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The 42-year-old — who steered the country through natural disasters, the Covid pandemic, and its worst-ever terror attack — said she no longer had “enough in the tank”.
Jacinda Ardern is stepping down as New Zealand’s Prime Minister.
Arden made the unexpected announcement during her party’s annual caucus on Thursday local time, saying she will not seek re-election and will leave her role no later than Feb. 7.
“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,” Arden announced.
She explained that she came to this decision after reflecting during the summer break on whether she had enough energy to continue leading the country until its next general election, scheduled for Oct. 14.
“I had hoped that I would find what I needed to carry on over that period but, unfortunately, I haven’t, and I would be doing a disservice to New Zealand to continue.
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Ardern said following her resignation she hopes to spend more time with her partner Clarke Gayford and their daughter Neve, whom they welcomed in 2018.
She added that she would not seek reelection and would not be putting himself forward as a future leader of the Labour Party. The Labour Party has a week to find a new party leader with more than two-thirds of support.
Ardern was elected Prime Minister in 2017 at the age of 37 – becoming the youngest female head of government in the world.
She notably led the nation through one of its worst mass shooting incidents with the terrorist attack on two Christchurch mosques in 2019. She also led New Zealand through the COVID pandemic, putting in place strict regulations in an attempt to stamp out the virus by requiring travelers who entered the country to quarantine in specialty hotels.
However, the Prime Minister has also received criticism for those same COVID restrictions and her economic policies amid growing inflation.
