Canberra: One question on election night will be whether Labour can win an outright majority in Parliament, something that hasn’t happened since New Zealand implemented a proportional voting system 24 years ago. Typically, parties must form alliances to govern, but this time there’s a chance Ardern and Labour will be able to go it alone.After becoming prime minister at just 37, Ardern in 2018 became only the second world leader to give birth while in office.

She famously brought her infant daughter Neve to the UN General Assembly in New York.She became a role model for working mothers around the world, many of whom saw her as a counterpoint to President Donald Trump. And she was praised for her handling of last year’s attack on two Christchurch mosques, when a white supremacist gunned down 51 Muslim worshippers.

The day after the attack, Ardern wore a hijab when meeting with survivors and later delivered a landmark speech when she declared “They are us.” She also moved quickly to pass new laws banning the deadliest types of semi-automatic weapons, and her government launched a programme to buy back and destroy more than 50,000 guns.