Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation sparked a push on Friday for New Zealand to choose its first Maori prime minister, as a small pack of candidates emerged for the top job.
Ardern, a global figurehead for progressive politics, stunned New Zealand on Thursday by announcing her abrupt exit from office, less than three years after securing a second term in a landslide election win.
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”.
Ardern resigned with no clear successor, and her ruling Labour Party is now scrambling to settle on a replacement.
Labour members of parliament will try to elect the next prime minister on Sunday – with the winning candidate needing two-thirds of the vote.
If that does not happen, it will become a drawn-out contest involving rank-and-file party members and affiliated unions.
Chris Hipkins, 44, is the early frontrunner after Ardern’s deputy Grant Robertson swiftly ruled himself out of the race.
Other names in the mix are Justice Minister Kiri Allan, one of Labour’s senior Maori MPs, and Immigration Minister Michael Wood.
None of the three has so far confirmed they will contest the ballot.
The high-profile Hipkins has handled the tough portfolios of Covid-19 response, police and education, and is seen as a safe pair of hands.
Political commentator Josie Pagani has described him as “sensible, likeable, tough and capable”.
Maori prime minister?
Former commercial lawyer Allan entered parliament in 2017 and was quickly touted as a future leader – and possibly the country’s first Maori prime minister.
She was forced to take leave from parliament in April 2021 after she was diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer, but returned to work just three months later.
The first Maori settlers are believed to have arrived in New Zealand from Polynesia about 700 years ago.
About 17 percent of New Zealand’s population of five million identified as Maori in the country’s latest census.
Labour’s 15-member Maori caucus is expected to have a significant say in picking the next leader.
“Obviously we’d love one day for there to be a Maori prime minister,” said influential Labour minister Kelvin Davis.
Willie Jackson, a former co-chair of Labour’s Maori caucus, said it was hugely important to be involved in those discussions.
“We’re talking about the prime minister of our nation, so we want to play a part,” he said.
Te Pati Maori, also known as the Maori Party, contests the specially reserved Maori electorates. It also said it was time for a prime minister of Maori descent.
“Anything less will be taking Aotearoa (New Zealand) backwards from Jacinda Ardern,” co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi said in a statement.
Wood is the third candidate to emerge so far.
The 42-year-old was responsible for lifting the country’s minimum wage and has considerable backing in the union movement.
Ardern, meanwhile, on Friday said her decision to step down was “tinged with sadness” but having made the announcement she had “slept well for the first time in a long time”.
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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday made a shock announcement she had “no more in the tank” to continue leading the country and would step down no later than early February and not seek re-election.
Ardern, holding back tears, said that it had been a tough five and a half years as prime minister and that she was only human and needed to step aside.
“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,” Ardern, 42, told a news conference.
“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.”
A ruling New Zealand Labour Party vote for a new leader will take place on Sunday; the party leader will be prime minister until the next general election. Ardern’s term as leader will conclude no later than Feb. 7 and a general election will be held on October 14.
Ardern said she believed Labour would win the upcoming election.
New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson, who also serves as finance minister, said in a statement he would not seek to stand as the next Labour leader.
Political commentator Ben Thomas said Ardern’s announcement was a huge surprise as polls still ranked her as the country’s preferred prime minister even though support for her party had fallen from the stratospheric heights seen during the 2020 election.
Thomas said that there was not a clear successor.
Ardern said she was not stepping down because the job was hard, but because she believed others could do a better job.
She made a point of telling her daughter Neve that she was looking forward to being there when she started school this year and told her longtime partner Clarke Gayford that it was time they married.
