New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will stand down on February 7. In an announcement in Wellington, choking back tears, Ardern said she had hoped to find the energy and heart to continue in the role over summer, ‘but I have not been able to do that’.
‘I am leaving because with such a privileged job comes a big responsibility. The responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead – and also when you’re not.’
A caucus vote will be undertaken on Sunday for a new party leader – and new Prime Minister.
New Zealand has an election every three years, and yet, extraordinarily, the last time there was a one-term government was 1972. New Zealanders have something of a ‘set-and-forget’ mentality where an incumbent government usually gets the benefit of the doubt for a while, with leaders of the opposition being afforded a negligible profile.
The flipside to this is that once the rot is perceived to be setting in, after several terms, there is little a sitting New Zealand Prime Minister can do to revive their fortunes.
So, when Jacinda Ardern claims her team are well placed to take the country forward and contest the next election, saying, ‘I am not leaving because I believe we can’t win the election but because I believe we can and will,’ the reality is she will have weighed up a number of factors.
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