Christmas with the PM JACINDA'S MESSAGE OF HOPE

WHY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WILL BE EXTRA SPECIAL FOR JACINDA

- Emma Clifton

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that the Prime Minister soon would be there… Forgive the slightly creative rendition of The Night Before Christmas, but in a 2020 plot twist, the first time the Weekly team set up our festive photoshoot, it was suddenly canceled just before a 1 pm briefing announced the new community transmission case in Auckland. Definitely the least-festive news you can hear, although, in a year full of COVID-19 interruptions, it was pretty much par for the course. But following a week of very good contact tracing, we were back on again.

A very chatty and enthusiastic Jacinda Ardern turns up, resplendent in a bright red pantsuit, with an energy level that absolutely belies the fact that she’s already been up for around four hours and it’s just 9am. Such is the job, and such is this year. But there is – with an appropriate level of cautious optimism – some light at the end of the tunnel and Jacinda’s Christmas plans are already very much laid-out.

“This year, we will be in Morrinsville with my parents and my sister and her husband and the kids, my grandfather and my uncle… and the diplomatic protection squad,” Jacinda, 40, smiles. “Who we always include in our headcount for Christmas dinner!”

Yes, even on Christmas Day, the PM is still very much on duty – as are those around her. And that’s in a normal year – which thanks to the pandemic, this very much isn’t.