New Zealand ex-PM Jacinda Ardern breaks political silence to support opposition
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New Zealand’s former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pledged her support for Labour leader Chris Hipkins and urged voters to donate to his campaign.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Jacinda Ardern has backed Labour and Chris Hipkins in a video, urging voters to donate as the party fights to win back power at the Nov 7 election.
- Her support comes as Labour and the ruling National Party both lose ground, while voters turn to smaller parties with clearer ideas.
- Ardern, once the world’s youngest female leader, is known for her crisis leadership and past election wins, and now lives in Australia after leaving office in 2023.
AI generated
WELLINGTON – Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who has largely stayed out of politics since leaving office more than three years ago, has broken her silence to drum up support for the Labour Party as it seeks to regain power at next month’s election.
In a video posted to her website, she pledged her support for Labour leader Chris Hipkins and urged voters to donate to his campaign.
“I believe in Chris wholeheartedly. I’ve known him for many, many years and I know how deep his Labour values run,” Ardern said. “In these times, regardless of how much you’re able to give, just know how much every single dollar counts and how much it will mean to the Labour team.”
Her intervention comes at a crucial moment in the campaign, with the ruling National Party and main opposition Labour Party struggling to win over voters ahead of the Nov 7 election. A poll earlier showed support for the two major parties sliding with voters increasingly turning to minor groups offering more distinctive visions for the country.
Ardern became the world’s youngest female leader when she was elected prime minister in 2017 aged 37, less than three months after taking the reins of Labour. In 2018, she became the second world leader to give birth in office, after former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Ardern won plaudits for her sensitive handling of a number of crises, including the 2019 mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch. She led the Labour Party to a second term in power in 2020, with a 50% share of the vote at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic – an unprecedented victory under New Zealand’s current electoral system.
After her shock resignation in 2023, she spent most of her time in the United States, taking up dual fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is also on the board of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, and last year released her memoir A Different Kind Of Power.
She now lives in Australia and recently bought an A$5.3 million (S$4.7 million) house in the Sydney beachside suburb of Dee Why, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. BLOOMBERG