Jacinda Ardern, who became a global liberal icon as New Zealand’s Prime Minister but faced deepening political challenges with an election looming at home, said in a surprise announcement on Thursday that she would step down as the country’s leader.

In a tearful speech in the New Zealand city of Napier, where Ardern’s Labour Party was hosting its summer caucus retreat, she said she did not feel personally prepared to complete another term. She will leave office by February 7, she said.

“I believe that leading a country is the most privileged job anyone could ever have, but also one of the more challenging,” Ardern said.

“You cannot and should not do it unless you have a full tank plus a bit in reserve for those unexpected challenges.”

She added: “This has been the most fulfilling five and a half years of my life. I am leaving because with such a privileged job comes a big responsibility.”

Labour lawmakers will elect a new leader of the party — and the country — in three days’ time, Ardern said.

Ardern, 42, became Prime Minister in 2017 and won a historic re-election victory in 2020, largely on the strength of New Zealand’s response to Covid, which allowed residents to live a mostly normal life for much of the pandemic. But her party has since fallen sharply in the polls amid economic troubles and some highly publicised instances of violent crime.

Soon after her unexpected rise to power as New Zealand’s youngest Prime Minister in 150 years, Ardern became something of an international celebrity. She had a daughter while in office and brought her to the floor of the UN.

To admirers, she became the sunny face of progressivism and a welcome alternative to the politics represented by then-President Trump in the US. But it was her response in 2019 to the massacre of 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, by a gunman espousing anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant hatred, that solidified her image as a hero of the global Left.

“We represent diversity, kindness, and compassion. A home for those who share our values. Refuge for those who need it,” she said at the time.

New York Times News Service