Jacinda Ardern may be dodging humiliation by quitting now – but she’s sure of a lasting place as a star | Adam Boulton
At a time when ageing rockstars are embarking on seemingly endless farewell tours, and the US is contemplating a presidential election between two octogenarian men, the world’s most famous female political superstar will be out of office and out of parliament before her 43rd birthday in July.
At a news conference on the North Island, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the shock announcement that she is stepping down in a little over a fortnight’s time on 7 February.
In the meantime, the New Zealand Labour Party will choose a new leader. In April, there will be a by-election to replace Ms Ardern in her constituency in Mount Albert. Ms Ardern also announced that she was calling a general election for 14 October this year.
Ms Ardern’s five and a half years of political leadership and her manner of leaving it have been unique and will be the subject of comment for years to come.
Nonetheless, by this summer she will be out of politics and her future plans are vague beyond this message for her five-year-old daughter and her partner Clarke Gayford, a television presenter: “To Neve: Mum is looking forward to being there when you start school this year. And to Clarke – let’s finally get married.”
Ms Ardern was not a record-breaker for her sex or age, either nationally or internationally. She is New Zealand’s third woman prime minister, following Jenny Shipley and the long-serving Helen Clark, who Ms Ardern worked for.
Yet Ms Ardern has been a star from the moment she emerged in 2017, aged just 37, as prime minister of a coalition government. Many people beyond New Zealand were caught up in “Jacindamania”, seeing this self-styled “progressive” and “feminist” as the antithesis to populist authoritarian men such as Donald Trump who were enjoying power around that time.
She was soon featured on the magazine covers of Vogue and Time magazines, not bad for a leader of a small country of five million people.
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Ardern breaks down as she announces resignation
Ms Ardern bridled at comments which dwelt on her femininity. She slapped down reporters who suggested she was holding the first ever New Zealand bilateral with the Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin because they were both young women. She said: “I wonder whether or not anyone ever asked Barack Obama and John Key if they met because they were of similar age.”
A farmer publicly apologised after brandishing a placard at a protest calling her a “Pretty Communist”.
‘You can be kind, but strong’
Ms Ardern’s tearful news conference announcing her departure could scarcely have been less Trumpian. She explained her reasons bluntly: “I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It’s that simple.”
She concluded her statement by thanking New Zealanders for giving her “the greatest role in my life. I hope in return I leave behind a belief that you can be kind, but strong. Empathetic, but decisive. Optimistic, but focused. That you can be your own kind of leader – one that knows when it’s time to go”.
Ms Ardern’s two terms in power have been action-packed, as she noted: “We encountered a… domestic terror event, a major natural disaster, a global pandemic, and an economic crisis.”
In March 2019 she united the nation after the shooting attack on two mosques in Christchurch which left 51 people dead.
She insisted that the name of the perpetrator should not be used, while she said of the Muslim victims: “They are us.”
Ms Ardern with longtime partner Clarke Gayford
In December of that year, she had an equally strong and inclusive message when 21 people, many foreign tourists, were killed when the Whakaari volcano erupted on White Island. The closed borders and lockdown she ordered during the COVID pandemic resulted in a comparatively low number of deaths, some 2,500, in New Zealand.
Her decisive and empathetic style of leadership served her well politically. In the 2020 election, her popularity converted her coalition with other parties into an unprecedented overall majority for Labour in New Zealand’s proportional representation system.
Dodging humiliation
Perhaps New Zealand’s voters are now as exhausted as their prime minister. Opinion polls suggest Ms Ardern has dodged humiliation by stepping down now. At the upcoming general election, most observers expect her Labour party to lose office with the right-of-centre National Party to emerge victorious.
As elsewhere, inflation is running high in New Zealand. Ms Ardern admitted this week there have been challenges delivering her chosen domestic “agenda focused on housing, child poverty and climate change”.
Out of some 195 nations in the world, only around 17 have heads of government who are women. Well under 10%.
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Jacinda Arden’s legacy as New Zealand PM
Ms Ardern was only the second female head of government, after the late Benazir Bhutto, to give birth while in office. At her joint appearance with Prime Minister Marin, Ms Ardern accepted that they had responsibility as female leaders to women facing “dire circumstances” in countries such as Iran, and that they stood “to make sure every woman and girl all across the world will have the same rights and the same opportunities as men”.
This is still not even the case in the Westminster parliament. Noting that only one in four Conservative MPs are women, Baroness Jenkin dismissed Boris Johnson’s boasted goal of 50:50 as “fine words but very little actual engagement”.
Encountering sexism in parliament
Ms Ardern will be missed by the Council of World Women Leaders since she was its most prominent member following the retirement of Angela Merkel. Like her counterpart in Australia, she encountered sexism in parliament from her opponents; unlike Julia Gillard, she did not need to make a celebrated speech attacking misogyny.
Instead, she apologised for branding the leader of ACT NZ “an arrogant prick” after he asked, “Can the prime minister give us an example of making a mistake, apologising for it properly and fixing it?”.
