>

Has she resigned rather than lose the next election?
From an election timing POV; if you're going to resign, now is a reasonable choice. 
\~1 month to shuffle the chairs, \~6 months to re-establish the new PM and cabinet in the media and public mind, then into the election campaign. >

Problem is Labour doesn’t have anyone nearly as charismatic as Adern, who has sucked up so much oxygen as an outgoing and personable leader. It was the same with Helen Clark, perhaps moreso. Hard to see Labour winning from here. They’re out for two cycles in my estimate. Feel free to set a RemindMe! >

!RemindMe two cycles >

Hi, I understand that you need a bicycle? >

Nah give the bike a rest, for it is two tired >

The fuck I just witnessed >

Kickstandup comedy >

Came back into the office to start 2023, and said "fuck this". >

Relatable >

I first read that as 'Jesus is Jacinda' and was a bit confused before I remembered about French. >

It’s easy to forget about the French but they will be quick to remind you again ;) >


She said there was no secret scandal behind her resignation. “I am human. We give as much as we can for as long as we can and then it’s time. And for me, it’s time. >

I wish all politicians recognized when it was time for them to move on. >

In the USA, we'd have no politicians left. >

God, wouldn't that be nice... >

Yes it would considered we have people as old as dinosaurs still serving and they know damn well they have no business being in office. >

Nobody should be in politics for 40 years >

I'm so desperately looking forward to never having to hear about anyone's Vietnam service in a presidential debate again >

Thankfully, we’ll have Moon War service to take its place! >

We've already got wars like desert storm, I'm just tired of having the exact same generational cohort be in charge of politics for three decades >

We could have as much as ten more years of this shit. Who knows when the octagenarians in congress will finally die, and we've already seen some people stay in office despite severe cognitive decline. >

Kiwi here, there are a lot of mixed feelings about her in NZ. No denying that she was dealt awful cards (Whakaari eruption, Christchurch terror attack, and COVID!) not too mention she had a baby early into her first term. 
No denying that she’s handles a crisis like a champ and true leader. Unfortunately her and her party have fallen very short when it comes to the day to day, Labour look unlikely to win the next election (although still possible), but they were leaking popularity like a sieve. 
As a person, she seems like a great human and I’ll miss her leadership for that. As an effective politician she’s had very big wins and very big failures, mixed feelings there.
Either way I just hope like hell that National (the opposition) don’t get in. >


Either way I just hope like hell that National (the opposition) don’t get in.

They will, mate, the Labour-National swing is as sure as the tides. David Seymour, on the other hand, is a concerning wildcard. >

"The decisions that have had to be made have been continual and they have been weighty, but I am not leaving because it was hard. Had that been the case I probably would have departed two months into the job," Ardern says.
"I am 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."
--------------------------  
Shes only human. Hard choice to make. >

Reading between the lines. You don't just get burnt out. Politics wears on your sould and can make you a worse person and change you permanently. I think it's taxing at a deeper level. >

I think this is right, as long as you’re not a narcissist or sociopath, which I truly feel like so many politicians are (obviously not Jacinda). >

Lookin at you McCarthy… >

Or Santos >

eh, he came into it fucked up. hasn’t been at it long enough or in any role of importance for anything to weigh on him. he’s probably just a pathological liar. >

hes garbage >

9 months before the election.
How much time must there before the next election so that the current leader’s resignation isn’t considered “before an election”? >

It never will be enough time. The media has to sensationalize to get attention. >

to be clear, the actual article headline is:

Jacinda Ardern quits as Prime Minister: Labour to elect new leader, Grant Robertson won’t seek role, general election date October 14

unless it has been updated, OP editorialized it. >

The headline now is that. It was breaking news, the headline has been updated multiple times as more information came out. >

So part of the information that came out is the date of the election? >

So for any New Zealanders on here, why is she resigning? >

Mix of things. A very hard 6 years of being leader, and several missteps plus polling badly. 
Its a strange one where people wanted them to do more and specifically more socialist things yet will punish them by voting more right wing >


very hard 6 years of being leader,

the chch terrorist attack, that volcano explosion, her young child and covid in 6 years is too much for anyone. I would be drained too >

Respectfully it’s more like she has seen the writing on the wall. I feel like she would have stayed if the polling supported her, but even that’s turned against her. 
It’s only on Reddit where people think Ardern is perfect and not had any problems. Just like every other politician however, she has done many wrong things, least of things like housing, which many people feel aggrieved about. >

yeah she fucked up a lot too, like her lack of support for the cannabis referendum, the housing crisis and so on.
she's still better than the other alternatives >

See this is what is confusing me as an American. I thought she was popular, but apparently not by reading the NZ people in here. The problem is, it sounds like all the complaints say she failed to meet a bunch of promises that a right wing government would actively oppose. So why is it likely she would lose? Its like "OK u have fucked up on these big issues but the fuck up is exactly what the right would do if they had a choice". 
Oh so you are just like us. Ok I rubberducked my way into getting it. >

she won her last election by an historical landslide, got enough political capital to potentially annex the west island on her charisma alone and then she spent it on basically ... nothing?
I voted for her (and also voted yes on both refs) but there are no excuses. Left wing voters are dissapointed and might go back to the greens and right wing boomer voters will go back to national now that they have a leader that doesnt have the charisma of a rock  like Collins so there's no way she will win the next election. 
Her quitting is the only scenario where labour might win the next election >


she won her last election by an historical landslide, got enough political capital to potentially annex the west island on her charisma alone and then she spent it on basically ... nothing?

