Jacinda Ardern, the 39-year-old prime minister of New Zealand became the most popular prime minister in a century.
Newshub-Reid Research poll, the first public poll on Monday showed popularity for Ardern’s Labour jumped 14 points to 56.5%, the highest for any party ever.
The poll was conducted between May 8 and May 16, with half of the responses taken after the federal budget on Thursday.
The country’s strict level three lockdown got massive support with almost 92% respondents saying it was the right call.
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One of Ardern’s innovations has been frequent Facebook Live chats that manage to be both informal and informative. During a session conducted in late March, just as New Zealand prepared to go on lockdown, she appeared in a well-worn sweatshirt at her home to offer guidance “as we all prepare to hunker down.”
She urged the Facebook Live audience not to feel disheartened if it didn’t seem the social distancing measures were making an instant impact and explained there would be a delay of several days before the positive impact would be felt.
The New Zealand government sent emergency text alerts to citizens telling them to stay home and to observe social distancing.
