Chris Hipkins to be next New Zealand Prime Minister

Wellington: New Zealand’s Education Minister Chris Hipkins will be the next Prime Minister of the country. Hipkins, 44, is the only candidate in the race to replace current Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

However, Hipkins will have to win the support of his Labour colleagues in Parliament on Sunday to become prime minister and this is just a formality.

Earlier, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that she was resigning and the country will hold general elections in October. With tears in her eyes, Ardern told reporters in Napier that February 7 would be her last day as prime minister.