Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern used her appearance on The Graham Norton Show to again distance herself from any responsibility for the dramatic collapse in her domestic popularity — a decline many in New Zealand attribute to her own heavy-handed, lockdown-driven leadership during the COVID-19 era.

Ardern, who became known to critics as the ‘Lockdown Queen’ for overseeing some of the strictest pandemic measures in the world, appeared on the BBC programme alongside Kate Winslet, Alan Carr, Seth Meyers and Cat Burns to promote her new documentary, Prime Minister.

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Rather than acknowledging the public backlash over policies seen by many as disproportionate and damaging, she instead pointed to wider global issues for her downfall.

Norton asked Ardern directly: “What went wrong? What was the tipping point?”

GRAHAM NORTON WANTED TO KNOW WHY ARDERN BECAME SO UNPOPULAR....SHE FUDGED THE RESPONSE, SO HERE'S THE TRUTH...

Our former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has just appeared on the red couch of the Graham Norton show.

Graham tried to determine why Jacinda's stratospheric popularity… pic.twitter.com/f0amDDMEkz

— NZ and the MRNA (@HopeRising19) December 7, 2025

Ardern avoided any reference to her own controversial decisions, instead claiming politics worldwide had “shifted gears”, with public frustration turning aggressive and hostile.

“I don’t think it is just any one leader who has experienced that shift. It has shifted, and amongst all of that I do think we’re at a moment in time. I think in response to that moment in time, my plea is for people is to not give up on the prospect that politics can be better. Expect decency in politics, expect kindness in your politics. I do think we will come back to that.”

The love-in for Jacinda Ardern on The Graham Norton Show rn is a little nauseating if I’m honest. Kate Winslet fawning over her and getting the audience to applaud is especially bizarre. (Politician worship is bad no matter who the politician is fwiw). #GrahamNorton #TheGNShow

— Brian 🎄 (@BMM1882) December 5, 2025

To critics back home, this emphasis on ‘kindness’ is familiar, the same polished empathy that is more performance than substance, and which does little to address the real-world consequences of her leadership.

Ardern received gushing praise from Winslet during the show for how she handled learning she was pregnant during the 2017 coalition negotiations with NZ First. “Oh my god, she is so amazing,” Winslet said. “You are so amazing.” Ardern quipped that others might have considered it “terrible planning”.

Kate Winslet and Jacinda Ardern have two things in common.

They both appeared on the Graham Norton Show this week.

And they both know how to abandon a sinking ship. pic.twitter.com/WT8tPqq9tq

— Lawrence Hakiwai (Father/of two) (@SonofOmahu) December 7, 2025

In a separate BBC Radio 4 interview, Ardern discussed hiding her pregnancy for 20 weeks while managing “pretty bad morning sickness and nausea”, explaining she wanted to prove “you could both be a competent leader and a present mother simultaneously”.

“I am not going to lie, those first 20 weeks were hard, but they were also doable.”