Jacinda Ardern resigns as New Zealand’s prime minister

Jacinda Ardern has shocked New Zealand by announcing that she is stepping down as prime minister after five and a half years because she has no more “in the tank”.

Appearing close to tears at a news conference, Ardern said that “politicians are human” and she had decided to quit by February 7 and not seek re-election.

Ardern was elected prime minister aged 37 in 2017. She achieved a global profile as she led the country through its worst terror attack, a deadly volcanic eruption and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Leaving the press conference with her partner, Clarke Gayford. She said she no longer has “enough in the tank” to do the job

BEN MCKAY/EPA

She won a landslide second term in 2020 but her popularity waned as she battled declining trust in government, a worsening economic situation and a resurgent conservative opposition.

“This summer, I had hoped to