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Ardern shoots down gender question
Ms Ardern’s qualities as a political leader are not unique to women, although they are most often found there. The same goes for the modesty with which she retreated from office: “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.”
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In political terms, Ms Ardern could be described as something similar to a “Blairite”. In the Noughties, she even worked on his government’s policies in the Cabinet office in London. She never met Tony Blair then. When she did a few years later she challenged him over the invasion of Iraq.
Ms Ardern hopes to live to see New Zealand become a republic, but she attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II with her partner and their daughter, wearing a Maori cape.
Perhaps Jacinda Ardern will return to politics in a few years’ time, perhaps she will be offered some international office, perhaps she will not. Either way, she’s sure of a lasting place as a star in the political firmament. She may well have written her own epitaph already: “Someone who always tried to be kind”.
Jordan Bardella has had a makeover.
Like many in the new generation of right-wing European politicians, he has a neat haircut and sharply cut suits – now add to that glasses and some light stubble.
It’s all designed to achieve two things: clean up a historically toxic and racist far-right brand, and disguise his youth.
Bardella is only 30 years old, he has little life-experience outside politics, but he will be the next president of France in 2027 if new polls hold up.
The rebrand is working. For the first time this week, French polling company Odoxa predicted Bardella would win the presidency whatever his competition.
Bardella has a strong social media presence – 1.2 million followers on Instagram, 2.2 million on TikTok. It’s attracting a youth following who identify with this young pretender.
Bardella attracts plenty of fans wherever he goes
“We find that he thinks about us, about future generations, and that he’s trying to improve things for us,” a young girl told us as she waited for Bardella to arrive at the latest stop on his national book tour.
“We really feel like he’s there for us.”
“Everything he says is really good,” her friend added. “He’s got a bit of humour as well.”
Neither are yet old enough to vote. They will be by the time the next elections come around, though.
There are plenty of youngsters drawn to Bardella’s campaign
A platform for the presidency
Bardella’s new book, What The French People Want, is his snapshot of France today – told through the eyes of 21 ordinary French people, presumably carefully selected.
The collection of short stories paints a picture of a country that has drifted from its national identity. It is Bardella’s platform to campaign for the presidency in 2027.
We spent the day with him on his book tour (campaign launch) in the town of Vesoul in eastern France. It’s classic new National Rally territory.
The town has voted for the right-wing party in the last two elections, and its MP is another 30-something in the mould of Bardella.
“Sh*t, the enemy,” one person remarked when they overheard us speaking English. “Were you at the battle of Waterloo?”
Bardella’s book release comes less than two years before the presidential election, due in spring 2027
The reception Bardella got, especially among the young, was hysterical. For well over an hour as the rain started to fall, he was surrounded by a crowd shouting his name and barging their way into his line of vision for a valuable selfie.
Bardella took his time, flashing his smile for hundreds of photos, savvy enough to know that each one posted on Instagram or Facebook is free advertising for his campaign.
But not everyone’s a fan…
Vesoul is friendly ground for Bardella, but National Rally remains a toxic brand in many people’s eyes. Plenty of French do not want to see him become their next president.
As the light faded and Bardella moved from one market stall to another at the town’s annual fair he was suddenly attacked by a local schoolboy who threw flour at him.
Bardella was bundled into a nearby gazebo and quickly surrounded by advisers and security.
His assailant, a 17-year-old, was arrested and taken away by police who had otherwise been standing to one side as the circus rolled through.
Not everyone’s a fan of the young pretender
Bardella’s smart blue raincoat was now covered in white dust. The atmosphere turned as cold as the late November evening.
His security tried to stop us filming, flashing lights into our camera and physically threatening us as they escorted their man away through the now largely deserted market stalls.
“Next time I’ll beat you,” one of them shouted, wielding an umbrella.
Bardella’s social media channels would later make no reference to the incident. Follow him and watch them, and you would never know anything happened.
A short time later, cleaned up and in a change of clothes, Bardella was smiling again and posing for more selfies at a hotel in the town centre.
Has France had enough of ‘experts’?
Outside, hundreds waited in the cold and drizzle to get their copies of his book signed. The image of long queues around France is one that his social media team has pounced on.
Bardella has little to no experience outside of politics, having joined National Rally as a 16-year-old and dropping out of university. His youth and lack of another career is a criticism he dismisses with a well-rehearsed answer when I spoke to him between signings in a rare interview.
Bardella voting in last year’s snap parliamentary elections, which have caused chaos in French politics. Pic: Reuters
“That’s an argument I hear often from my political opponents, but only when it suits them,” he says.
“When the mayor of New York is elected at 34, the left applauds. When Gabriel Attal becomes prime minister at 33, the right applauds.
“I don’t believe age is any guarantee of effectiveness. For 30 years, our country has been led by people we were told were experts: people from elite schools, people presented to us as the brightest minds in finance. We can’t exactly say the results have been outstanding.”
