Jenny & Helen's PM Plot Our Story Must Be Told

Two of New Zealand’s Most Powerful Women Open Up

- Kelly Bertrand

Dame Jenny Shipley is standing in front of the Weekly’s camera, a commanding figure in royal purple as she stares straight down its barrel.

“Oh, that’s a stunning jacket, Jenny,” comes a familiar low voice from around the corner. Helen Clark strides down the path and takes her place next to her former adversary.

“Oh, thanks,” replies Jenny. “It’s an oldie but a goodie.”

Gingerly, thanks to her recently broken arm that’s only been removed from its sling for our photos, Jenny places her hand on Helen’s shoulder. The two women grin.

“This will cause a political scandal!” Jenny hoots, as Helen laughs.

“What’s that phrase people use?” asks Helen. “Mutton dressed as lamb?”

“No,” asserts Jenny. “We’re both lambs.”

The first and second female Prime Ministers of New Zealand together – laughing, joking, sharing finger sandwiches, and bacon and egg pies – is, at first, as jarring as you’d expect.

Pitted against each other in the mid-1990s as the nation came to terms with the fact that two women occupied both the top job and the Leader of the Opposition, the idea of Shipley vs Clark has endured long after the duo departed politics.

As rumours and assumptions raged – because surely the two most powerful women in the country hated each other − Jenny and Helen, the history makers, rule-breakers, reveal today the reality was quite different.

Did they fight? Of course they did – “unholy rows” as Jenny describes them. Did they plot? Oh, yes. But not in the way you may expect.

As New Zealand gears up to celebrate the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage next month, Jenny and Helen reflect on their time in the Beehive over a cuppa – coffee for Jenny, tea for Helen – and the battles they fought together.