The political obituaries were flooding in all day. Jacinda Ardern, it seemed, was just too good for this grubby political world. “A true global leader,” said Sir Keir Starmer. Her difference to the world was “immeasurable”, said Justin Trudeau. And how apt that New Zealand’s prime minister – a global progressive icon – was not defiled by losing an election but had the grace to bow out, saying she is emotionally exhausted. In so doing, she began her final act: the Assumption of St Jacinda, a world leader now showing the world how to say goodbye.
That’s one way of putting it. Another is to say that her popularity was tanking and she had decided she’d probably lose the general election this autumn. But rather than let voters pass verdict on her zero-Covid policy, she bolted. Doing so in an election year leaves her successor little time to get established – thereby condemning her party, Labour, to a sure defeat. She might have used her campaigning skills to limit the damage but instead, she has bailed: on party and country.
This.