NEW DELHI (TIP): New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who became a global icon of the left after being elected the world’s youngest female head of state five and a half years ago, on Thursday, January 19,  announced her decision to quit her job due to vicious attacks and dwindling prospects of her party winning the next elections, according to a TNS report.

A teary-eyed Ardern said in Napier that February 7 would be her last day as PM. “I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It’s that simple,” she said.

“The pressures on PMs are always great, but in this era of social media, clickbait and 24/7 media cycles, Jacinda has faced a level of hatred and vitriol which in my experience is unprecedented in our country,” said former New Zealand PM Helen Clark in a statement. In 2018, she became the second world leader to give birth while holding office (after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto) and in September of that year, she had brought her infant daughter to the floor of the UN General Assembly in New York.

In 2019, Arden was lauded for handling the killing of 51 worshippers in two Christchurch mosques by a white supremacist. She also wanted tertiary education partially free, was focused on child poverty and decriminalized abortion besides calling out sexism in politics.

She also said the next General Election would be held on October 14 but her Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson too has said he won’t contest the leadership of the Labour Party.

Ardern’s popularity had declined due to rising living costs, growing crime and concern about social issues.