HomeEconomyChris Hipkins will be the next Prime Minister of New Zealand

Chris Hipkins will be the next Prime Minister of New Zealand

Education Minister Chris Hipkins is set to become New Zealand’s next prime minister after being the only candidate to enter the race to replace Jacinda Ardern on Saturday.

Hipkins, 44, still has to win the support of his Labor colleagues on Sunday, but that is just a formality. The official transfer of power will come in the coming days.

Hipkins said “It’s a big day for Hutt boys,”, referring to the Hutt Valley near Wellington where he grew up. “I’m really humbled and really proud to take it on. It is the greatest responsibility and the greatest privilege of my life.”

Hipkins will have just over eight months in the role before contesting the general election. Opinion polls have shown Labor lagging behind its main rival, the conservative National Party. Hipkins came to public attention during the coronavirus pandemic when he took on a crisis management role. But he and other Liberals have long been overshadowed by Ardern, who has become a global icon of the left and exemplified a new style of leadership.

At just 37 when she became leader, Ardern was praised around the world for her handling of the country’s worst mass shooting and the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But she faced growing political pressures at home and a level of vitriol from some that previous New Zealand leaders had not faced. She was subjected to physical threats and misogynistic slurs online.

Wrote former prime minister Helen Clark “Our society might now do well to consider whether it wants to continue to tolerate the excessive polarization that is making politics an increasingly less attractive profession”.

Fighting back tears, Ardern told reporters on Thursday that she would be leaving the post on February 7 at the latest. I know what this job entails and I know I don’t have enough left in the tank to do it justice. It’s that simple.

As well as holding the Education portfolio, Hipkins is also Minister for Policing and the Public Service and Leader of the House of Commons. He is known as a political troubleshooter who has taken on a number of roles to try to solve problems created by other lawmakers.

But he’s also had some gaffes of his own, like telling people during the viral lockdown that they can go outside and “stretch their legs,” a comment that caused a lot of glee online.

Hipkins drew a small crowd of applauding onlookers as he spoke to reporters outside parliament. He said he came back energized after the summer break, considered himself a hard worker and a straight shooter and wasn’t about to lose his trademark sense of humor in his new role.

He said he would not announce any changes in policy or ministerial roles before Sunday’s vote, other than Grant Robertson staying on as finance minister. Hipkins said he believed he could win the election and paid tribute to Ardern.

“Jacinda Ardern has been an incredible Prime Minister of New Zealand,” Hipkins said. “She was the leader we needed at the time we needed it.

Hipkins, who has been a lawmaker for 15 years, is seen as more centrist than Ardern and colleagues hope he will appeal to a wide range of voters. Among his biggest challenges in an election year will be convincing voters that his party is doing well.

New Zealand’s unemployment rate is relatively low at 3.3%, but inflation is high at 7.2%. New Zealand’s Reserve Bank has raised its key interest rate to 4.25% as it tries to get inflation under control, with some economists predicting the country will enter recession this year.

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