Amid the rise of fringe politics, Jacinda Ardern champions empathetic leadership
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is advocating for empathetic leadership as a counter-narrative to the rise of fringe politics and authoritarianism. She argues that voter support for fringe parties reflects a deep-seated feeling of disenfranchisement from the political status quo.
Why it matters
Ardern's perspective provides insight into the global trend of voter dissatisfaction and the perceived failure of traditional political systems.
Jacinda Ardern says people are voting "against the status quo". ( Reuters: Yiming Woo )
Link copied Share Share article Jacinda Ardern is calling for more empathy in politics.
Since stepping down as New Zealand's Prime Minister in 2023, Dame Jacinda has been warning against divisive and authoritarian leadership in favour of compassionate and values-driven governance.
She says that a tendency towards strongman leadership is missing the mark with voters.
"Often we hear discussion about authoritarianism now, more often than we'd hear about something like empathetic leadership," she told Sarah Kanowski on ABC Conversations.
"That is not where I believe the public are.
"If the public were in the same place, then we wouldn't be seeing all of the multitude of surveys that tell us that people feel disenfranchised, or that they feel that they're not represented by their politicians anymore."
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