Editorial: Jacinda Ardern quits as Prime Minister - opinion on her legacy will likely always be divided

Opinion

Reflecting on Jacinda Ardern’s time as Prime Minister will likely always arouse strong emotions. She led during an incredibly divided political time both here and abroad. By the end of her tenure she and her Government retained strong supporters - but also had many equally loud detractors.

But she presented a face to the world that should make this country proud: a young woman of a rising generation, a modern leader, warm, empathetic, passionate in her concerns for poverty, inequality, climate change, the advancement of women and indigenous minorities and the need to regulate and moderate the use of new internet media.

The last concern arose from the event that made her greatest impact on the world. Her instinctive response to the murderous terrorism of Muslims in Christchurch, donning a headscarf to embrace families of those killed, did not just touch the world - it changed it. The shadow of 9/11 that lay over the early years of the 21st century was lifted by the realisation of a common humanity.

In her own country, Ardern will be most strongly remembered for her leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic. Supporters and opponents will continue to hold bitterly different positions over that legacy.

No previous Prime Minister had received advice to close the country’s borders, order most of the private sector to close their business unless it could be done online, urge people to stay home, steer clear of other people, don’t breathe the same air. She delivered messages with equal compassion and authority early in the pandemic, appealing to the underlying “kindness” and fellowship that she knew was in the “team of five million”. The Government succeeded in keeping the virus at bay for a year and Labour was rewarded with a stunning re-election victory, winning the party vote in all electorates but one.

The tide turned, however, as many Kiwis began to chafe against the many Covid restrictions - and the seeming inability of her Government to deliver on many of the big dreams they announced.

Now, she is stepping down. After five and a half years in office, she is leaving as suddenly as she arrived. But unlike Andrew Little, who made way for her just seven weeks before the 2017 election, Ardern leaves her party in better shape. When she says she is leaving not because she thinks Labour will lose this year, but rather because she thinks it will win, she should be believed.

Sir John Key said much the same when explaining his decision to step down after eight years. Polls were giving his party every reason to expect a fourth term and he knew he did not want to do another three years. Ardern said yesterday, “Having reflected over summer, I know I no longer have that bit extra in the tank to do the job justice. It’s that simple.”

It probably is. But New Zealand’s successful Prime Ministers have usually lasted eight or nine years. There must be a suspicion that the spread of social media and the kind of political invective it propagates have added greatly to the stress of the office. Extreme vehemence against her can be heard in some parts of the country and she will have heard it too.

For once, the wish “to spend more time with my family” can be believed too. To have a Prime Minister give birth while in power was another point of pride for New Zealand but it cannot have been easy to find time for an infant. Now she will have time with Neve before she starts school, and time for a wedding.

She can be proud of her five years leading New Zealand and at 42 has much more to offer.