{"id":11155,"date":"2026-03-18T15:03:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T02:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=11155"},"modified":"2026-03-18T15:03:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T02:03:02","slug":"hipkins-admits-to-thoughts-of-stepping-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=11155","title":{"rendered":"Hipkins admits to thoughts of stepping down"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Labour leader Chris Hipkins returned to Wellington this week to a political storm he didn\u2019t ask for and certainly didn\u2019t welcome. Claims made online by his ex\u2011wife, Jade Paul, have triggered a wave of speculation, media scrutiny, and social\u2011media pile\u2011ons \u2014 none of which relate to criminal wrongdoing, but all of which have real\u2011world consequences for a man seeking to lead his party into an election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hipkins admitted he briefly considered stepping down as the allegations spread, saying moments like this force anyone to \u201ctake stock,\u201d especially when family is involved. But he insists he is staying put: \u201cI\u2019m passionate about my job, I\u2019m passionate about New Zealand. I\u2019m not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThis person does not work for New Zealand First nor has any affiliation or role with New Zealand First. They worked for a short period of time in an office then left amicably for another role around a year ago, Winston Peters NZ First<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The saga took another twist when online rumours suggested New Zealand First was somehow connected to Paul\u2019s comments. Winston Peters moved quickly to shut that down. In a statement on X, he called the claims \u201clies,\u201d clarifying that Paul does not work for NZ First and has no current affiliation with the party. She had previously worked for NZ First minister Casey Costello for a short period last year before moving on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peters was blunt: \u201cWe are not interested in a politician\u2019s current personal relationship issues\u2026 We have serious national and international concerns that we have to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hipkins, for his part, has refused to engage in a public back\u2011and\u2011forth with his ex\u2011wife. He says the claims are untrue, but he will not litigate his private life through the media. \u201cOur marriage broke up. It\u2019s a traumatic thing. There are always regrets,\u201d he said, urging New Zealanders to \u201ctake a big, deep breath\u201d before believing or spreading social\u2011media allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul has since deleted her original post but maintains she stands by her comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there is a lesson in all this, it may be the same one highlighted in our recent editorial: when relationships fracture, the fallout can be painful, public, and unpredictable \u2014 especially for those in leadership. Politics is brutal enough without turning private heartbreak into public spectacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Labour leader Chris Hipkins returned to Wellington this week to a political storm he didn\u2019t ask for and certainly didn\u2019t welcome. Claims made online by his ex\u2011wife, Jade Paul, have triggered a wave of speculation, media scrutiny, and social\u2011media pile\u2011ons \u2014 none of which relate to criminal wrongdoing, but all of which have real\u2011world consequences<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[226,881,113,319],"coauthors":[709],"class_list":{"0":"post-11155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-chris-hipkins","9":"tag-marriage","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-winston-peters"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11156,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11155\/revisions\/11156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11155"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=11155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}