From 1943 to 2023 (and everything in between).

Campaign slogans often feel like they’ve been pushed through about 27 focus groups before being plonked out the other end onto brightly coloured billboards. “In it for you”? How many iterations of that were examined in forensic detail before the big reveal last month. “Get our country back on track”? The word “our”, the phrasing “back on track” – both scream consultants and workshops. 

While there are exceptions – the Ardern-era “Let’s do this” was reportedly something the newly minted leader came up with spontaneously – most have been pumped through the political machine with the simple goal of convincing as many people as possible we’re more trustworthy and authentic than the other guys.

But it hasn’t always been that way. Earlier slogans were looser, more adventurous, and included a surprising amount of thrilling punctuation that you just…. don’t see on signs enough these days!!!! This week, Twitter user @Tiare_MP stepped into the Wayback Machine and dredged up decades’ worth of campaign slogans from the two major parties, dating back to the 1940s. 

While @Tiare_MP did all of the research for me, there is one task left – and that is, of course, to arbitrarily decide which slogan is best through the scientific process of a ranking. 

A few notes: considering I was alive for fewer than 10 of these election campaigns, this ranking has largely been decided on general vibe, but loosely takes into account whether or not the party was in government at the time and whether or not it won the election it was contesting. 

50. Vote Labour again (Labour, 1949) / Vote National again (National, 1954)

Less of a slogan and more of a polite request. Both major parties ran with variations of the evergreen “vote X again” format during the 1940s and 1950s and neither of them are particularly inspiring.

49. Vote National again! (National, 1957) / Vote Labour again! (Labour, 1946)

Interestingly, Labour used the clearly more exuberant exclamation mark format in 1946, but then dropped it the following election. National went the opposite direction, starting sans exclamation mark then tacking it on for its next campaign. Both are far superior to the original, just by virtue of it sounding like the parties are at least excited about people voting for them. Would’ve been more efficient if they’d used the same slogan in the same election rather than alternating.

48. Vote National again!/again (National, 1951)

Inconsistent use of exclamation mark, but National’s 1951 effort edges slightly ahead through its decision to underline and italicise the word “again”. (Apparently The Spinoff’s CMS doesn’t support underlining, so see below to appreciate the true power of this stylistic choice.)

47. National for growth (National, 1981)

Growth of what? I need to know.

46. Family. Community. Work. Security. Freedom. (National, 2005)

It’s too long and too disjointed. May as well chuck “growth” on there too.

45. New Zealand 2000 (Labour, 1999)

In the same way that terrible B-grade movies like “Blues Brothers 2000” and “Dracula 2000” tried to capitalise on Y2k fever, Labour headed into the new millennium a year early with this bizarre slogan. It sounds cool, but it doesn’t tell you a single thing you need to know about Labour.

44. Labour….. Positive, practical solutions (Labour, 1981)

The ellipsis screams text from your grandmother….. or an awkward pause. Or that some words are missing? Whatever it is, this is the wrong time to use that many fullstops. 

43. Vote positive (Labour, 2014)

Positive is a classic political buzzword that’s also kind of meaningless because relentlessly positive does not instantly translate to relentlessly good-at-politics. And in 2014, no one was positively voting for Labour.

42. Be there with Labour (Labour, 1987)

Where? Clearly the ninth floor, because this ambiguous slogan was part of a winning re-election campaign for Labour. Somehow, anyway.

41. Strong team. More jobs. Better economy. (National, 2020)

A terrible slogan by virtue of the fact that National’s 2020 team was constantly under pressure of collapsing entirely, meaning that the whole “strong team” bit was a farce even before you reached “more jobs” and “better economy”. See below: Todd Muller with a National Party hoarding that would soon be replaced with a new one with Judith Collins’s face on it.

40. Bringing New Zealand together (Labour, 1984)

Snore. (But when your opponent calls a snap election while visibly drunk, you probably don’t need an exciting election slogan to win.)

39. Drive ahead with a Labour government (Labour, 1966)

It’s crazy to think of a Labour slogan evoking cars, but then again this was 1966. More on brand is that Labour drove straight into a pothole in the 1966 election, with National taking office.

38. Man for man, the strongest team (National, 1972)

Perhaps National did have the strongest team “man for man”. But in 1972, Labour won the election – and a handful of its successful candidates were women.

37. Trust Labour. It’s working. (Labour, 1975)

It clearly wasn’t because this was the election that resulted in a landslide victory for Rob Muldoon.

36. We’re keeping our word (National, 1978)

Reads like a veiled threat and given it came from the Muldoon-led National Party, it may well have been. 