That's what's really disappointing. There was so much potential yet nearly all of it didn't really come to anything. 
She's much better than the alternatives (wages in NZ have risen twice as fast under her - even before covid - than with the previous government) which makes this even worse. >

Remembering the reason for our inflation is wage rises.  Not corporate greed. Not oil prices. Not global supply chain issues.  But NZ domestic wage. /s. >

She’s resigning as NZ Labour’s main rival party, the centre-right National Party, has taken the lead in the polls since about this time last year. She must see the writing on the wall and is resigning to give Labour new leadership before the next election this year. Shame to see her go, but nothing lasts forever. >

I don't know how Kiwis feel towards her or her leadership, but, personally, her speech was bittersweet and commendable, and hearing what she hopes is remembered of her leadership is certainly what I'll remember (although I'm aware i am not Kiwi, so it matters less)

Asked how she would like New Zealanders to remember her leadership, she said “as someone who always tried to be kind.”
“I hope I leave New Zealanders with a belief that you can be kind, but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focused. And that you can be your own kind of leader – one who knows when it’s time to go,” Ardern said. >

I think most people's views towards are also bittersweet, the country probably would be worse if she hadn't dealt with covid as she had. At the same time she annoyed the radicals and the conservatives and chose not to take a side, trying to remain moderate which alienated a good percentage of both from the party. She also hardly dealt with the largest domestic issue before covid which was the housing crisis. >

Almost every developed nation is dealing with a housing crises and inflation. There are east real solutions to these problems. >

That doesn't excuse labour's and the governments lack of any real effort to stop this. They had 5 years, 2 before covid and in that time they did very little because they are too scared to annoy the oligarchs and landlords. >

Any solution that truly aims to tackle the problem would be very unpopular with homeowners and thus be political suicide. >

To give context,       

Her party, Labour, is unlikely to win the next election. The National party did rather well during the 2008 GFC with the economy, while other countries were hurting real bad, so New Zealanders will be remembering that this time round      
She spent a lot of time dealing with crisis situations. Covid-19, Christchurch Terrorist Attacks, White Island, House prices, her cat (the "First Cat" of NZ) getting run over by a car. Her qualifications in public relations got labour the win when she took over as leader originally and it was seen as a major turning point or boost in the election that resulted in her first term as prime minister. However people are now tired of hearing bad news, "be kind" etc from her.     
The next election is going to be in October. This gives her replacement a good 8 months to become known to the public as a leader and prime minister going into the election. An NZ election campaign lasts about ~8 weeks.    
However Labour is expected not to win. NZ uses the MMP electoral system and so (summarised) seats are assigned based on the percentage of votes a party gets in the election.    
Having an established leader will give Labour more recognition and better chances at winning parliament seats.  If people see the party in disarray with poor leadership, they are likely to loose their own voters to national.    
Both Labour and National are centre parties. They create a coalition / team with another party to pool enough votes together to form a government. Its the other parties that generally cause the policies to deviate slightly from centre, or create a specific issue to be dealt with or a law to be passed during their coalition negotiations immediately after an election.    
Its likely National will win but will need the Act Party in a coalition to get enough votes to form a government. Act is very much libertarian and anti taxation. So it will be a good mix of a tax cut and infrastructure/healthcare investment that people will be voting for.    
Labour will probably get 25-35% of the seats in the house and vote on laws etc as they see fit, and not be able to do much for 6 years by which time everyone will be sick of National and want a change again. >

FTA: 
She said there was no secret scandal behind her resignation. “I am human. We give as much as we can for as long as we can and then it’s time. And for me, it’s time.
“I am leaving because with such a privileged job comes a big responsibility. The responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead - and also when you’re not.”
Cool. >


“With holding such a privileged role comes responsibility, including the responsibility to know when you’re the right person to lead, and also when you’re not.”

I wish more leaders knew when it was time to step down.
She was thrown into the leadership role of her party quite suddenly back in 2017. Labour was insanely successful in the last election with her at the helm. I know Kiwis don’t all have the same rose-coloured view of her as many of us overseas do, but I think everyone can agree she’s been one of the better world leaders in the past decade.

“I am human. We give as much as we can for as long as we can and then it’s time. And for me, it’s time.” 

If she doesn’t have any petrol left in the tank, that’s as good a reason as any to step down. >

As someone not from New Zealand, I can't comment on the political context to this or whether or not this is good for the country, but I seriously commend her for her response to some of the toughest times New Zealand faced, from the Christchurch shooting, to the pandemic, to the White Island volcano eruption - her leadership during these was exceptional and enviable. >

Yeah she did well on those things, she definitely deserved the landslide victory last election. 
And when you take into account how incompetent some of the labour ministers actually are, its a testament to how good of a leader she was during those times lol >

Regardless what you think of some choices she's made, you have to respect any politician that voluntarily gives up power without trying to cling to it till they have no options left >

She is just too unpopular now and they will lose the election. If she could choose someone who is competent to run the health system other than the slime Andrew Little she would have my vote. >


she would have my vote

Living in a country where picking a right-wing candidate doesn't mean picking a candidate leaning towards fascism must be great. >

Yeah come try it! You'll have to rent though :( >

And itll have to be a shed if you aren't rich