Hours after being unanimously endorsed by Labour Party MPs as the party’s leader and the nation’s next prime minister, Mr Hipkins attacked the personal abuse suffered by Ms Ardern during her more than five years in the top job.
“The way Jacinda has been treated, particularly by some segments of our society – and they are a small minority – has been utterly abhorrent,” Mr Hipkins said.Men have a responsibility to call out such treatment and say “it’s not ok”, he said. “I am human. We give as much as we can for as long as we can and then it’s time,” the 42-year-old leader said.
The cost of living, rising inflation and workforce shortages have been blamed in part for Labour’s decline in the polls since 2020, now surpassed by the centre-right National Party opposition. Mr Hipkins announced the country will have its first deputy prime minister of Pacific island descent, Carmel Sepuloni.