Chris Hipkins Sworn in as New Zealand Prime Minister

This development comes 5 days after outgoing PM  Jacinda Ardern on Thursday, 19 January, announced that she will step down as the top official in February.

Speaking to reporters in Napier, a visibly emotional Ardern had said that she ‘no longer had enough in the tank’, and announced the country’s next general elections for 14 October.

Ardern’s political camp, the Labour Party had won a landslide electoral victory two years ago, but as per latest local polls, the party is behind its conservative rivals.