Jacinda Ardern

What made Jacinda Ardern such an incredibly popular New Zealand prime minister? And why did her popularity then fall so dramatically? What happened during her leadership, and how did the unprecedented events of her tenure eventually lead to her resignation?


This in-depth analysis of Jacinda Ardern's extraordinary leadership from award-winning journalist Michelle Duff examines these questions, and much more.


Substantially revised to provide a comprehensive overview, this edition of the bestselling biography covers Ardern's rise to power and her nearly six years as Aotearoa New Zealand's prime minister, a period that included a global pandemic, a devastating terrorist attack and a deadly volcanic eruption.


Covering the turbulent time between Labour's historic landslide election victory in 2020 and Ardern's shock resignation in early 2023, Duff also looks at the increasingly misogynistic pushback experienced by Ardern. Pandemic-induced tensions led to a rise in social and political polarisation in Aotearoa, having major ramifications for Ardern's time as prime minister.


This is an engrossing and powerful exploration of one of the most intriguing political stories of our time - telling us as much about an extraordinary prime minister's ascendancy and fall as it does about the country that elected her.

Michelle Duff is a multi-award winning New Zealand journalist and author whose work has appeared in print and online media in Aotearoa and internationally. She is known for her hard-hitting coverage of social justice issues, and specialises in telling people's stories with heart and sensitivity. She has scooped up two of the country's top Voyager Media Awards in feature writing, for her work on the widening race gap in education and inequities in maternity care. She lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, with her husband and two children. This is her first book.

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