Jacinda Ardern

"Ardern" redirects here. For the surname, see Ardern (surname).

The Right Honourable
Dame Jacinda Ardern
GNZM
Ardern in 2018
40th Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office
26 October 2017 – 25 January 2023
Monarchs
Governor-General
Deputy
Preceded byBill English
Succeeded byChris Hipkins
17th Leader of the Labour Party
In office
1 August 2017 – 22 January 2023
DeputyKelvin Davis
Preceded byAndrew Little
Succeeded byChris Hipkins
36th Leader of the Opposition
In office
1 August 2017 – 26 October 2017
DeputyKelvin Davis
Preceded byAndrew Little
Succeeded byBill English
17th Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
In office
7 March 2017 – 1 August 2017
LeaderAndrew Little
Preceded byAnnette King
Succeeded byKelvin Davis
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Mount Albert
In office
8 March 2017 – 15 April 2023
Preceded byDavid Shearer
Succeeded byHelen White
Majority21,246
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for the Labour party list
In office
8 November 2008 – 8 March 2017
Succeeded byRaymond Huo
Personal details
Born
Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern

(1980-07-26) 26 July 1980 (age 44)
Hamilton, New Zealand
Political partyLabour
Spouse
​
(m. 2024)​
Children1
Parent
Alma materUniversity of Waikato (BCS)
This article is part of
a series about
Jacinda Ardern

Leader of the Labour Party

Leader of the Opposition

Prime Minister

General elections

Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern GNZM (/dʒəˈsɪndə ɑːrˈdɜːrn/ jə-SIN-də ar-DURN;[1] born 26 July 1980) is a former New Zealand politician who served as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was a Labour member of Parliament (MP) as a list MP from 2008 to 2017, and for Mount Albert from 2017 to 2023.[2][3]

Born in Hamilton, Ardern grew up in Morrinsville and Murupara. She joined the New Zealand Labour Party at the age of 17. After graduating from the University of Waikato in 2001, Ardern worked as a researcher in the office of Prime Minister Helen Clark. She later worked in London as an adviser in the Cabinet Office during Tony Blair's premiership. In 2008, Ardern was elected president of the International Union of Socialist Youth. Ardern was first elected as an MP in the 2008 general election, when Labour lost power after nine years. She was later elected to represent the Mount Albert electorate in a by-election on 25 February 2017.

Ardern was unanimously elected as deputy leader of the Labour Party on 1 March 2017, after the resignation of Annette King. Exactly five months later, with an election due, Labour's leader Andrew Little resigned after a historically low opinion polling result for the party, with Ardern elected unopposed as leader in his place.[4] Labour's support increased rapidly after Ardern became leader, and she led her party to gain 14 seats at the 2017 general election on 23 September, winning 46 seats to the National Party's 56.[5] After negotiations, New Zealand First chose to enter a minority coalition government with Labour, supported by the Green Party, with Ardern as prime minister. She was sworn in by the governor-general on 26 October 2017.[6] She became the world's youngest female head of government at age 37.[7] Ardern gave birth to her daughter on 21 June 2018, making her the world's second elected head of government to give birth while in office (after Benazir Bhutto).[8]

Ardern describes herself as a social democrat and a progressive.[9][10] The Sixth Labour Government faced challenges from the New Zealand housing crisis, child poverty, and social inequality. In March 2019, in the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque shootings, Ardern reacted by rapidly introducing strict gun laws, winning her wide recognition.[11] Throughout 2020 she led New Zealand's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, for which she won praise for New Zealand being one of the few Western nations to successfully contain the virus.[12] It is estimated that her government's actions saved as many as 80,000 lives.[13] Ardern moved the Labour Party further to the centre towards the October 2020 general election, promising to cut spending during the remainder of the COVID-19 recession.[14] She led the Labour Party to a landslide victory, gaining an overall majority of 65 seats in Parliament, the first time a majority government had been formed since the introduction of a proportional representation system in 1996.[15][16][17]

On 19 January 2023, Ardern announced she would resign as Labour leader.[18][19][20] Following the unopposed election of Chris Hipkins as her successor, she resigned as leader of the Labour Party on 22 January and submitted her resignation as prime minister to the governor-general on 25 January.[21]

  1. ^ "Talking work-related hearing loss with NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern". WorkSafe New Zealand. 28 September 2018. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  2. ^ "2008 GENERAL ELECTION – OFFICIAL RESULT". 6 December 2008. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Ardern, Jacinda – New Zealand Parliament". New Zealand Parliament. 17 April 2023. Archived from the original on 21 April 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  4. ^ Davison, Isaac (1 August 2017). "Andrew Little quits: Jacinda Ardern is new Labour leader, Kelvin Davis is deputy". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  5. ^ "2017 General Election – Official Results". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  6. ^ Griffiths, James (19 October 2017). "Jacinda Ardern to become New Zealand Prime Minister". CNN. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  7. ^ "The world's youngest female leader takes over in New Zealand". The Economist. 26 October 2017. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Murphy, Tim (1 August 2017). "What Jacinda Ardern wants". Newsroom. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  10. ^ "Live: Jacinda Ardern answers NZ's questions". Stuff. 3 August 2017. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  11. ^ Fifield, Anna (18 March 2019). "New Zealand's prime minister receives worldwide praise for her response to the mosque shootings". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 19 March 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  12. ^ Friedman, Uri (19 April 2020). "New Zealand's Prime Minister May Be the Most Effective Leader on the Planet". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  13. ^ "The government valued your life at $4.53m – until Covid came along". Newsroom. 15 October 2020. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  14. ^ Cooke, Henry (8 August 2020). "Election 2020: Labour launches an extremely centrist campaign". Stuff. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  15. ^ "The 2020 General Election and referendums: results, analysis, and demographics of the 53rd Parliament" (PDF). Parliament.nz. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Election 2020: The big winners and losers in Auckland". Stuff. 17 October 2020. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  17. ^ Schwartz, Matthew (17 October 2020). "New Zealand PM Ardern Wins Re-Election In Best Showing For Labour Party In Decades". NPR. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  18. ^ Malpass, Luke (19 January 2023). "Live: Jacinda Ardern announces she will resign as prime minister by February 7th". Stuff. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  19. ^ McClure, Tess (19 January 2023). "Jacinda Ardern resigns as prime minister of New Zealand". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  20. ^ "Jacinda Ardern: New Zealand PM to step down next month". BBC News. 19 January 2023. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  21. ^ McClure, Tess (22 January 2023). "New Zealand: Chris Hipkins taking over from Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.