Jacinda Ardern’s time as Prime Minister of New Zealand was marked by a number of continuing challenges. At the age of 37, the Labor leader swept to power in 2017 promising “transformational change”. When she leaves office nearly six years later, she will be better remembered for her handling of crises such as the coronavirus pandemic, far-right terror attacks on mosques in Christchurch and volcanic eruptions. Ms Ardern offered a leadership model rooted in empathy and moral values – the way she handled the Christchurch shootings is one example. His approach to the pandemic was initially popular, which helped Labor in the 2020 legislative elections. New Zealand’s per capita death rate from COVID-19 is among the lowest in the developed world. She also praised the way she announced her resignation – that she “doesn’t have enough in the tank” to remain in the top office – which made her stand out in a world where many leaders don’t give up power easily. Chris Hipkins, the former minister for COVID response in Ms Ardern’s cabinet and a troubleshooter for the prime minister, will replace her and lead Labor to the 2023 election.
While her leadership style is widely admired, especially among liberal circles around the world, there are also questions about whether Ms Ardern has delivered on the promises she made to voters. New Zealand is one of the most expensive countries to live in. In 2017, Ms Ardern vowed to tackle the country’s housing crisis by building 100,000 homes, but only a fraction have been built in the past five years. Housing prices remain widely high, while high inflation has burned a hole in household budgets. His promises to address child poverty (New Zealand has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the developed world) and to tackle inequality (the top 10% control nearly half of the country’s household net worth) have fallen through. Furthermore, the continuation of lockdown and COVID measures even as neighboring Australia opened up has alienated a part of Ms Ardern’s early fans. His decline in popularity affected Labour’s election prospects, which prompted many within the party to question his leadership. According to a December poll, support for Labor stood at 33%, while 38% supported the centre-right National Party, the main opposition. It was against this background that Ms. Ardern announced her resignation. Mr Hipkins now has only eight months to steady the ship and reverse the public mood, that’s a long ask. They must blend Ms Ardern’s sympathetic politics with a strong economic approach that will address New Zealand’s structural economic problems while maintaining its social harmony.