Burnt out Jacinda quits

The widely acclaimed PM of New Zealand, Burnt out Jacinda quits Ardern suddenly announced quitting her office ahead of this year’s election saying she no longer has enough in tank to lead. The shock announcement comes as polling indicates her Labour Party faces a difficult path to re-election in October. Ms Ardern, 42, said she had taken time to consider her future over the summer break hoping to find the heart and energy to go on in the role but unfortunately she hasn’t and that she would be doing a disservice to New Zealand to continue. She choked up as she detailed how six challenging years in the job had taken a toll. She will step down on 7 February. Jacinda Ardern became the youngest female head of government in the world when she was elected prime minister in 2017, aged 37 and a year later she became the second elected world leader to ever give birth while in office, after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto in 1990. She led the Labour Party to a landslide election victory in 2020, capitalising on her government’s strong early response to the pandemic. She steered New Zealand through the Covid-19 pandemic, Christchurch mosque shootings and the White Island volcanic eruption. TW

Read More