THE SQUIZ
Jacinda Ardern has resigned as New Zealand’s PM. She’s not ‘loud quitting’ – she will finish up on 7 February and leave the parliament in April. In an emotional press conference, she said her 5.5 years in the top job were the “most fulfilling” of her life, but she doesn’t “have enough left in the tank” to continue. “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.

WHAT’S HER LEGACY?
Where to start? Ardern became PM when her Labour Party beat the incumbent National Party in 2017’s election. At 37yo she was one of the world’s youngest leaders – and ‘Jacindamania’ set in… She made more waves in 2018 as the world’s 2nd leader to give birth while in office (Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto was the first…). Ardern led the country as it mourned 2019’s major tragedies – the Christchurch mosque attacks and the deadly Whakaari Island volcano eruption. Aussie PM Anthony Albanese was one of many who paid tribute to Ardern and her empathetic leadership style yesterday. That and her hardline approach to keeping COVID out of the country helped win 2020’s election in a landslide. But as the pandemic stretched on and inflation hits Kiwis hard, Ardern and Labour have faced growing criticism – and that’s been reflected in the polls.

SO WHAT’S NEXT?
For Ardern? She says she’s looking forward to getting her daughter Neve off to school, and she’ll finally tie the knot with long-time partner Clarke Gayford. As for her Labour Party, it needs a new leader – and it’s an open question about who will replace Ardern after her 2IC Grant Robertson announced he’s not planning to run as party leader. Reports say rising star/Minister of Justice Kiri Allen and Minister for Education Chris Hipkins are frontrunners in the vote that will be held on Sunday. Yesterday, Ardern also announced the country’s general election has been set for 14 October – so whoever it is will need to hit the ground running. You’d have to think this lady would make the transition a bit easier…