Jacinda Ardern lets the side down

Angela Merkel cried.
I wouldn't exactly call her emotional though.

What's wrong with crying?

she hasn't let me down, she is a good, strong woman
all the best to her

No johnson didnt cry. He lied a lot though.
Also when he was booted out he stamped his feet like a toddler via his speech in parliament.

Mr Johnson's last speech

When a man's an empty kettle
He should be on his mettle
And yet I'm torn apart
Just because I'm presumin'
That I could be kind of human
If I only had a heart
I'd be tender, I'd be gentle
And awful sentimental
Regarding love and art
I'd be friends with the sparrows
And the boy that shoots the arrows
If I only had a heart
Picture me a balcony
Above a voice sings low
Wherefore art thou, Romeo?
I hear a beat, how sweet!
Just to register emotion, jealousy, devotion
And really feel the part
I could stay young and chipper
And I'd lock it with a zipper
If I only had a heart

It’s inspiring to see a politician who isn’t trying to cling on to power come hell or high water.

I think those who do, regardless of competence or any mature consideration of their effectiveness, are letting down their country.

volver

Aha, my exaggeration thread did the trick!!

Staying on when she was not able to give 100% would be letting the side down

Oops, I should have said 99.9%

No Johnson didn't cry, but then he didn't show much empathy, integrity or humanity either.

Kadinsky I think you are just hoping for an outraged response - 'fraid I'm not playing that game.

Kandinsky

Theresa May cried.

Margaret Thatcher cried.

Point proven.
Maybe women are too emotional for politics.
Did Boris cry when he was booted out?

You’re a man, aren’t you Kandinsky? No woman except a subservient one would say something so sexist.

Male politicians have cried in public.

Did Jacinda cry?
She was emotional but I didn't see tears.

Jacinda Ardern hasn’t let the side down, she has jumped before she was pushed. A sensible decision. She’s no longer very popular here in New Zealand because of the damage brought on to the economy during the extremely long and and often viewed as harsh, lockdown. Many, many businesses have gone to the wall without the tourist trade. It’s possible that New Zealanders don’t realise that the tourist trade would have stopped anyway because of the lockdowns elsewhere. Also the health service is struggling here just as much as in the UK. People pay to visit a GP, between from £25 up to £60/70 per visit. They then pay for their drugs, and GPs are not allowed to prescribe all drugs as they see fit, only the one or two that the state agrees to. When there are a certain number of people on a waiting list the list is closed. You can’t even get on the list. Anyone who can afford it pays for private insurance. This information came from my GP daughter who is working on New Zealand at the moment. The country is generally fed up with Jacinda and a Nationalist government is predicted at the next election. There is also rampant inflation, yesterday it was reported that fruit and vegetable inflation is running at 30%. It’s easy to see things through rose coloured specs from the other side of the world. I’m in New Zealand now and have been for the last couple of months. I’m looking forward to going home in a couple of weeks though.

varian

I 've read the comments pn this thread and I do wonder, why do right wing people have to be so mean spirited.?

... I remember Margaret Thatcher shedding tears when she left Downing Street for the last time.

I didn't like her or her politics, but in that moment, I did feel a little sympathy for her. Why? I think because she genuinely believed in her ideology, and it must have hurt a bit to be ousted.

If you can't be magnanimous to your 'enemy' in their defeat, I think it's a poor show.

I'd imagine that some of the online bile and hatred directed at Jacinda Adern might have had something to do with her decision, and as the mother of a young daughter she might feel it's not a healthy environment for either of them - nor her husband.

However, being mean-spirited is not the preserve of the right-wing... there were some pretty nasty comments made about Thatcher when she died...

"World leader"? I don't think she ever regarded that as her remit. Prime Minister of a country with a small population – yes – and in my opinion she made a pretty good job of it. "Maybe women are too emotional for politics"? Oh for goodness sake, this is the twenty-first century. I thought that old chestnut was dead and buried except in the USA.

Kandinsky

Theresa May cried.

Margaret Thatcher cried.

Point proven.
Maybe women are too emotional for politics.
Did Boris cry when he was booted out?

Boris did something far more damaging to our political life - he plotted his revenge and return, unable to accept that he was at fault and not everyone else. He was also one of the conspirators determined to oust Theresa May.

If they can't accept defeat, maybe men are too unstable for politics? Donald Trump is another one whose ego is so large he can't accept that he is not the popular icon he believes himself to be.

There is nothing wrong with being genuinely sad at leaving a post that has for months / years taken over your whole life because of a cause you believe in. Thatcher may have cried - but she was not called the Iron Lady without reason.

