Chris Hipkins sworn in as the new Prime Minister of New Zealand
As someone who showed his willingness to partake in multiple roles, Hipinks has served in Ardern's cabinet as Minister of Education in 2017.
Chris Hipkins - FB
The start of January was marked with shock as the well-known and loved Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation. First sworn into office as Prime Minister in 2017, with her abilities and fame, Ardern was sworn in for a second term in 2020 and was well-known for enforcing extremely good quarantine rules during the COVID-19 pandemic that helped New Zealand steer clear from high infection rates for a long time.
However, on 18th January 2023, just months away from the upcoming election which is to be hosted in October of 2023, Ardern announced her resignation, stating that she no longer holds the capacity to carry on her role as Prime Minister of the country.
‘Leading a country is the most privileged job anyone could ever have, but also the most challenging. You cannot and should not do the job unless you have a full tank, plus a bit in reserve for those unplanned and unexpected challenges’
Following this resignation, on 25th January 2023, labour leader Chris Hipkins was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of New Zealand in an official ceremony hosted to mark this event.
What do we know about the new Prime Minister of New Zealand?
While Jacinda Ardern marked her reputation on an international scale, becoming renowned by the time she resigned, it may now be time to learn about the new and upcoming Prime Minister of New Zealand - Chris Hipkins.
While Ardern may be popularly named for the management of the COVID-19 measures and implementation that managed the pandemic rates in 2020, one of the real heroes behind the story is 44-year-old Chris Hipkins, who was charged with designing and implementing the rules that made headlines as New Zealand had a shockingly low rate of infections while the rest of the world was trying to manage thousands of COVID-19 cases.
This is definitely a strong point for Hipkins, who hopes that New Zealanders look on to the management of COVID-19 in the country as an accomplishment, even in the future.
Hipkins was born to parents he describes as humble people who worked hard for the life they created, a mother who was a teacher turned into an educational researcher at the New Zealand council. The interest in a political career started early for Hipkins who majored in politics and criminology at Victoria University of Wellington, where he also served two terms as the president of the University’s student association.
The real move towards his political career started when he worked as a policy advisor for two Labour Education Ministers, later joining a class of first-term lawmakers alongside the former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
As someone who showed his willingness to partake in multiple roles, Hipinks has served in Ardern's cabinet as Minister of Education in 2017, making a strong case for public education and strongly voicing his opinion on the need to abolish charter schools. Additionally, Hipkins has also served as the Minister of State Service from 2017- 2020 and Minister of Ministerial Services from 2017-2020.
