New Zealand Woman’s Weekly 1733

Sir Elton John wasn’t afraid to get his legs out while on holiday with his family in Sardinia. Joining countless other celebrities thronging to the Mediterranean for their summer breaks, Elton (70), husband David Furnish (54) and their sons Zachary (6) and Elijah (4) jumped on their yacht before David took the boys paddle-boarding. David and Elton have been making waves on the Italian island with their loud and eye-catching holiday fashion – you could never call them wallflowers! #…

Life’s full of clever ways to keep out the cold. The flipside of this is the many hidden hazards that come with them. For example, electric blankets can start to generate dangerous hotspots when they get older, or if the wires inside them get damaged. Luckily, there’s a simple way to check for hotspots and make sure the other forms of heating in your home are operating safely. Everything you need to know is at worksafe.govt.nz/energysafety. It’s a new initiative from Energy Safety; a part of WorkSafe, which helps you stay warm – and safe this winter. It’s full of simple, practical information and some of it’s pretty eye-opening. Did you know there’s a risk of gas leaking out of the connection when you connect a gas cylinder into an…

Some weeks, it can feel that things are quite nicely planned out and in control, only to have them suddenly thrown off-course from a single news event – but such is the thrill of the life of a weekly magazine editor . At the Weekly, we have a long-standing tradition of covering New Zealand politics, and giving you, our reader, the opportunity to learn more about the policy-makers who lead this country. Throughout our history, we’ve always done our utmost to remain fair and unbiased in our reporting. We’ve interviewed all the prime ministers during our time, and reached out to party leaders and MPs from all parties to have their say . Labour’s big news this week made this a newsworthy story , but you can expect other stories…

‘I take my responsibilities seriously, so when the party asked me to do this role, I just couldn’t say no’ Jacinda Ardern has barely had time to breathe, let alone eat or sleep. On Monday, she was readying herself for another parliamentary sitting week as Labour’s deputy leader and spokesperson for children. Less than 24 hours later, she had been anointed leader, stepping into the very big shoes of one of her former bosses and mentors, Helen Clark. Over the next day, the just-turned-37-year-old was everywhere – radio, television, press; they all wanted a piece of her. A new phrase, “the Jacinda effect”, was coined. For someone who, just months ago, was talking about the pressures of being in the public eye, and the responsibility she felt about not making…

Former deputy leader of Labour Annette King, who says she has never wanted the top job, is delighted for Jacinda. “Opportunities like this come along very rarely in political life and when they do, you grab them with both hands. And she has,” Annette tells the Weekly. She describes her colleague as smart, intelligent and passionate, and says she has worked tirelessly, often unseen, on issues that are closest to her – children, inequality and social justice reform. “My advice to her,” says the veteran MP, who gives her valedictory speech this Thursday, winding up a 30-plus year parliamentary career,” is to just be herself. She doesn’t have to act anybody else’s role. What she’s got is the full package – she’s got the brains, she’s got the compassion, she’s…

A snap poll conducted of New Zealand Woman’s Weekly readers after the news of Jacinda’s appointment revealed that although the majority of respondents believed her new role as leader would improve Labour’s performance in the next election, a far more modest number were considering actually changing their party vote. Of all National voters polled, 77% were 100% committed or very unlikely to change their vote before the election. The poll, conducted by All Woman Talk on the evening of the surprising news, revealed the highest percentage of respondents intended on voting National and were unlikely to change their party vote. THE RESULTS: Voting intention: • 42% National • 22% Labour • 10% Green Party • 8% New Zealand First • 14% Don’t know Overall, 58% said they were unlikely or…