As Jacinda Ardern anounces resignation, let's take a look at the highs and lows of the New Zealand PM's tenure

In 2018, Ardern won hearts and accolades as she was  photographed kissing and bouncing her then three-month-old daughter, Neve, inside the hall of the United Nations General Assembly. This was reportedly the first such appearance by a baby in the organisation's history.

"By being more open it might create a path for other women," she told CNN back then, adding "I want to normalise it."

Another monumental moment was just after the dreadful March 2019 Christchurch attacks, where the PM, in a “spontaneous gesture of respect to the Muslim community” donned a headscarf and comforted victims’ families after the shooting. The moment resonated globally. 

51 people lost their lives and 40 others were injured when a white supremacist attacked two mosques in the Christchurch attacks.

Her swift action in enacting gun law reforms and pushing social media giants to address online hate speech also earned her much respect.

Jacinda Ardern’s tenure saw New Zealand emerge victorious over coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic, which had wrought havoc across the globes, claimed just 25 lives in a population of five million.

Her prompt actions against the virus won people’s hearts, landing her a landslide victory in her re-election campaign of October 2020.

Jacinda Ardern became one of the few leaders to make a public commitment to end period poverty and decided to provide free access to sanitary products to everyone in the schools. 

"By making them freely available, we support these young people to continue learning at school," she said."We know that nearly 95,000 nine-to-eighteen year olds may stay at home during their periods due to not being able to afford period products."

Jacinda Ardern has not only taken a stand against Covid, but also climate change. Even as amid the pandemic, many countries slowed down their race against climate change, Ardern decided to impose a complete blanket ban on plastic bags. Her administration also came up with a plan to tax farmers for their emissions from 2025.

In May 2020, she also became New Zealand's most popular prime minister.

Ardern remained on the top of the list as preferred prime minister with 59.5 per cent, which is the highest score for any leader in the Reid Research poll's history.

Something that goes up is bound to come down too.

Recent days have seen Ardern’s popularity wane as she battled declining trust in government, a deteriorating economic situation, and a resurgent conservative opposition.

New Zealand goes to polls on October 14, and recent polls have put the centre-right coalition ahead of Ardern’s left-wing government.

The stress has been evident in recent months -- Ardern showed a rare lapse of poise when she was unwittingly caught on microphone calling an opposition politician an “arrogant prick”.

Two years after New Zealand’s youngest PM won her second term, a small but vocal segment of New Zealand’s population turned against her handling of the pandemic.

Across four weeks, starting in February 2021, hundreds of demonstrators occupied the lawn in front of the distinctive Beehive parliament building in the capital of Wellington.

The demonstrations soon turned into a flurry of violence, with some people ripping up paving stones and hurling them at riot squad police, who were attempting to clear the camp and building pyres in protest.

More than 100 people were eventually arrested, with Ardern later describing the situation as “incredibly difficult” and “challenging”.

"This has been the most fulfilling five and a half years of my life. But it has also had its challenges," said Ardern, on Thursday as she announced her shock resignation.

"I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple."