Jacinda Ardern announces she will RESIGN as prime minister of New Zealand

Jacinda Ardern has announced plans to stand down no later than early February.

The New Zealand Prime Minister made the announcement in a televised speech to the nation.

Ardern said she still believed New Zealand Labor would win the upcoming election, due this year.

Her resignation comes into effect on Sunday if the party can elect her replacement.

She said in the speech: “I am human. Politicians are human. We give all we can for as long as we can - and then it’s time.

“And for me, it’s time. I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice.”

She resigns at just 42, just over five years after becoming leader on October 26, 2017.

Ardern made waves by becoming New Zealand’s youngest ever PM.