In-depth analysis of Jacinda Ardern's extraordinary leadership as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
In this fully updated and revised edition of the bestselling biography of Jacinda Ardern, award-winning journalist Michelle Duff gives a comprehensive overview of Ardern's life before politics, her swift rise to power - and her nearly six years as Aotearoa New Zealand's Prime Minister, a period which included a devastating terrorist attack, a deadly volcanic eruption and a global pandemic.
This updated edition includes new chapters covering the Whakaari/White Island tragedy, New Zealand's Covid-19 response, 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, as pandemic-induced tensions led to a rise in social and political polarisation in Aotearoa.
She's still widely adored on the world stage, but back home has Ardern really been the transformational leader she aspired to be, and what enduring mark might she leave on the political landscape?
This is an engrossing and powerful exploration of one of the most intriguing political stories of our time - telling us as much about one woman's ascendancy as it does about the country that elected her.
'Sincere, intent, focused, and always readable. [This] book gets to a truth, and an understanding.' Steve Braunias, Newsroom
About the Author
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.