Following the resignation of Jacinda Ardern as Prime Minister of New Zealand, the oceanic country has already chosen a replacement who will govern until the next elections that could be held in October of this year. This is Chris Hipkins, a Labor Party politician with quite a bit of experience on various issues.
Source: (ABC News)
At the time he took office as president of the Pacific country, he indicated that this was “the greatest responsibility and the greatest privilege of his life”, in addition to stating that “the weight of being prime minister of New Zealand”. He had a long career in politics, an area where he has always worked. In an interview with The Guardian, from 2021, he stated that his greatest strength was that he understood “how the government machine works because it is something he was involved in for more than 20 years.”
However, some experts indicate that this lack of experience in topics far from your field can work against you. Such is the case of Lara Greaves, a political specialist at the University of Auckland, who told the BBC that “it is something that Cristopher Luxon (the main opposition leader) can take hold of in the next elections.” Also, In the face of this difficult electoral period, many people from New Zealand they have a negative view of the government and Jacinda Arden, whom they do not see as fit to continue leading the country.
Ardern’s problems
Despite the fact that the former New Zealand Prime Minister is seen as one of the most popular people abroad, due to the way she communicates and her presence on social networks, the “star power” began to fade inside his own nation where they see it as one of the main faces of the post-covid downturn in the economy.
Source: (EFE)
Partly because of this negative image, and partly because of the constant threats, she decided to step aside. “Normally, in the country, governments are given three terms, but in her five and a half years too much happened and people feel as if she had been in power for ten years”said Greaves, who pointed to this as one of the main reasons why Ardern’s presence dropped among voters.