Jacinda Ardern’s announcement last Thursday that she was resigning as Prime Minister of New Zealand not only sent shockwaves around the world, but surely occasioned a thrill among misogynists and critics of her policies, many of whom have reviled her over the years with abuse that grew increasingly nasty, personal and threatening. In fact the vitriol became so menacing – more than 50 threats over the last three years – that police in New Zealand have charged at least eight people.
While she is not by any means the first world leader to demit office suddenly, Ms Ardern is definitely the only one to declare: “I’m leaving, because with such a privileged role comes responsibility. The responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not. I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It’s that simple.”
Ms Ardern was sworn in as prime minister at 37 years old in October 2017. Between then and now the world has seen a number of leaders forced to exit their roles in ignominy, including three in the United Kingdom alone – Theresa May in May 2019, Boris Johnson in July 2022 and Liz Truss in October 2022, after just 44 days in office. Indignity aside, it is worth noting here that those three leaders did the right thing once their backs were to the wall.
It was three years into Ms Ardern’s government that the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world. Her effective and pivotal governance, later pointed to as a ‘best case’, kept infection rates low in New Zealand and deaths at a minimum. That she acted swiftly, appointing a Covid response minister and closing the country’s borders among other measures, when other world leaders fumbled and second-guessed science, increased her popularity. In October 2020, her party won the general election with more than 50 percent of the vote, ensuring her continuation in office.
The coronavirus pandemic was the second huge crisis where Ms Ardern displayed calm under pressure and decisive leadership. The first was the March 2019 mass shootings in Christchurch where a gunman killed 51 people and wounded some 50 others at two mosques. The next day, Ms Ardern promised to change the country’s gun control laws. She was not just placating those who had suffered devastating losses as some politicians have been known to do. In April that same year, New Zealand’s Parliament passed a law banning semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles. By contrast, the United States, which is the world capital for mass shootings, particularly at schools, is yet to move positively on this issue.
Like everywhere else in the world, New Zealand has its fair share of naysayers. The wave of antipathy to Covid restrictions that encompassed the world also resulted in protests and some amount of polarisation in that country. The global inflation left in its wake, coupled with the war in Ukraine and the concomitant shortages and near recession setting in, were all laid soundly at Ms Ardern’s feet sometimes by media outlets which provided no evidence. While this sort of blame-the-government-for-everything approach is common enough, women leaders face more of it than their male counterparts. Ms Ardern was clearly no exception.
However, the fact is that New Zealand has performed creditably under her leadership, both economically and from a humanitarian standpoint. A young woman, untouched by scandal, Ms Ardern undertook governance with empathy, honesty, selflessness and a great deal of style. She stood head and shoulders above many of her counterparts, including former Australian PM Scott Morrison, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, former UK PM Boris Johnson and former US president Donald Trump, who once famously publicly accused her of causing trouble in her country at an international meeting.
Ms Ardern has successfully modelled modern motherhood. After giving birth in 2018, she was back at work in six weeks and even took her baby along to that year’s UN General Assembly. Using a global stage, she effectively demonstrated to women everywhere that femininity and humanity in leadership is not only doable, but attractive.
Now she has taken it one step further with her “enough in the tank” reference; a clear indication that world leaders must also know when to walk away for the good of their mental health, the benefit of their families and welfare of the people they serve on the whole. There is no doubt Ms Ardern will be criticised; comments have already alluded to her being weak simply because she is a woman. The truth is that it takes a tremendous amount of strength to step away from power. A cursory glance around will reveal many men who are underperforming at governance, but too egotistical to bow out. Ms Ardern’s shining example should be emulated.
