Jacinda Ardern signs book deal, saying it will be about leadership

The former New Zealand prime minister unexpectedly retired from politics in January

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is set to write a book about leadership. AFP

New Zealand's former prime minister Jacinda Ardern is writing a book on leadership that would have inspired her "14-year-old self".

Ardern made the announcement on Instagram on Thursday, saying she didn’t want to write a book about her time in politics. Instead, she wanted it to be a book about how "you can be your own kind of leader and still make a difference".

"I didn’t want to write a book that hauled over the internal politics of the last five years, and then someone convinced me that I didn’t have to," she said. "It’s the kind of book that would have made a difference to my 14-year-old self."

Ardern, who turns 43 next month, unexpectedly retired from politics in January after five tumultuous years, saying she no longer had "enough in the tank" to continue.

During her time in office, she won widespread acclaim overseas, although she became increasingly unpopular at home.

Her term included managing the responses to a right-wing terror attack in Christchurch, a deadly volcanic eruption and the Covid-19 pandemic, which shuttered New Zealand's borders for two years.

Ardern was the youngest female leader in history when she took office in 2017 at the age of 37. In 2018, she became only the second world leader to give birth while holding office. Later that year, she brought her infant daughter to the floor of the UN General Assembly in New York.

In her shock resignation speech in January, she alluded to the struggles of managing parenthood and leadership. She told her daughter Neve that she was looking forward to being there when she started school and her partner Clarke Gayford that it was time they got married.

Ardern, who has more than 1.7 million followers on Instagram, is due to take up dual fellowships at Harvard University later this year.

She has also taken on an unpaid role combating online extremism.

This month, Ardern received one of New Zealand's highest honours for her service leading the country through a mass shooting and pandemic. She was made a Dame Grand Companion, meaning people will now call her Dame Jacinda.

There is currently no set release date for her book.

Agencies contributed to this report