Judith Collins named New Zealand National party's new leader

Tough-talking conservative politician will take on Jacinda Ardern at polls in September

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, widely known for her exhortations to kindness and compassion, will face Judith Collins – a combative, tough-talking conservative lawmaker who styled herself after Margaret Thatcher – in the country’s general election in September following a leadership vote in the centre-right National party.

Collins, who has long held leadership ambitions but whose party is floundering in the polls, will face an uphill battle to persuade voters away from Ardern, one of the most popular New Zealand prime ministers of all time. Her centre-left Labour party is riding high in the polls after Ardern’s government quashed the spread of Covid-19 in the country, with many regarding the prime minister as something of a saviour figure.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ZpM0pa
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