Heather du Plessis-Allan: This is my politician of the year

It’s that time of the year where we pick our politician of the year. 

For me, it's the same person as last year. 

Political commentators, myself included at times, have an unfortunate tendency to sometimes choose politicians because they’re good at playing the political game. 

And if you’re into that, you might pick Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for collecting her Time magazine award. 

Or Chris Hipkins for resurrecting his party’s fortunes from a horror 2023 election result. 

Or Labour’s Arena Williams for giving good speeches, or Shane Jones for getting attention. 

But at a time when we all acknowledge our country is in a bit of a polycrisis, slipping further behind the pack, I think the most important measure is not whether a politician is good at politics, it's whether a politician is making a difference. 

And no other politician is making as big a difference as quickly, in an area as important, as Erica Stanford. 

Already kids are learning more than they have been for years. The results from her phonics changes a couple of months ago were so dramatic a staff member in her office burst into tears. 

She’s doing this despite increased resistance from teachers' unions. 

Parents are raving and teachers themselves are noticing the difference. 

Nothing is more important than our kids and educating them properly. 

And on the politics, she can play politics as well as anyone. You watch closely as her opponents learn that lesson. 

Just ask Willow-Jean Prime. 

So, Erica Stanford it is. 

Because nothing beats having a good idea, being brave enough to execute it and helping to turn this country around. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now it's that time of the year, isn't it where

(00:01):
we pick our politician of the year, And for me,
it's the same person that I picked last year. Now,
what I want to say is political commentators, myself included,
at times, have an unfortunate tendency to sometimes choose politicians
because the politicians are good at playing the political game.
And if you're into that kind of thing, you might
have picked this year Hannad Arfady might be Clark because
she collected her Time magazin Time Magazine Award this year.

(00:24):
You might pack Chris Hopkins because he's resurrected his party's
fortunes from a horror twenty twenty three election result. Maybe
Ardena Williams from Labor for giving good speeches, or Shane
Jones for getting attention. But at a time when we
all acknowledge that our country is in a little bit
of a poly crisis, slipping further behind the pack, I
think the most important measure is not actually whether a
politician is good at politics. It's whether a politician is

(00:45):
making an actual difference, and no other politician is making
as big a difference or as quickly in an area
as important as Erica Stanford is already kids are learning
more than they have for years now. The results from
her phone exchange is just a couple months ago was
so dramatic that a staff member in her office burst
into tears. She is doing this despite increasing resistance from teachers' unions.

(01:07):
Parents are raving about the changes that they're seeing. Teachers
themselves are noticing the difference. Nothing is more important than
our kids and educating our kids properly. And on the politics,
if that is your measure, she can actually play politics
as well as anyone. I mean, you watch her closely,
and you watch her opponents learn the lesson of getting
tangled up with Erica Stanford. Just ask Willow Jean Prime

(01:27):
how that went. So Erica Stanford it is and again,
because nothing beats having a good idea and being brave
enough to execute it and then helping to turn this
country around. For more from The Mic Asking Breakfast, listen
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