In New Zealand, Chris Hipkins is the next prime minister after the sudden resignation of Jacinda Adern

Former New Zealand COVID-19 official Chris Hepkins, 44, has been nominated by Labor MPs to replace Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, Labor announced Friday, January 20, in a press release.

His party leadership still has to formally nominate Mr Hipkins on Sunday before he becomes the 41st member^H Prime Minister of his country, after Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation Thursday. The new prime minister will be responsible for leading his party into the general elections in October, for which he is not the candidate, according to the polls.

Mr Hipkins’ work at the helm of the ministry responsible for developing the response to the pandemic has been welcomed in a country that closed its borders in order to reduce the risk of infection, only reopening them last August. Considered experienced, with more than fourteen years in Parliament, he admitted last year that people were tired of strict health restrictions, describing border closures as “Difficult”. Minister of the Interior since last June, he previously held the portfolios of education and public services.

M^I Ardern, 42, resigned on Thursday, saying he did not have “Not enough energy” To continue to rule after five and a half years in power. During her tenure, she faced the Covid-19 pandemic, a deadly volcanic eruption and the country’s worst ever attack, the killing of 51 Muslim worshipers at two Christchurch mosques by a white supremacist in 2019.