Chris Hipkins becomes the 41st Prime Minister of New Zealand

Now, the 44-year-old, Hipkins has less than nine months to regain the trust of the public on his party before contesting a tough general election. The opinion polls indicate that the Labour Party is lagging behind its opposition party.

New Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, was sworn in by New Zealand’s governor-general,Cindy Kiro, during a ceremony in the capital, Wellington.

“This is the biggest privilege and responsibility of my life,” Hipkins said after formally taking office. “I’m energized and excited by the challenges ahead.” he added.

With this, Jacinda Ardern made her last public appearance as the Prime Minister on Wednesday. Last week, Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation as the New Zealand PM. She announced that she no longer had “enough in the tank” after leading the nation during its worst natural disaster, terror attack and COVID 19 pandemic.

During her tenure, Chris Hipkins had served as education and police minister. His crisis management during the Covid-19 pandemic brought him into limelight at national front. However, his work and other liberal leaders popularity remained to be dim in front of Jacinda Ardern who was praised globally for her leadership and decisions.

New Zealand’s head-of-state is Britain’s King Charles III, and Kiro is his representative in New Zealand, although these days the nation’s relationship with the monarchy is largely symbolic.

Notably, Chris Hipkins has vocally criticised the abhorrent treatment given to the ex-PM Jacinda Ardern by the public on social media.

“The way Jacinda has been treated, particularly by some segments of our society, and they are a small minority, has been utterly abhorrent. It does not represent who we are as a country,” said Chris Hipkins in one of his public conferences.

He also said that people need to learn to give a similar treatment to women leaders as compared to their male counterparts in politics.

(With agency inputs)