Jacinda Ardern: A Face of Resilience throughout a Crisis-Ridden Tenure

"This has been a really tough time for New Zealand — we've had a terrorist attack, a natural disaster, and a global pandemic," she said.

"But in these tough times we've seen the best of us. We've been able to clear high hurdles and face huge challenges because of who we are, and because we had a plan."

Indications so far point to Jacinda Ardern winning a second term as New Zealand's Prime Minister which she has dubbed the "Covid election".

Labour is sitting at around 46 percent in opinion polls, 15 points ahead of the main opposition National Party.

Her personal rating as preferred prime minister is 55 percent, 32 points ahead of National's Judith Collins, although well off the record 62 percent she recorded in July.

'Jacinda-mania'

Ardern grew up in the North Island hinterland, where her father was a police officer. She credits the poverty she saw there with shaping her beliefs.

The New Zealand Prime Minister was raised as a Mormon but Ardern left the faith in her 20s due to its stance against homosexuality.

Read also: Sexual, Gender Minorities Four Times as Likely to be Victims of Violent Crimes

After completing a communications degree, Ardern began her political career in former prime minister Helen Clark's office before heading to Britain to work as a policy adviser in Tony Blair's government.

She was elected to parliament in 2008 and in March 2017 became Labour's deputy leader, saying at the time that she was not ambitious and saw herself as a backroom staffer.

Ardern transformed from self-described "policy nerd" to prime minister on a wave of "Jacinda-mania" after being thrust into the Labour leadership just seven weeks before the 2017 election.

Read also: Jacinda Ardern a Clear Favorite in Upcoming New Zealand General Election

She made headlines again a year later when she became only the second prime minister in the world to give birth while in office — after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto in 1990.

After Christchurch she again offered comfort to the nation, when the White Island (also known as Whakaari) volcano erupted last December, killing 21 people and leaving dozens more with horrific burns.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has constantly urged New Zealanders during the coronavirus crisis to "be kind", appealing for a unified approach from what she terms a "team of five million".

Life within New Zealand has largely returned to normal after a strict lockdown earlier this year, barring a brief outbreak in Auckland that has now been contained.

(Writer: Neil Sands)

Source: http://u.afp.com/3r78