... and George Osborne cried at her funeral and admitted he felt "very emotional". Maybe he's too emotional for politics?

I don't think your point is proven at all.

Dickens I didn't like her or her politics, but in that moment, I did feel a little sympathy for her. Why? I think because she genuinely believed in her ideology, and it must have hurt a bit to be ousted.
I can remember shedding tears. I too was absolutely not a Margaret Thatcher fan, but I do believe she genuinely believed in her political view, and I don't think she was evil. I have watched many Charlie Mackesy (who I adore!) videos, and the one where he and his friends encounter Margaret Thatcher is quite revealing. I fail to see how anyone with true empathy cannot be moved by genuine emotion and grief. You don't have to share any views, ideology etc with the individual but just empathise with someone in an extreme emotional and therefore vulnerable state.

Interesting post there from your angle maddyone as an onlooker, and your daughter working in NZ. My NZ family say the same thing.

Maybe Jacinda wants to distance herself from Harry & Meghan after all the Netflix debacle involving her. Or even worse, she would risk having a break down if they asked her to move there. Joke!!

It’s easy to see things through rose coloured specs from the other side of the world

I agree, Maddyone and, from reports we heard from NZ, many people were not at all happy with the way she handled the Covid crisis.
The furlough scheme was not generous, extreme lockdowns even on businesses and travel meant some were lost or barely survived.
The one we know about personally was not connected to the tourist trade and has just about survived, thankfully.

It seems she was more popular in the UK than at home!

Surely it's better to be honest with at least some of your emotions, Kandinsky, than to do the bottling-it-all-up he-man bit? The human race has suffered enough throughout history from the he-man type - no tender emotions, but let's just get out and kill an enemy, and if we haven't got an obvious enemy, we'll make one. I don't think a more equal balance between men and women in politics, including as leaders, would go amiss.

It seems she was more popular in the UK than at home!

🎶The other man’s grass is always greener . . .

Dickens

Kandinsky

Theresa May cried.

Margaret Thatcher cried.

Point proven.
Maybe women are too emotional for politics.
Did Boris cry when he was booted out?

Boris did something far more damaging to our political life - he plotted his revenge and return, unable to accept that he was at fault and not everyone else. He was also one of the conspirators determined to oust Theresa May.

If they can't accept defeat, maybe men are too unstable for politics? Donald Trump is another one whose ego is so large he can't accept that he is not the popular icon he believes himself to be.

There is nothing wrong with being genuinely sad at leaving a post that has for months / years taken over your whole life because of a cause you believe in. Thatcher may have cried - but she was not called the Iron Lady without reason.

... and George Osborne cried at her funeral and admitted he felt "very emotional". Maybe he's too emotional for politics?

I don't think your point is proven at all.

and none of the above had had a baby recently, with all the inevitable hormonal changes and sleepless nights either.

One of my relatives was at Jeremy Hunt's mum's funeral- he was very emotional too.

Jacinda's "baby" is nearly five years old.

I live in NZ. She has coped with a lot of unjustified and at times deranged criticism in the last couple of years. As has her partner “first dude” Clark Gayford. Some truly mad accusations. Also many death threats and deep misogyny And JA has consistently taken the high ground, ignoring the rubbish and keeping her calm. She has been an excellent PM, very consistent and calm. And she is very sharp and decisive. Yep, there are those who are unimpressed, mainly those who are afraid of equity, want to protect their own power at any cost and have a traditional kiwi dislike of tall poppies. Because JA is a tall poppy and was even as a very young politician. For many kiwi men, their dislike of her is based on not liking being told what to do by a woman.
I imagine she’s had enough. She has publicly said that she wants to be at home for her daughter who is about to start school and she wants to get married to Clark. She may well want another child.
In terms of re-election, losing the election in October is not inevitable. Sure, there won’t be another landslide but she definitely has a fighting chance. The leader of the opposition is a self satisfied clown and another white middle aged man. With predictably traditional views. He used to be the CEO of AirNZ and considers himself the bees knees. JA has taken him to pieces more than once in debate.
I think one of the reasons for stepping down now is to give the Labour Party a decent shot at replacing her and building credibility with a new leader before the election.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with crying, but getting all emotional when you’re just handing your notice in is a bit ridiculous imo.
But from what I’ve read her popularity had plummeted so maybe that’s what she was emotionally about.

And no, I’m not a man

How do we know what is behind it- and why that made her particularly emotional. Illness for her of anyone close, problem with toddler, whatever- we just don't know.