Detoxifying the brand
He, and the party, have tried to distance themselves from the openly antisemitic and racist views of its founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Le Pen’s daughter, Marine, remains the party matriarch but is banned from running for office after being found guilty of embezzling funds earlier this year. She will appeal but if she loses Bardella is her chosen successor.
Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella. Pic: AP
Bardella has visited the Holocaust memorial of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and severed links with the extremist AfD in Germany. But he stills holds what many would regard as extreme views on immigration, classifying it as “a major emergency” and vowing to abolish “droit du sol” – the automatic birthright to French citizenship.
“All European countries, including the United Kingdom, are realising that immigration poses a threat to the major balances of society and to European societies as a whole, because it creates tensions, fuels insecurity, disrupts our identity, and places an economic and social burden on public finances,” he says.
Backing for Farage
I put to Bardella the prospect that in a few years, he could be president of France and Nigel Farage could be prime minister of the UK – two of Europe’s biggest powers led by far-right leaders.
“I have a lot of respect for Nigel Farage, for his fighting spirit,” Bardella replied.
“I think he’s extremely solid. He has never wavered in his determination to defend the interests of the British people first, and I truly wish for the UK that he becomes prime minister.
“That’s a personal view, I’m not trying to interfere.”
Reform’s Nigel Farage – if you believe the polls, Britain’s likely next prime minister. Pic: PA
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Bardella has stopped short of proposing a “Frexit” but his views on the EU are clear, and Paris’s relationship with Brussels will undoubtedly change if he enters the Elysee Palace.
“Every time the European Union gets involved in something, it turns into a disaster,” he says.
“We handed agriculture over to the EU, it was a disaster. We handed energy over to the EU, companies are shutting down in France because energy prices and EU pricing rules have soared, especially since the start of the war in Ukraine. We entrusted immigration policy to the EU, again it was a disaster.”
He sees the UK as a major player in his vision for a reshaped Europe: “It is a great country, historically and geographically. I believe that in a Europe of nations, the UK would find a new role.”
And he is pro-Ukraine, telling me “a peace agreement cannot be made on Russia’s terms, because I do not underestimate, and no one should underestimate, President (Vladimir) Putin‘s intentions and ambitions”.
Bardella is capitalising on the dysfunction and deep unpopularity of Emmanuel Macron‘s administration. Four prime ministers in a little over a year have left the French public frustrated and disillusioned with the current leadership.
The country’s debt to GDP ratio is reaching crisis levels.
Bardella certainly presents something different and the French public, however sceptical, might just be fed up enough with the current generation of politicians to take a punt on him in 18 months’ time.
Israeli forces killed two Palestinian men in the West Bank after they appeared to be surrendering.
Palestinians said the killings, which were captured on video and shown on two Arab TV channels, were carried out “in cold blood”.
In the video, the men were seen exiting a building and lying on the ground in front of Israeli forces in the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
Both men lifted their T-shirts and held their hands in the air, apparently to show they were not carrying weapons or explosives.
The soldiers then appeared to order the men back inside the building before they were shot.
A Reuters journalist in the area saw the men leave the building, appearing to surrender, and later, after hearing shots fired, saw Israeli forces standing near what appeared to be a lifeless body.
The men were identified as al Muntasir Abdullah, 26, and Yousef Asasa, 37, by Palestinian authorities.
Footage of the incident has been broadcast on Arab TV channels
What has Israel said about the incident?
A joint statement between the Israeli Defence Forces and Israeli police said: “Earlier this evening (Thursday), during an Israel Border Police and IDF operation in the area of Jenin, the forces operated to apprehend wanted individuals who had carried out terror activities, including hurling explosives and firing at security forces.
“The wanted individuals were affiliated with a terror network in the area of Jenin.
“The forces entered the area, enclosed the structure in which the suspects were located, and initiated a surrender procedure that lasted several hours. Following the use of engineering tools on the structure, the two suspects exited.
“Following their exit, fire was directed toward the suspects.
“The incident is under review by the commanders on the ground, and will be transferred to the relevant professional bodies.”
Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the military and police unit involved in the shooting had his “full backing”.
“The fighters acted exactly as expected of them – terrorists should die!” he wrote on X.
A Reuters journalist captured images from near the scene. Pic: Reuters
‘An outright extrajudicial killing’
But Palestinians and human rights groups say Israeli investigations in such incidents yield few results, with Israeli troops rarely prosecuted.
The Palestinian prime minister’s office in Ramallah also accused Israel of executing the men “in cold blood”, calling the shooting “an outright extrajudicial killing in blatant violation of international humanitarian law”.
Yuli Novak, the executive director of B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation, said: “The execution documented today is the result of an accelerated process of dehumanisation of Palestinians and the complete abandonment of their lives by the Israeli regime.
“In Israel, there is no mechanism that acts to stop the killing of Palestinians or is capable of prosecuting those responsible.”
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Israel’s military has scaled up its military operations in the West Bank since the October 7 Hamas attack, which triggered the war in Gaza.
Since October 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to B’Tselem, which said the perpetrators were “granted full impunity by Israel”.
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