During a caucus meeting for the Labour party in New Zealand on January 19, Jacinda Ardern announced she would be stepping down from the role of prime minister from February 7, explaining that she simply “no longer had enough in the tank” to do the job properly. “I’m 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,” she continued. “I know what this job takes. I know there will be much discussion in the aftermath of this decision as to what the so-called ‘real’ reason was…The only interesting angle you will find is that, after going on six years of some big challenges, I am human. Politicians are human. We give all that we can, for as long as we can, and then it’s time. And for me, it’s time.”
