up others.  In Canada this resulted in the Freedom Convoy that disrupted life for many others.  Now to maintain our sovereignty, sacrifice is necessary and our Prime Minster, Mark Carney has pointed that out.  Hopefully that will work.

The filming was mostly in New Zealand, truly a beautiful country with an emphasis on the capital city of Wellington including the beehive that is the office section of their government headquarters.  Cambridge, Massachusetts was shown at the beginning and the end.  The United Nations was also shown.

Some crew members who made this documentary worth watching

Clarke Gayford, her husband was a key crew.  A lot of family time films provided some intimacy.  He was also a producer. He has 2 credits as a writer, 2 as a director and 1 as an editor.

Gigi Pritzker was another producer with 40 credits as producer and 1 for writing including "21 Bridges" (2019) and "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" (2021). 

Linsday Utz was a director.  She has 13 credits as editor, 2 for producer and 2 for directing including 2 episodes for Frontline.

Sofia degli Alessandri composed the music.  She has 35 credits for composing, 18 for the music department and 2 for producing.

I watched the American television premiere and assume it will soon be available for streaming and at your local library or video stores.  Jacinda Adern is a politician like we need more of.

To get more details check out http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/08/a-different-kind-of-power.html