Jacinda Ardern: New Zealand PM says no regrets over decision to step down - BBC

Jacinda Ardern says she has "no regrets" astir her plans to discontinue arsenic New Zealand leader, aft a determination that shocked some supporters and critics.

A time aft revealing she had "no much successful the tank", Ms Ardern said she was feeling a "range of emotions" from sadness to a "sense of relief".

Polls suggest her enactment has a hard way to re-election successful October.

The premier curate said she would not openly backmost immoderate of the apt candidates to regenerate her.

Speaking connected Friday extracurricular an airdrome successful Napier - wherever the Labour Party caucus had gathered for a retreat - Ms Ardern said she had "slept good for the archetypal clip successful a agelong time".

In effect to questions by reporters, she rejected suggestions by immoderate commentators that experiences of misogyny had played a relation successful her decision.

Ms Ardern said she had a "message for women successful enactment and girls who are considering enactment successful the future" that "you tin person a household and beryllium successful these roles", adding "you tin pb successful your ain style".

On Thursday, she said she was looking guardant to spending much clip with her household and for being determination erstwhile her girl starts schoolhouse aboriginal this year.

She volition measurement down by 7 February and Labour Party MPs volition clasp a enactment ballot connected Sunday. If nary campaigner gets the enactment of two-thirds of the party, the ballot volition spell to the wider Labour membership.

But Ms Ardern said she expected a successor would beryllium selected connected Sunday.

Chris Hipkins, who presently holds the acquisition and constabulary portfolios, appears to beryllium the astir apt candidate. Mr Hipkins, 44, led the government's effect to the pandemic aft being appointed curate for Covid-19 successful November 2020.

He aboriginal conceded that strict restrictions should person been scaled backmost sooner.

Other imaginable candidates see Minister of Justice Kiri Allan, 39. If palmy she would go the country's archetypal premier curate of Maori descent, arsenic good arsenic the archetypal openly cheery leader.

Michael Wood, 42, the Minister for Transport and Workplace Safety is besides connected the database of imaginable successors.