The race to become New Zealand’s next prime minister is wide open following Jacinda Ardern’s shock decision to resign and her obvious successor and deputy Grant Robertson confirming he will not be going for the job.
The ruling Labour Party will vote Sunday on a new leader to take it to the general election set for Oct. 14. The stakes are high for the party that has seen its popularity sink amid growing frustrations over inflation and social inequality, a reversal in fortunes after Ardern was globally lauded for steering New Zealand through the pandemic.
Several contenders from Ardern’s Cabinet have emerged, including Education Minister Chris Hipkins, Housing Minister Megan Woods, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, Justice Minister Kiritapu Allan and Immigration Minister Michael Wood.
While Hipkins has the strongest shot at clinching the job because of his prominent role overseeing the government’s pandemic response, he is no Ardern, said Bryce Edwards, a lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington.
“If Labour wants to take a chance on someone like Kiri Allan, then I think her lack of experience wouldn’t be a big problem,” Edwards said. “That would be a roll of the dice and might look like long odds, but I think she’s probably got a better chance of winning the election with Labour than Chris Hipkins at this stage.”
A candidate needs to secure two-thirds support among the Labour caucus to win the leadership. If no one has that, the vote will go to the wider party membership. It is expected that process will conclude no later than Feb. 7.
Here are the likely contenders for the leadership:
—Chris Hipkins, 44
Hipkins is seen as safe pair of hands who is regularly parachuted in to sort out difficult political situations. He currently holds the education, police and public service portfolios, as well as being Leader of the House.
The member of parliament of Remutaka, a constituency just north of capital city Wellington, Hipkins worked as a political adviser before being elected to parliament in 2008.
He has a reputation for being likable and for having a sense of humor — he lightened the nation’s mood during one of the COVID-19 lockdowns when he jumbled his words and urged New Zealanders to socially distance when they went outside to “spread their legs.”
Still, his role during the pandemic meant he often courted controversy, in particular his handling of pregnant New Zealand journalist Charlotte Bellis, who sought assistance from the Taliban in Afghanistan because she couldn’t get a spot in New Zealand’s quarantine facilities.
—Kiritapu Allan, 39
Allan entered parliament at the 2017 election and became a Cabinet minister in 2020. Despite her relative inexperience, Allan has been a strong performer and was promoted to Justice Minister last year. Should she get elected, Allan would be New Zealand’s first prime minister of Maori descent and the first openly gay leader.
Allan was born in Te Karaka near Gisborne on the East Coast of the North Island. Before entering parliament, she managed an agriculture and horticulture portfolio on the East Coast and had previously worked as a lawyer.
In 2021, she took medical leave after being diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer. In December that year, she announced she was cancer free.
—Nanaia Mahuta, 52
In 2020, Mahuta became the first woman to hold the foreign affairs portfolio in New Zealand. Mahuta, who has a traditional Maori tattoo called a moko kauae on her chin that signifies leadership, is the daughter of prominent Maori leader, the late Robert Mahuta.
Mahuta first entered parliament in 1996 aged just 26, and currently holds the portfolio of local government in addition to foreign affairs.
She has been shepherding a center-piece government initiative about reforming water infrastructure, which has proved politically troublesome. She also faced accusations of nepotism, which have not been proven and which she has denied.
Mahuta has hit back at what she called “toxic trolling,” which she last year told Television New Zealand had led to “cartoons, memes, social media posts and commentary which you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.”
—Megan Woods, 49
Woods was first elected to parliament in 2011 and became a Cabinet minister in 2017. She is currently minister for housing, building and construction, as well as energy and resources.
Before becoming a politician, Woods worked as a business manager at Plant & Food Research. She holds a Ph.D. in New Zealand history from the University of Canterbury.
—Michael Wood, 42
Wood, the member of parliament for Auckland constituency Mount Roskill, was first elected to parliament in a by-election in 2016. He is currently the minister for transport, immigration and workplace relations.
Before joining politics, Wood was involved in the Auckland City council and once had a stint as a Christmas tree salesman when he was in university.
During the three-week anti-vaccine mandate protest on parliament grounds last year that ended in violent clashes with then police, Wood said the demonstrators was “driven by a river of filth” and that lawmakers should not support an “emergent and dangerous far-right movement.”
(Tracy Withers contributed to this report.)
