|
Lockdown Tsar Chris Hipkins to Become Next New Zealand Prime Minister
[Breitbart] Education Minister Chris Hipkins is set to become New Zealand’s next prime minister after he was the only candidate to enter the contest Saturday to replace Jacinda Ardern.Hipkins, 44, must still garner an endorsement Sunday from his Labour Party colleagues, but that is just a formality now. An official transfer of power will come in the days to follow. Ardern shocked the nation of 5 million people on Thursday when she announced she was resigning after five-and-a-half years in the top role. The lack of other candidates indicated party lawmakers had rallied behind Hipkins to avoid a drawn-out contest and any sign of disunity following Ardern’s departure. Hipkins will have only a little more than eight months in the role before contesting a general election. Opinion polls have indicated that Labour is trailing its main opponent, the conservative National Party. Hipkins rose to public prominence during the coronavirus pandemic, when he took on a kind of crisis management role. But he and other liberals have long been in the shadow of Ardern, who became a global icon of the left and exemplified a new style of leadership. Related: Jacinda Ardern: 2023-01-19 Jacinda Ardern shocks the world and RESIGNS as New Zealand Prime Minister: Says she's got 'nothing left in the tank' and tells her fiancé Clarke 'let's finally get married' Jacinda Ardern: 2022-10-29 New Zealand PM's Plane Breaks Down in Cold ‐ as She Studies Climate Change Jacinda Ardern: 2022-10-20 'Fart tax my a**e': Farmers hit the streets across New Zealand to protest Jacinda Ardern's 'burp and fart' animal tax aimed at tackling climate change Posted by: Skidmark 2023-01-22 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=656418 |