Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has resigned after five years in office.
Ardern was elected to the position in October 2017 when Winston Peters - after weeks of procrastinating - decided NZ First would form a coalition Government with Labour.
She faced many challenges in her time as PM, with the Christchurch terror attack, the White Island eruption and the sternest test of her political career - the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ardern swept back into power in 2020 with a resounding victory, due largely to her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic but, by last year, her popularity was wavering as the country faced an economic and cost-of-living crisis.
Below is a timeline of her career:
July 26 1980 - Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern is born
1999 - Joins Labour Party as a 17-year-old
2005 - Leaves for an overseas experience trip to London and spends two years in the office of Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair
November 8 2008 - Enters New Zealand's Parliament, elected into the Labour Party as a list MP
February 25 2017 - Wins a special election for the MP seat representing Mt Albert
March 7 2017 - Labour Party elects Ardern deputy leader
August 1 2017 - Labour Party elects Ardern leader after Andrew Little resigned, sparking off what will become known as "Jacindamania"
October 19 2017 - Becomes Prime Minister after Winston Peters announces New Zealand First will support Labour in a coalition Government.
October 26 2017 - Sworn in as New Zealand's Prime Minister
January 19 2018 - Announces during her first term she is pregnant
June 21 2018 - Ardern gives birth to daughter Neve Te Aroha with partner Clarke Gayford. She takes six weeks of maternity leave, making Peters acting Prime Minister
March 15 2019 - Ardern faces her first major test as PM when terrorist Brenton Tarrant opened fire in two Chrstchirch mosques, killing 51 people and injuring another 40. Her compassion, particularly for the victims and their families, won worldwide recognition
March 18 2019 - New Zealand's gun laws are reformed by Labour as a response to the shootings
December 9 2019 - New Zealand experiences another tragedy when Whakaari/White Island erupts, killing 22 tourists and injuring another 25. Ardern's compassion for victims is once again praised
January 31 2020 - Ardern is about to face her biggest test as Prime Minister when the World Health Organization declares a new coronavirus a public health emergency
February 28 2020 - New Zealand records its first known case of coronavirus
March 19, 2020 - Ardern closes New Zealand's borders to foreign visitors due to the emerging pandemic
March 23, 2020 - Ardern makes the boldest move of her political career announcing the country will move into a level four lockdown
March 26 2020 - New Zealand effectively shuts down, one of the first countries in the world to do so. It is a strategy that is later seen as being highly successful as New Zealand eliminates COVID-19
August 17, 2020 - The upcoming election is delayed because of the pandemic
October 17, 2020 - Ardern wins a second term in office as New Zealand's Prime Minister, with Labour winning 65 seats and an outright majority
February 14 2021 - Ardern puts Auckland back into lockdown for two months after three new cases of COVID-19 are recorded in the community.
August 17 2021 - New Zealand goes back into alert level 4 lockdown after more cases are found in the community. By now Kiwis are starting to tire of lockdowns
May 13 2022 - Ardern and her daughter Neve test positive for COVID-19. Gayford tested positive the previous week
June 2022 - Ardern has an audience with US President Joe Biden. It was the first meeting a New Zealand Prime Minister has had in the White House since 2014 when Sir John Key met with then President Barack Obama.
The pair talked about a range of topics including, the Pacific, gun control and working with tech companies about extremism
November 7 2022 - A Newshub poll shows Labour's popularity is plummeting, down 5.8 points to 32.3 percent. In contrast National polled above 40 percent for the first time in a long while, up 0.2 points to 40.7 percent. It was the lowest level of support for Labour since Ardern became the leader in mid-2017
31 October 2022 - Ardern tells AM host Melissa Chan-Green she has no plans to step down
January 19 2023 - Despite quashing rumours at the end of 2022 she was about to resign, Ardern announces she is leaving the office of Prime Minister.
