If there was one superstar to emerge during the pandemic — besides of course our queen Dolly Parton — it has been New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Arden.
First elected in 2017 as a member of the Labour Party, she has garnered international attention for being one of the many women in positions of political power with a progressive message. Her political views and style of leadership, filled with positivity and empathy, have served as the opposition to political strongmen such as Donald Trump. Arden, who was the youngest individual to become New Zealand’s Prime Minister in the last century, has represented a generation of young women in politics who have been fighting to have their voices heard and gained considerable traction.
So, the question is what has made her such an effective leader? Arden has been praised the world over for her leadership during crises and in the wake of national tragedies. Her ability to unite the people of New Zealand in March of 2019 following the Christchurch shootings where 51 people were fatally shot and 49 injured in two mosques was unequivocal. Not only did she make it clear the extremist views of these terrorists had no place in New Zealand, but just one month after the shootings her government in April 2019 passed a law that bans most semiautomatic weapons and assault rifles. She has been an agent of real change in her country, unlike others which continue to suffer from lax gun laws and weak leadership that refuses to strengthen these laws.
More recently, her handling of the country’s COVID-19 response throughout the pandemic had gained her well-due praise. She has been an avid believer in the strength of open public communications, using both press conferences and social media regularly to keep the public informed on the directions the country was taking and why. The results speak for themselves, with New Zealand having incredibly low case numbers to the point where life has been able to turn somewhat back to normal.
Her political abilities have continuously won her favour among her constituents, which was evident in the 2020 general election where she won in a landslide victory and helped her party win an overall majority of 65 seats in the 120-seat House of Representatives. Her concern and prioritization for women’s rights have also been made very clear, particularly with New Zealand’s recent approval of paid leave following miscarriages. This makes her a trailblazer in feminist politics and sets her as the perfect example for how government policies should be run.
As a political science major, I can speak to the role of Arden being a beacon of hope for many young women who want to see themselves represented in national leadership. She has pushed for progressive change, including on topics such as increasing minimum wage, climate change policy, legalizing marijuana, and increasing paid parental leave. She has rightfully become one of the faces of progressive politics in the international sphere and has been incredibly influential, faithfully representing the will of the people with empathy and humility.