Jacinda Ardern resigns as Prime Minister

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has resigned.

Ardern has announced that she will not be seeking re-election this year and her last day as prime minister will be on the 7th February.

Ardern said she reflected over the summer and tried to find a way to keep going for another year and another term but she could not.

“After going on six years of some big challenges, I am human. Politicians are human. For me, it’s time…

“So today I’m announcing that I will not be seeking re-election and my term as prime minister will conclude no later than the 7th of February.

“I believe that leading a country is the most privileged job anyone could ever have but also one of the more challenging. You cannot and should not do it unless you have a full tank plus a bit in reserve for those unexpected challenges.”

Ardern was visibly upset and tearful as she made the announcement.

She will stay on as an electorate MP until the end of April to spare the country a by-election.

Jacinda Ardern bio

Jacinda Ardern became the leader of the Labour Party in 2017 and led the party to victory in the general election that year. She is the youngest female head of government in the world.

Ardern was born in Hamilton, New Zealand, in 1980. She studied communication studies at the Waikato Institute of Technology and later at the University of Waikato.

Before entering politics, she worked as a researcher and policy advisor for the Labour Party.

Ardern was first elected to the New Zealand Parliament in 2008 as a member of the Labour Party. She has held various positions within the party and government, including as a Member of Parliament, a spokesperson for various portfolios, and as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

In 2018, she gave birth to her first child while serving as Prime Minister, making her the first world leader to have a child while in office in nearly 30 years. She has been widely praised for her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been widely recognized as one of the most effective and successful in the world.