Jacinda Ardern Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
(CNN) — Here’s a look at the life of Jacinda Ardern, former prime minister of New Zealand.
Personal
Birth date: July 26, 1980
Birth place: Hamilton, New Zealand
Birth name: Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern
Father: Ross Ardern, police officer
Mother: Laurell Ardern, school cook
Marriage: Clarke Gayford (January 2024-present)
Children: with Clarke Gayford: Neve Te Aroha
Education: Waikato University, B.A., 2001, communications studies
Religion: Agnostic
Other Facts
Worked as a staff member for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Raised Mormon but left the church.
Timeline
November 8, 2008 – Enters New Zealand’s Parliament, elected to the Labour Party as a list MP.
February 25, 2017 – Wins a special election for the MP seat representing Mt. Albert.
March 7, 2017 – The Labour Party elects Ardern deputy leader.
August 1, 2017 – The Labour Party elects Ardern leader.
October 19, 2017 – NZ First leader Winston Peters announces on television that he supports Ardern as prime minister in a coalition government.
October 26, 2017 – Sworn in as New Zealand’s prime minister.
January 19, 2018 – Announces her pregnancy.
June 21, 2018 – Ardern gives birth to daughter Neve Te Aroha, becoming the first world leader to give birth since Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto in 1990. Announces she will take six weeks leave following the baby’s birth. Peters, now deputy prime minister, serves as acting prime minister during that time.
March 15, 2019 – Ardern condemns the attacks at two mosques in the city of Christchurch that left 51 individuals dead.
March 18, 2019 – Ardern confirms that New Zealand’s government has agreed to reform the country’s gun laws in the wake of the Christchurch mosques shootings.
March 19, 2020 – Ardern closes New Zealand’s borders to foreign visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
March 23, 2020 – Announces a nationwide lockdown, requiring all non-essential workers to stay at home.
April 15, 2020 – Announces that she and her cabinet will take a 20% pay cut for the next six months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
August 17, 2020 – Ardern announces she is delaying the country’s parliamentary election by four weeks to October 17 after the reemergence of Covid-19 in the country last week.
October 17, 2020 – Ardern wins a second term in office as New Zealand’s prime minister.
January 29, 2022 – In a press release, Arden says she has entered self-isolation after being deemed a close contact of a positive Covid-19 case. The announcement comes a week after she canceled her own wedding plans amid a rise in Omicron cases across New Zealand.
May 13, 2022 – Ardern posts on social media that she and her daughter have tested positive for Covid-19. Gayford tested positive the previous week.
January 19, 2023 – Announces she will stand aside for a new leader within weeks, saying she doesn’t believe she has the energy to seek reelection in the October polls. Ardern formally resigns as prime minister on January 25.
April 4, 2023 – Joins the Board of Trustees of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize.
June 5, 2023 – Is made a Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.
June 17, 2024 – Global Progress Action announces that Ardern will lead the Field Fellowship program for emerging leaders. The program brings together leaders that embrace “pragmatic idealism and that draws on the strength of kindness and empathy to develop and build public support for progressive policy solutions to complex problems.”
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