Ardern forgot herself after David Seymour, leader of the liberal conservative ACT party, bombarded her with questions about her government’s performance in parliament for nearly seven minutes, according to MTI.
When Ardern sat down after she answered, she turned to her deputy and said, “What a snob.” The remark was barely audible on the parliamentary broadcast, but was picked up by the Prime Minister’s office microphone while House Speaker Adrian Rorawi was speaking.
After the incident, the Prime Minister’s Office said Ardern had apologized to Seymour. When asked by the AP, Ardern’s office did not argue that the prime minister had in fact used the term in question.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Seymour confirmed that the prime minister did indeed use those words. “I was completely shocked,” said the politician. “It’s very inappropriate for Jacinda, I’ve known her for 11 years,” Seymour added.
He said the incident was also funny because his question to the prime minister was about whether he had admitted he had made a mistake in his administration and whether he had corrected it. “And he couldn’t give a single example of that,” said the conservative politician.
Seymour revealed that Ardern apologized in her letter and admitted that she should not have made the comment. The politician said he still held the prime minister in high esteem and thanked Ardern for the apology and wished Ardern a happy birthday in his response.
According to opinion polls, the ruling Labor Party is facing a difficult campaign in 2023, as its popularity has declined since the landslide victory two years ago, and conservative parties are leading in opinion polls.
