Editorial | New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern sets a political example to follow

Jacinda Ardern was the youngest female leader of a country at the time she was elected prime minister of New Zealand at 37. That is far from all that set her apart. She governed for more than five years with charisma and crisis management skills that cushioned disillusion with her failure to deliver on most of her big ideas for solving national problems. And what also set her self-determined exit apart was the explanation that she had no longer “enough in the tank” to do the job justice and others could do better.

Whatever Ardern thinks, she will be missed. Sceptical critics question whether she was prompted by fear of electoral defeat for her government, but she remained preferred prime minister. Whatever the politics of it, there are lessons to be learned by all those with leadership ambitions, not least to recognise with humility when it is time to go, even if you embody a government’s hopes of re-election.

And it does no harm for voters to be reminded that politicians are human. Her swift handover of power will be remembered for the line: “I am human, 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.”

Few leaders have had to deal with anything like the challenges Ardern has faced in a short time – a terror attack on two mosques that claimed 51 lives, a volcanic disaster that claimed 22 lives, a global pandemic and now a cost-of-living crisis. And that is not to mention housing costs, child poverty, inequality and climate change.

In the main she responded calmly with dignity and clarity, eschewing the rhetoric of abuse or disparagement, but she suffered appalling online abuse. No wonder her tank has emptied quickly.

Ardern’s reputation as an empathetic, charismatic leader with liberal values, reflected in the term “Jacindamania”, enabled her to build important relationships for little New Zealand with both China and the United States. Chinese state media lamented her resignation, saying New Zealand had remained relatively independent in contrast with other American allies. One of the biggest challenges for successor, Chris Hipkins, will be to continue balancing relations with the superpowers. In his first press conference, he said a visit to China was high on his agenda, describing it as “incredibly important economically”. We trust he builds on Ardern’s example.