35. In it for you (Labour, 2023)

This year’s Labour slogan is pretty bland and uninspiring. It also ends the Ardern-era approach of slogans that feel inclusive and team-spirited. “In it for you” sounds corporate and disconnected, a bit like that Succession episode where they settle on “We hear for you”.

34. It’s time for a change (National, 1946)

Sadly, National forgot to say what that change should be and Labour returned to office. 

33. Vote for proven leadership (National, 1966)

It’s fairly bland, but given this was National’s attempt to secure a third term in office it’s understandable they were relying on their past six years of government. It also paid off as this campaign saw National make it back into parliament. 

32. Creating a decent society (National, 1990)

Absolutely love the classic New Zealand level of aspiration here. There’s no chance of pushing for, say, a great society – just make sure it’s decent. National won with a landslide victory in 1990 and was able to start implementing its plan to ensure Aotearoa was simply OK.

31. Let’s get New Zealand right (National, 1987)

The use of the word “let’s” feels like a lot of more modern slogans that attempt to be inclusive of voters, but then it tails off when you find that apparently we only want to get New Zealand… “right”. Aim a little higher, people.

30. Join the swing to National! (National, 1960)

More exciting punctuation! And also the use of the word “swing” which feels fun and positively 1960s.

29. For a nation on the move (National, 1969)

The start of a trend of slogans that focus on the country moving forward, which is at least more aspirational than just keeping us “decent”.

28. Choose a brighter future (National, 2008) / Building a brighter future (National, 2011)

We chose the future in 2008 and three years later they were just building it? Government infrastructure programmes really do take a long time.

27. Keep New Zealand going forward (National, 1999)

Three decades after we were “on the move” and National is still aiming to keep New Zealand heading in the right direction. What direction? The forward direction. If we keep this level of aspiration up, who knows where New Zealand will end up.

26. Working for New Zealand (National, 2014) / Delivering for New Zealanders (National, 2017)

These two National Party slogans are pretty down the line. Interesting that one of them states New Zealanders and the other just New Zealand. Must’ve been a pretty powerful focus group effort in 2015. Still, while these slogans are a little dry, they fit with the fact they fall in the middle-to-late era of the popular Key government.

25. First tick National (National, 1996)

This was the year of New Zealand’s first MMP election, so it’s no surprise that one party opted to simply… try and explain how our new electoral system worked. It must have worked, with National winning the election (thanks to a certain Winston Peters). However, this slogan is less effective when informing people they can also vote for a local candidate, given that would require a second tick. 

24. Working for tomorrow, today (Labour, 2002)

The Day Today, with Alan Partridge.

23. Jobs. Growth. Health. (Labour, 1993)

It’s missing: Family. Community. Work. Security. Freedom.

22. Make things happen (Labour, 1969)

I’d like to know what things might happen before I vote, thank you very much. Still, the promise of things is pretty powerful so this is a solidly middling entry in the list.

21. Get our country back on track (National, 2023)

In terms of its politics, this slogan speaks directly to a certain type of person, in a kind of Make America Great Again way. Should really be “Get our country back on road”, though, amiright hahaha.

20. Forward. Together. (Labour, 2005)

If any party has the courage to campaign on a platform of moving backwards, I’d like to see it.

19. The go-ahead government (National, 1963)

Nicely anarchist for the 1960s. Go ahead and do what? Who knows. But I like the fact they were running on a platform of just going ahead and doing shit.

18. Own our future (Labour, 2011)

A gentle play on National’s controversial asset sales that dominated a lot of this election campaign. Given 2011 was just as New Zealand’s housing market was starting to crumble, it’s probably the absolute last time that a party could use the word “own” in a slogan without it just feeling mean. Rent our future just wouldn’t have the same ring.

17. Get the future you deserve (National, 2002)

This slogan clearly didn’t pay off for National, with the party pulling off its worst ever result in 2002. The slogan is a little bit too vague and also, like a surprising number of the slogans on this list, a tad threatening. What sort of future do I deserve? But we all deserve a future and we all, surely, want the future that we deserve. 

16. Leading us into the future (Labour, 1990)

Another slogan wanting us to move, shockingly, away from the past. This time it’s Labour wanting to take us forward into the future. It’s very similar to some others on this list, but also has something a bit sinister about it in a kind of… cult-y way. Weirdly, I’m here for it.

15. It’s time. For Labour. (Labour, 1972)

And. It was. Labour swept to power in 1972, potentially proving the power of the slogan. The billboards were pretty cool, too, and even get their own Wikipedia page. For that reason, this short, sharp and full-stop-heavy slogan pushes its way towards the top.

