Introduction: Political Marketing and Management in New Zealand

This chapter sets the scene of how political marketing is used in New Zealand just like other established democracies but adding context about the 2017 Election. It notes how the election was very unpredictable, with a change in the Labour and Greens leadership just before the campaign started, and that National won the most votes and seats but lost control of government due to the decision by minor party NZ First. Jacinda Ardern, elected Labour leader just 8 weeks before the election, when the party was languishing in the polls, became Prime Minister. This chapter introduces the rest of the book, outlining how the different chapters will seek to explain the result by covering varied aspects of political marketing, drawing on rich and extensive quantitative and qualitative data.