NEW ZEALAND: CHRIS HIPKINS SET TO REPLACE JACINDA ARDERN

Sat 21 January 2023:

Chris Hipkins, the country’s minister of police and education, won the election to lead the ruling Labour Party and will succeed Jacinda Ardern as prime minister.

Following Ardern’s unexpected resignation, the senior politician must now receive the formal support of Labour lawmakers in order to become the nation’s 41st prime minister on Sunday.

Senior party member Duncan Webb said in a statement on Saturday, that “the Labour Party caucus will meet at 1pm [00:00 GMT] on Sunday to endorse the nomination and confirm Chris Hipkins as Party Leader,”

The 44-year-old Hipkins, who was first elected to parliament for the Labour Party in 2008, rose to fame after being named minister for COVID-19 in November 2020 and leading the government’s response to the pandemic.

In the general election on October 14, Hipkins, who is presently the leader of the House of Representatives and the minister for public safety, education, and services, will head his party’s difficult campaign. Opponents of Labour have criticized the party over rising costs, poverty, and crime rates, and the party is trailing in polls.

There was no immediate reaction from the country’s main opposition National Party to Hipkins’s nomination.

A Horizon Research snap poll obtained by local media organisation Stuff on Friday showed that Hipkins was the most popular potential candidate among voters, with the backing of 26 percent of those surveyed.

Based on data collected prior to Ardern’s resignation announcement, a Taxpayers’ Union-Curia survey issued on Friday revealed a decline in support for Labour to 31.7 percent, with 37.2 percent of respondents siding with the National Party.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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