Wellington: Jacinda Ardern stunned a nation of 5 million people on 19 January as she announced she was resigning after five and a half years in the top role. Now, education minister Chris Hipkins is set to become New Zealand’s next prime minister as he is the only candidate to enter the contest on Saturday to replace Ardern. Hipkins, 44, still has to win the endorsement of his Labor Party colleagues in parliament on Sunday, but that is now just a formality. Hipkins will have less than eight months in the role before contesting the general election. The lack of other candidates indicated that the party’s MPs rallied behind Hipkins to avoid a drawn-out contest and to avoid any hint of dissidence following Ardern’s departure.
Opinion polls have indicated that Labor is trailing the main rival, the conservative National Party. Hipkins rose to public prominence during the coronavirus pandemic when she took on a crisis management role of sorts. But she and other liberals have long lived in the shadow of Ardern, who has become a global icon of the left and exemplified a new style of leadership.
Who is Chris Hipkins?
In addition to holding the Department of Education, Hipkins is also Minister of Police and Public Services and Leader of the House. He is known as a political troubleshooter who has taken on a variety of roles to resolve problems created by other MPs. But he also made some mistakes of his own, such as when he told people during the virus lockdown they could go outside and “stretch their legs”, a comment that drew much mirth from the internet.
A lawmaker for 15 years, Hipkins is considered more centrist than Ardern, and allies hope she will appeal to a wider range of voters.
One of his biggest challenges during the election year will be convincing voters that his party is managing the economy well. New Zealand’s unemployment rate is relatively low at 3.3 percent, but inflation is high at 7.2 percent. New Zealand’s Reserve Bank raised the benchmark interest rate to 4.25 percent as it tries to keep inflation under control, and some economists are predicting the country will go into recession this year.
How did Jacinda Ardern become a prominent figure in New Zealand politics?
When she became leader at just 37, Ardern was praised around the world for her handling of the country’s worst ever mass shooting and the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. But he had to face mounting political pressures at home that previous New Zealand leaders had not faced. Online, she was a victim of physical threats and anti-female slurs.
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark wrote, “Our society can now reflect usefully on whether it wishes to continue the extreme polarization that is making politics an unattractive calling.”
Fighting back tears, Ardern told reporters on Thursday that she was stepping down no later than February 7. ,” He said.
(with agency inputs)