Jacinda ardern

WELLINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday made a shock announcement that she had "no more in the tank" to lead the country and would step down and not seek re-election. Ardern, holding back tears, said it had been a tough five and a half years as prime minister and that she was only human and needed to step aside. "I had hoped to find a way to prepare for not just another year, but another term - because that is what this year requires. I have not been able to do that," "I know there will be much discussion in the aftermath of this decision as to what the so called 'real' reason was ... The only interesting angle you will find is that after going on six years of some big challenges, that I am human," she continued. "Politicians are human. We give all that we can, for as long as we can, and then it's time. And for me, it’s time." Ardern burst onto the global scene in 2017 when she became the world's youngest female head of government at age 37. Riding a wave of "Jacinda-mania", she campaigned passionately for women's rights, and an end to child poverty and economic inequality in the country. World leaders voiced appreciation for Ardern, who became one of the most recognisable global figures through the COVID-19 pandemic and after mass shootings at two mosques in 2019. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: "The difference you have made is immeasurable." Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said they had exchanged text messages on ...

“With such a privileged role comes responsibility — the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead, and also when you are not,” Ardern said in a surprise announcement in Napier, where her governing center-left Labour Party is holding a caucus retreat. “I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice.” She said she would resign as prime minister no later than Feb. 7 and would not seek re-election to Parliament later this year. 'Weighty' decisions “This has been the most fulfilling five and a half years of my life, but it has also had its challenges,” Ardern told reporters. “Among an agenda focused on housing, child poverty and climate change, we encountered a major biosecurity incursion, a domestic terror event, a major natural disaster, a global pandemic and an economic crisis. “The decisions that have had to be made have been continual, and they have been weighty,” she said. Ardern, who was the world’s youngest female leader when she first took office, has faced a number of challenges including the “Her international reputation in many ways has been made out of dealing with things that no one would have wanted,” said Grant Duncan, an associate professor at Massey University in Auckland. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with President Joe Biden at the White House last May. Her policies and public persona were seen by many as a contrast to former President Donald Trump. Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Ima...

In a rousing and, at times, personal farewell speech this week in parliament, Jacinda Ardern touched on family, politics and one of the very few things she will ask of her colleagues as she departs. Who is she? The former prime minister of New Zealand. • Arden stepped down as the country's leader in January, saying she "no longer had enough in the tank," and this week said goodbye to parliament and politics altogether. • Ardern joined the New Zealand House of Representatives 15 years ago when she was just 28 years old. At the time, she was its youngest member. • Ardern's period as PM from 2017-23 was punctuated by major crises for the country, including the Christchurch mosque shootings that left 51 dead; the volcanic eruption on White Island that killed 22; and the coronavirus pandemic. • She has just announced she has been appointed a trustee of Prince William's Earthshot Prize, a program that awards funds to projects aiming to save the planet. Jacinda Ardern's final speech to New Zealand's parliament. YouTube What's the big deal? • Arden became known outside New Zealand for a style of leadership that sat in contrast to the likes of Donald Trump in the U.S. and Boris Johnson in the U.K. — her contemporaries at the time — asserting that you can be anxious, sensitive and kind and still be an effective leader. • She has also faced and deflected sexism, most recently • Ardern made history when she brought her baby Neve to the U.N. General Assembly three months after birth. A...

• • • • New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made a shocking announcement Thursday that she will resign from her role 10 months before her term ends. The Labour Party leader broke the news at the party’s annual caucus meeting while holding back tears. Ardern admitted she doesn’t have the energy to continue in the role past Feb. 7 despite previously announcing her intentions to run for a third term. “I’m leaving, because with such a privileged role comes responsibility. The responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not,” she said. “I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It’s that simple.” Ardern said she had spent her summer break contemplating whether she had the energy to continue leading the office, but ultimately concluded she did not. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced she would resign from her post on Feb. 7. Getty Images Ardern said she wanted to be present for her 4-year-old daughter. Getty Images The politician, 42, said she wants to be present when her 4-year-old daughter, Neve, begins school next year. “To Clarke, let’s finally get married,” Ardern told her partner, After being elected in 2017 at age 37, Ardern led New Zealand through the COVID-19 pandemic, the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch and the White Island volcanic eruption. She was re-elected in 2020, and her term was set to end at the end of this year. Ardern said she made her dec...

Ardern in 2022 Date 19–25January2023 ( 2023-01-19– 2023-01-25) Time 1:00pm ( Duration 6 days (full transition) Venue Napier War Memorial Centre Location Napier, New Zealand Cause Participants The resignation of Jacinda Ardern as the 40th The resignation was discussed globally; while some critiqued her government for policy failings, Background [ ] The popular approval of her government, and eventually her personal popularity, began to decisively wane in 2022. There was speculation among right-wing media columnists in November 2022 that Ardern was about to resign imminently. The idea was mocked by Resignation [ ] On 19 January 2023, Ardern gave a speech at a routine press conference in Napier, the location of the annual Labour Party conference. It was there that, in addition to announcing the date of I am entering now my sixth year in office. And for each of those years, I have given my absolute all. 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. This summer, I had hoped to find a way to prepare for not just another year, but another term – because that is what this year requires. I have not been able to do that. And so today, I am announcing that I will not be seeking re-election and that my term as prime minister will conclude no later than the 7th of February... I know there will b...

“Be strong, and be kind.” The prime minister’s words came at the close of a hastily scheduled press conference, announcing New Zealand’s first lockdown in the face of an unknown and deadly virus. For many New Zealanders, they became a catchphrase of the early pandemic, when the country succeeded in Over the coming years, they would also become synonymous with Jacinda Ardern’s politics – for her admirers, encapsulating a signature mixture of empathy and strength, and for critics, an example of soaring rhetoric not always backed by desired legislative reforms. Read more Ardern’s emergence on to New Zealand’s political stage came just weeks before an election that Labour was near-universally expected to lose. “It was one of those rare moments where everything changed on the back of one force of personality,” says Over the next six years, her leadership was shaped and defined by a series of national and international crises – and her responses in those pressured moments, which repeatedly emphasised the values of empathy, humanity and kindness, will likely form the standout legacy of her political career. “She’s always been … a leader who is at their best in a crisis – and unfortunately, she has had her fair share,” says Madeleine Chapman, author of the unauthorised biography Jacinda Ardern: A New Kind of Leader. In March 2019, some 18 months after Ardern’s election, New Zealand was hit by the worst terror attack in its history, when a white supremacist gunned down worshippers ...