Jacinda Ardern | Biography, Facts, & Partner | Britannica

Top Questions

How did Jacinda Ardern become famous?

The charismatic Jacinda Ardern gained fame by leading a struggling New Zealand Labour Party to a surprising victory in the 2017 parliamentary election. She earned a reputation as a rock star politician on the way to becoming New Zealands youngest prime minister in more than 150 years at age 37.

Where did Jacinda Ardern grow up?

Jacinda Ardern, the second of two daughters born to a Mormon family, spent her first years in Murupara, New Zealand, a small town known as a centre of Maori gang activity. Later, her fathera law enforcement officer who became the national governments high commissioner to Niuemoved his family to Morrinsville, southeast of Auckland.

Where did Jacinda Ardern go to school?

Jacinda Ardern received her primary and secondary education at schools in Morrinsville, southeast of Auckland on New Zealands North Island. She matriculated at the University of Waikato in Hamilton (also on North Island) in 1999, and she received a bachelor of arts degree in communication studies in 2001.

How did Jacinda Ardern influence others?

In 2019 Jacinda Ardern was called upon to lead and comfort her country after an attack on a mosque in central Christchurch and another on a mosque in suburban Linwood on March 15 resulted in the loss of at least 50 lives and injuries to about 50 other individuals.

Jacinda Ardern, in full Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern, (born July 26, 1980, Hamilton, New Zealand), New Zealand politician who in August 2017 became leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and then in October 2017, at age 37, became the countrys youngest prime minister in more than 150 years.

The second of two daughters born to a Mormon family, Ardern spent her first years in Murupara, a small town best known as a centre of Mori gang activity, where seeing children without shoes on their feet or anything to eat for lunch inspired her to eventually enter politics. Her fathera career law-enforcement officer who later (2014) became the New Zealand governments high commissioner to the island of Niuemoved his family to Morrinsville, southeast of Auckland on New Zealands North Island, where Ardern attended primary and secondary school. She matriculated to the University of Waikato in 1999.

Even before earning a bachelors degree in Communication Studies (2001), Ardern began her association with the Labour Party. In 1999, at age 17, she joined the party and, with the help of an aunt, became involved in the reelection campaign of Harry Duynhoven, a Labour member of parliament (MP) in the New Plymouth district. Following graduation, Ardern became a researcher for another Labour MP, Phil Goff. That experience would lead to a position on the staff of Prime Minister Helen Clark, the second woman to hold New Zealands highest office and Arderns political hero and mentor.

In 2005 Ardern embarked on an overseas experience, an extendedusually workingtrip to Britain, which is a traditional rite of passage for the children of New Zealands middle and upper class. Instead of labouring in a London pub or warehouse and then touring the Continent, however, Ardern worked for two and a half years in the cabinet office of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, serving as an associate director for Better Regulation Executive with the primary responsibility of improving the ways in which local authorities interact with small businesses. In 2007 she was elected president of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), a position that took her to destinations such as Algeria, China, India, Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon.

In 2008 Ardern was chosen as Labours candidate for MP of the Waikato district, a seat that historically had been beyond the partys reach and that Ardern lost by some 13,000 votes. Nevertheless, she entered parliament as a list candidate. New Zealands mixed member proportional (MMP) election system allows candidates who run for a district seat also to be on a partys list of candidates, from which 49 MPs are chosen in proportion to the number of votes received by their parties. At age 28 Ardern entered the House of Representatives as its youngest member. In her maiden speech she called for the introduction of compulsory instruction in the Mori language in New Zealand schools and she castigated the New Zealand government for what she characterized as its shameful response to climate change. In addition to being named Labours spokesperson for Youth Affairs, Ardern was appointed to the Regulations Review and the Justice and Electoral select committees.

In 2011 she ran for the seat representing Auckland Central that was held by another of New Zealand politics brightest young stars, Nikki Kaye of the New Zealand National Party, who was just five months older than Ardern. Kaye narrowly (717 votes) won the race, dubbed the Battle of the Babes, but once again Ardern returned to parliament as a well-placed list candidate. Arderns support for David Shearer in his successful quest for Labour leadership won her a high profile assignment as Social Development spokesperson. In 2014 Ardern once again faced off with Kaye for the Auckland Central seat, this time losing by only 600 votes. Nonetheless, ensconced at the number five position on Labours list, Ardern easily returned to parliament. Labour leader Andrew Little expanded her portfolio to include positions as spokesperson for Arts, Culture, and Heritage, Children, Justice, and Small Business.

As Arderns political profile increased in prominence, the details of her personality and personal life became better known. Opposed to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stand on homosexuality and same-sex marriage, Ardern became a lapsed Mormon. She gained notoriety by performing as a disc jockey. She was also involved in a romantic relationship with broadcast personality Clarke Gayford, who in 2016 became the host of Fish of the Day, a part-fishing, part-travel television program that took him to exotic island locales throughout the Pacific. Ardern bridled at media attention to her physical attractiveness, characterized herself as an acceptable nerd, and described her approach to life as relentlessly positive.

In 2017 Ardern registered a landslide victory in the parliamentary by-election for the vacant seat representing the solidly Labour district of Mount Albert in Auckland. When Labours deputy leader, Annette King, announced her resignation, Ardern was unanimously elected as her replacement. Meanwhile, as the general parliamentary election scheduled for September 2017 approached, Labours showing in preference polling was abysmal. Even after some nine consecutive years with the National Party in power, there was seemingly little interest among voters in trying Labour Party rule. A pair of polls in July found Labour Party support to be less than 25 percentsome 6 percent worse than the partys standing in a June polling. With fewer than two months left before the election, Little stepped down as leader but not before securing Arderns pledge to stand as his replacement (reportedly, she refused seven times before agreeing). Running unopposed, Ardern was elected leader on August 1.

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