New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern blames burnout for shock resignation

Jacinda Ardern will step down as New Zealand’s prime minister within three weeks because she no longer “has enough in the tank” for the job, she told her party today.

The Labour leader announced her shock decision to quit after confirming that a general election would be held on 14 October. Latest polling indicates that her party faces “a difficult path to re-election”, said the BBC.

And Ardern said that after five-and-a-half “challenging” years as PM, “I know what this job takes” and “it’s time” to move on. The 42-year-old – who was the world’s youngest female leader when she came to power in 2017 – appeared “choked up” as she delivered her resignation news at Labour’s annual caucus in the seaside town of Napier, the broadcaster reported.

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Ardern said she would step down by no later than 7 February but would continue on as an MP until the election.

During her premiership, she led New Zealand through the pandemic and disasters including the White Island volcanic eruption and the Christchurch terrorist attacks.

Over the past year, she has faced a “significant increase” in threats of violence, particularly from anti-vaccine and conspiracy theorist groups, said The Guardian. But Ardern said that although the increased risk had an “impact”, it was "not the basis” of her decision.

Speaking directly to her watching family during her resignation speech, she told her four-year-old daughter, Neve, that “Mum is looking forward to being there when you start school this year”. Ardern told her partner, Clarke Gayford, that they could “finally get married”.

Bryce Edwards, a political scientist at New Zealand’s Victoria University of Wellington, told CNN that “leaving now” is also “the best thing for her reputation”, because Ardern “will go out on good terms rather than lose the election”.

Stuff’s Josie Pagani agreed that “an undefeated leader” who delivered the nation’s first majority MMP (mixed member proportional) government “sounds a lot better than the leader who lost a third term”.