At the start of her sixth year as Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down from the role
Jacinda Ardern will resign her role as Prime Minister no later than February 7, she said on Thursday.
In a surprise announcement partway through the Labour Party's annual caucus retreat in Napier, Ardern said she had reflected over summer and did not have the energy to lead the nation for another year.
"I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice," she said, her voice audibly breaking.
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Ardern said it had been the "greatest role of my life" but that she "knew when it was time to go".
Ardern will stay on as an MP through April and resign after that, so as not to trigger a by-election. She said she doesn't have any plans for what comes next, but is looking forward to spending more time with her family.
"Mum is looking forward to being there when you start school this year," she said on Thursday, speaking to her daughter Neve who turns five this year.
It was a personal decision, she said, and wasn't due to the political headwinds Labour faces.
The Labour caucus has a week to determine whether someone has support from two-thirds of the party's MPs. The caucus will vote on a new leader on Sunday.
If no one MP receives that two-thirds support, the race will go to the party's wider membership.
Ardern said she wouldn't back any particular successor, but that Deputy Prime Minister and close confidant Grant Robertson had decided not to contest the role.
During the same announcement, Ardern said the election would take place on October 14.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon offered thanks for Ardern's service to New Zealand.
"She has given her all to this incredibly demanding job and I wish her and her family all the very best for the future. Thank you Jacinda."
Minister for Covid-19 Response Ayesha Verrall said: "It’s my privilege to have served with Jacinda Ardern and to have witnessed her strength, intellect and humanity as she lead us through the pandemic. Her leadership saved tens of thousands of New Zealand lives."
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Kiri Allan told RNZ: "I am incredibly proud to have served as a minister in her Cabinet and the footprints, the imprint that she will have on Aotearoa, what she has given to us, will go down in history and she will be one of our most significant leaders.
"So, look, we're shocked but also we send her with love, we send her and her whānau with compassion. It's been a challenging - an incredibly challenging - past few years. She's made that call and we love her."
ACT leader David Seymour was slightly less effusive, saying: “Jacinda is a well-meaning person, but her idealism collided hard with reality. Unfortunately this has left the country with big problems: the economy, the lawlessness, the Treaty."
The unexpected announcement has made headlines not just in Aotearoa, but worldwide.
The news quickly rose to the top of the Guardian website's front page, the UK paper calling it a "shock announcement".
Australia's ABC also went with the word "shock", focusing on how Ardern struggled to hold back tears during the announcement.
Her Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese said on Twitter she had "shown the world how to lead with intellect and strength".
"She has demonstrated that empathy and insight are powerful leadership qualities," Albanese said.
"Jacinda has been a fierce advocate for New Zealand, an inspiration to so many and a great friend to me."
* Live updates on the PM's resignation, via RNZ *
