Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says Labour 'needs to finish the job'

“Our country needs them to finish the job.”

That was the message from the former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in her appeal to voters to back Labour.

“It’s been a while!” Ardern said at the start of her Facebook live post.

Some may have noticed her absence during the election campaign.

That’s partly due to the fact that Ardern is in the United States on a teaching fellowship at Harvard University.

In her video and through the familiar beaming smile, Ardern acknowledges her deliberate non-involvement in the political sphere but says she still has a very staunch opinion.

“You voted for me in 2017 and thank you for that, but that probably meant you were also voting for issues like poverty and climate change, inequality, and housing.

"The Labour Party has had two terms in office, long enough to make progress not long enough to finish the job. And our country needs them to finish the job."