Chris Hipkins was confirmed Sunday (January 22, 2023) as New Zealand's next prime minister and he chose Carmel Sepuloni as his deputy, marking the first time a person with Pacific Island heritage has risen to that rank. Hipkins got the unanimous support of lawmakers from his Labour Party after he was the only candidate to enter the contest to replace Jacinda Ardern, who shocked the nation Thursday when she announced she was resigning after more than five years as leader. Hipkins will be officially sworn into his new role on Wednesday (January 25, 2023). He will have less than nine months before contesting a tough general election, with opinion polls indicating his party is trailing its conservative opposition. Read more: New Zealand's Ardern, an icon to many, to step down The lack of other candidates for leader indicated that party lawmakers had rallied behind Hipkins to avoid a drawn-out contest and any sign of disunity following Ardern’s departure. In setting out his priorities, Hipkins said he knew many families were struggling due to the “pandemic of inflation” and that the economy would be central to his government's thinking. When asked if he would take on the same transformational approach to government that Ardern had promised after first winning the top job, Hipkins indicated he wanted to get back to basics. Read more: New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern to leave office next month, sets October election “We will deliver a very solid government that is focused on the bread-and-butter issues that matter to New Zealanders, and that are relevant to the times that we are in now," Hipkins said. "2017 was five-and-a-half years ago, and quite a lot has happened since then.” Like Hipkins, Sepuloni first became a lawmaker 15 years ago and has most recently taken on the social development and employment portfolios as one of the government's top ministers. She said it was “very hard to fathom that a working-class girl” from a small New Zealand town could end up as deputy prime minister. Read More: New Zealand's Ardern has many possibilities for a second act “I want to acknowledge the significance of this for our Pacific community,” Sepuloni said. “I am proudly Samoan, Tongan, and New Zealand European, and represent generations of New Zealanders with mixed heritage." Sepuloni said she’d already been receiving lots of humbling messages about another glass ceiling being smashed. Opposition leader Christopher Luxon told reporters he’d congratulated Hipkins by text. But Luxon said Hipkins and Sepuloni had been part of a government that had “failed spectacularly” to get things done and that after the leadership change, it would be more of the same. Read More: Ardern, rival turn her hot-mic vulgarity into charity’s win

Education Minister Chris Hipkins is set to become New Zealand’s next prime minister after he was the only candidate to enter the contest Saturday (January 21, 2023) to replace Jacinda Ardern. Hipkins, 44, must still garner an endorsement Sunday from his Labour Party colleagues, but that is just a formality now. An official transfer of power will come in the days to follow. “It’s a big day for a boy from the Hutt,” Hipkins said, referring to the Hutt Valley near Wellington where he grew up. “I’m really humbled and really proud to be taking this on. It is the biggest responsibility and the biggest privilege of my life.” Ardern shocked the nation of 5 million people on Thursday when she announced she was resigning after five-and-a-half years in the top role. Also read: New Zealand's Ardern has many possibilities for a second act The lack of other candidates indicated party lawmakers had rallied behind Hipkins to avoid a drawn-out contest and any sign of disunity following Ardern’s departure. Hipkins will have only a little more than eight months in the role before contesting a general election. Opinion polls have indicated that Labour is trailing its main opponent, the conservative National Party. Hipkins rose to public prominence during the coronavirus pandemic, when he took on a kind of crisis management role. But he and other liberals have long been in the shadow of Ardern, who became a global icon of the left and exemplified a new style of leadership. Just 37 when she became leader, Ardern was praised around the world for her handling of the nation’s worst-ever mass shooting and the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also read: New Zealand's Ardern, an icon to many, to step down But she faced mounting political pressures at home and a level of vitriol from some that previous New Zealand leaders hadn’t faced. Online, she was subject to physical threats and misogynistic rants. “Our society could now usefully reflect on whether it wants to continue to tolerate the excessive polarization which is making politics an increasingly unattractive calling,” wrote former Prime Minister Helen Clark. Fighting back tears, Ardern told reporters on Thursday that she was leaving the position no later than Feb. 7. “I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple,” she said. Read More: New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern to leave office next month, sets October election Besides holding the education portfolio, Hipkins is also minister for police and the public service, and leader of the House. He is known as a political troubleshooter who has taken on a variety of roles to try to iron out problems created by other lawmakers. But he’s also committed some gaffes of his own, like when he told people during a virus lockdown that they could go outside and “spread their legs,” a comment that drew plenty of mirth on the internet. Hipkins drew a small crowd of clapping onlookers when he talked to reporters outside Parliament. He said he’d come back energized after a summer break, considered himself a hard worker and a straight shooter, and didn’t intend to lose his trademark sense of humor in his new role. He said he wouldn’t be announcing changes to policy or ministerial roles before Sunday’s vote, other than to say Grant Robertson would remain finance minister. Hipkins said he believed he could win the election and paid tribute to Ardern. Read More: Ardern, rival turn her hot-mic vulgarity into charity’s win “Jacinda Ardern has been an incredible prime minister for New Zealand,” Hipkins said. “She was the leader that we needed at the time that we needed it.” A lawmaker for 15 years, Hipkins is considered more centrist than Ardern and colleagues hope that he will appeal to a broad range of voters. Among his biggest challenges during an election year will be convincing voters that his party is managing the economy well. New Zealand’s unemployment rate is relatively low at 3.3%, but inflation is high at 7.2%. New Zealand’s Reserve Bank has hiked the benchmark interest rate to 4.25% as it tries to get inflation under control, and some economists are predicting the country will go into recession this year. Read More: Study in New Zealand: Application process, cost for international students

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday said she was confident they had halted the spread of coronavirus but it still must be prepared for more.