Jacinda Ardern leaves a complex legacy behind her

In her five years as prime minister, Jacinda Ardern has made little New Zealand famous, becoming a global hero for left-leaning politics and women in leadership, despite her domestic struggles with the economy and COVID-19 limitations.

The 42-year-old, who garnered notoriety following a massacre targeting Muslims and for wearing a hijab and bringing her infant to a UN conference, said on Thursday that she will stand down in less than three weeks, claiming she had “no more in the tank.”

Throughout her turbulent tenure, New Zealand‘s youngest prime minister in more than a century urged her citizens to “be strong, be kind,” but her compassionate leadership and adept handling of crises frequently concealed the faults of her administration.

Ardern, who is regarded as likeable and engaging, used her ability to speak from the heart and maintain a positive attitude in the face of hardship to win over voters in 2017 and again in 2020, ushering in the country’s first wholly left-leaning administration in decades.

Unprecedented occurrences for the island country of 5 million people occurred under her rule, including the 2019 killing of 51 Muslim worshipers in Christchurch by a white supremacist, the eruption of the White Island volcano, and the pandemic the following year.

In an emotional statement announcing her resignation, Ardern stated, “I hope I leave New Zealanders with a confidence that you can be compassionate but powerful, sympathetic yet resolute, hopeful but focused.” “And that you are capable of being your own kind of leader, one who understands when to go.”

PROBLEMS RAISE, RATINGS DROP

For her response to the Christchurch attacks, which she labeled terrorism, Ardern won plaudits from all across the world. She spoke with the Muslim community while wearing a hijab, assuring them that New Zealand was “united in pain.”

In sharp contrast to the United States, where politicians and campaigners have struggled to confront gun violence despite frequent mass shootings, she implemented a ban on semiautomatic weapons and other gun controls within weeks of the killing.

She started a global effort to combat online hatred, yet she has frequently become the target of right-wing internet trolls.

With more than half of the MPs being women and the largest proportion of Maori parliamentarians who are native to New Zealand, Ardern presided over the country’s most diverse parliament in 2020, garnering international attention.

She was one of the first heads of state to restrict borders and implement a zero-tolerance policy in response to the COVID outbreak, protecting New Zealanders from the virus and keeping mortality rates much below those of other developed countries.

However, her “go hard, go early” strategy, which included a statewide lockdown due to a single virus, wasn’t well received by everyone.

While Ardern’s popularity increased abroad, she struggled to demonstrate that her leadership went beyond crisis management and kindness at home, where she faced rising political obstacles.

Her popularity has declined recently as a result of the deteriorating housing crisis, increased living expenses and mortgage rates, and rising crime fears. She is still more well-liked than her competitors, though.

Despite Ardern’s claims of revolutionary leadership, mistakes have hampered her initiatives for affordable housing. Progress has been slow, even on climate change, which Ardern termed “my generation’s nuclear-free moment.”

REVIVING

At age 37, Ardern made history when she was elected as the youngest female head of state in the world in 2017.

Riding the “Jacinda-mania” wave, she ardently advocated for women’s rights, the eradication of child poverty, and the reduction of economic disparity in the nation.

Ardern, who was raised a Mormon by her mother and police officer father, left the religion in the early 2000s over its position on LGBTQ persons and has since identified as an agnostic.

She was questioned about her plans to have kids hours after being named the leader of the Labour Party. “To think that women should have to answer that question in the workplace in 2017 is completely wrong,” said Ardern.

She gave birth to a daughter eight months after taking office, making history as just the second elected official to do so after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto. Neve Te Aroha, the infant, was taken to the U.N. General Assembly in New York by Ardern less than three months later.

Many saw her pregnancy and the fact that she was on maternity leave as a sign of advancement for women in politics, since she was one of a number of progressive female leaders, such as Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.

When asked if she and Marin were just meeting because they were young and female at their November meeting in Wellington, Ardern responded in the negative.

Regarding the former U.S. president and New Zealand prime minister, Ardern questioned whether anybody had ever inquired as to whether they had met because of their similar ages. “It’s not only when two women meet that it’s due of their gender.”