14. This one’s about trust (Labour, 2008)

And the public… trusted National more. Despite this, this slogan feels conversational, which is certainly better than a lot of the more aggressive or corporate-speak slogans from recent years. It sounds like you’re talking to your politically-minded friend and they’ve told you: “you know what? This election is about trust”. You just quietly nod at them like you’re totally following the conversation. 

13. New heart. New hope. New Zealand. (Labour, 1996)

Would have ranked a few slots higher if Labour chose to follow its “new hope” campaign with a “strikes back” slogan in its (successful) 1999 campaign. 

12. For honest government (Labour, 1951)

It’s reassuring that the Labour Party of 1951 realised that New Zealand didn’t want dishonesty. What it did want, however, was the National Party.

11. Vote Labour for progress! (Labour, 1954)

The exclamation is back! But did it ever really leave? 

10. New Zealand – the way you want it (National, 1975)

National once again embracing the power of emphasising a particular word. It plays on the inherent selfishness of politics and the fact that, realistically, a lot of us do just vote for a New Zealand… that we want. That’s not necessarily the right approach to politics, but it’s undoubtedly what happens. This slogan feels like you’re being listened to, which is more than can be said for many of the previous 40 entries in this exhaustive list.

9. Let’s keep moving (Labour, 2020)

A sequel is never going to be as good as the original, but Ardern’s follow-up to let’s do this still works more than some other momentum-evoking slogans. In saying that, Labour could’ve made its slogan “Don’t vote Labour” and still won.

8. The spirit of recovery (National, 1993)

There’s something weirdly off-putting about this one and I think it’s the word “spirit”, which hasn’t been seen in a slogan since (or before, to be honest). But it’s different and considering how many of these slogans are almost identical, that’s a nice change.

7. We’re fighting for you (Labour, 1978)

In 1978 the Labour Party was absolutely not “in it for you” – they were fighting for you. It’s more powerful language, without being too emotive or patriotic. I like the idea of a government going into battle, metaphorically, for me. 

6. Had enough? Change the government! (National, 1949)

Change the government? Why not. Bish, bash, bosh. It’s simple, it’s direct, it’s very 1949.

5. Let’s do this (Labour, 2017)

A slogan that symbolised the sudden ascension of Jacinda Ardern in 2017. She quickly moved to ditch the insipid previous slogan of “A fresh approach”, which would actually have made a lot more sense with her as leader than it did with Andrew Little. This will go down as one of our most historically significant slogans, in part because of what it symbolised, but also just because it tells you exactly what the party stands for: Labour just wanted to get on and do it. With hindsight, the problem is they didn’t do much of it.

4. For your family’s sake… Vote Labour (Labour, 1957)

What will happen to my family if I don’t vote Labour? Are they safe now? Should I be concerned? More likely, this 50s slogan was meant in the sense of “if you vote National, that will be bad for your family”, but it feels more like a direct threat. And I think more parties should threaten prospective voters in 2023.

3. If you don’t want the Nationalists vote Labour (Labour, 1943)

Finally, a party is prepared to put what it really thinks on a billboard: if you don’t want National, vote Labour. It’s as simple as that, New Zealand, and I think we need more slogans like this. I like that there’s no pussyfooting around, no ambiguity, no pulling at your heartstrings – just: vote! Turns out that in 1943, New Zealand really did want Labour, though the party did lose a significant number of seats to National. 

2. New Zealand, you’re winning (National, 1984)

Rather than trying to win themselves, National perhaps focused too much on New Zealand’s own ability to win. This was the slogan that marked the end of the Muldoon National government and saw the arrival of Labour and David Lange. Personally, I like to be told I’m winning and so I believe this is a great slogan. People – and countries – should be told they are winning more often (or that we have mojo). As for whether New Zealand was in fact still winning after 1984, Muldoon could not be reached for comment.

1. Let’s get cracking with Labour!!!!!!!!!! (Labour, 1963)

And so we reach number one. This is clearly the best slogan on this list. It’s exciting, it’s punchy, it has literally 10 exclamation marks. This is how you grab attention. If you simply add 10 exclamation marks to any slogan it is instantly better – and that’s a fact. For example: In it for you!!!!!!!!! 

Sadly, in 1963, not even 10 exclamations could win Labour the election and the party had no chance to get cracking. Nevertheless, this is the kind of care-free attitude we need more of in modern politics. Move over “let’s keep moving”, because I say let’s get cracking!!!!!!!!!!