Todd Muller, the leader of New Zealand’s largest opposition party, the National Party, has resigned after only two months in the job.
Muller became leader in May and held the job for only 50 days. He resigns only two months before a general election, due on 19 September.
Muller said: ‘It has become clear to me that I am not the best person to be leader of the opposition and leader of the New Zealand National Party at this critical time for New Zealand. The role has taken a heavy toll on me personally, and on my family, and this has become untenable from a health perspective.’
Muller has been criticised for his handling of a number of scandals in the party, including a recent incident in which a party MP leaked classified information on Covid-19 patients to the media.
Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, Jacinda Ardern, said: ‘No matter the side of parliament you’re sitting, politics is a difficult place. I have passed on my best wishes to Mr Muller and his family.’
In the last general election, the National Party was the single biggest party in the New Zealand Parliament, but failed to win enough support to govern alone. Ardern and Labour currently govern in coalition with New Zealand First and the Greens.
The National Party faces an uphill battle in trying to unseat Ardern, who has been praised for her assured handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in New Zealand. Her Labour Party is currently polling at 50%, which bodes well for her chances of re-election as Prime Minister in September.
Judith Collins was elected by the parliamentary party as Muller’s successor. She is the second woman to lead the party after Jenny Shipley, who was also New Zealand’s first woman Prime Minister, serving from 1997 to 1999.
[Picture: ToddMuller, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90444808]