Election 2026: Policies Are Easy, Character Is Hard

Columnist and strategy consultant Jonathan Ayling joins Andrew Urquhart to unpack last night's minor parties' leaders debate, weighing up what the contest reveals about the values and character behind our political leaders, not just their policy announcements.

Ayling argues the major parties, National and Labour, are playing it safe with "small target" crowd-pleasing policies shaped by polling and focus groups rather than a consistent ideological rudder, in contrast to minor party leaders like Winston Peters, David Seymour and Chlöe Swarbrick, who he says have clearly "owned" their worldview even if it proves divisive. He contends that voters should look past manufactured likeability to ask who could lead through a genuine crisis, pointing to Jacinda Ardern's consistent response during the Christchurch attack, COVID and Whakaari as an example of values tested under pressure, while questioning whether today's leaders have shown the same depth.

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