JC

It looks like covid overreach may be claiming another Western leader’s career. The UK Telegraph ran a long-overdue ‘comment’ yesterday headlined, “The Rise and Fall of Jacinda Ardern.” The sub-headline explained, “At first this young PM became the darling of the progressive world, but the carefully constructed façade is wearing thin.”

Haha, how’s this for a first sentence as bad news for a prog politician:

Jacinda Ardern oozes self-satisfaction, whether swanning about at Davos or lecturing the world on climate change and the importance of “wellbeing”.

The article says previously popular Ardern is currently on track to lose her re-election, having dropped -10% in the polls, and that’s just in the last six months. We don’t have to connect the dots this time, the Telegraph does it for us:

This has been a dramatic fall from grace. Ardern’s Covid strategy was widely celebrated [at first]… But things began turning sour within months… Draconian pandemic policies turned the country inward and fearful of outsiders, scaring away immigrants and damaging trade relations… In one shocking case, a New Zealand journalist was forced to turn to the Taliban for sanctuary to deliver her baby after struggling to get home [due to border closures and lockdowns]. For all that pain, the Covid reckoning has now arrived.

The covid reckoning has arrived in New Zealand after visiting Britain, France, and Germany. Where will it hit next?