Wellington. New Zealand’s Education Minister Chris Hopkins is set to become the country’s next prime minister. In fact, 44-year-old Hipkins is the only candidate in the race to replace current Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Although Chris Hopkins will have to win the support of his Labor party colleagues in parliament on Sunday to become prime minister, that is just a formality.
Ardern, who has been at the helm for nearly five-and-a-half years, stunned her nation of half a million by announcing on Thursday that she was stepping down as prime minister. Running only one candidate indicates that after Ardern’s departure, all party MPs have backed Hipkins to avoid a lengthy process of contesting and not to give any indication that there is unity in the party. There is a lack of After becoming prime minister, Hipkins will hold the post for less than eight months. After this, there will be a general election in the country. According to pre-election polls, the position of the Labor Party is better than the main rival ‘National Party’.
Chris Hopkins was in the public eye during the coronavirus pandemic for his key role in managing the crisis, but it was Ardern who attracted the most attention in government. She became a topic of discussion at the global level due to her innovative style of leadership. Ardern, just 37 years old as prime minister, has been praised around the world for her handling of the worst-ever New Zealand shootings and pandemic, but she is facing intense political pressure at home. He faced challenges few New Zealand leaders had experienced before. Meanwhile, several online comments and threats have been made against her for being a woman.
Ardern tearfully told reporters on Thursday that February 7 would be her last day as prime minister. He said, the sixth year of my tenure is going to start and in every last year I have given my best. Ardern announced that the next general election in New Zealand would be held on 14 October and that she would continue to serve as MP until then. In addition to holding the Department of Education, Hipkins is also the Minister of Police and Public Services and Leader of the House. He is known as a political troubleshooter, who has played a key role on several occasions in resolving problems created by other MPs.
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