Roan 5293
The deputy PM has (IIRC) been defeated twice to be nominated as leader for his party.. He is gay, which is not seen as beneficial in political circles and, to use a rugby metaphor, it’s a hospital pass.*
Though I’m not a fan of Jacinta, she has steered NZ though a volcanic eruption (White Island), a Muslim terrorist attack and this pandemonium pandemic in ways that, frankly, no other NZ pollie would’ve managed any better.
She knows she couldn’t stay in power and quitting now will allow her to step, unblemished, into some UN type position in a year or two.
* 1. sport
a pass made to a team-mate who will be tackled heavily as soon as the ball is received
2. a task or project that will inevitably bring heavy criticism on the person to whom it has been assigned
On a different note…Have you ever visited NZ