Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern (born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand former politician who served as prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She became the world's youngest female head of government at the age of 37 and gave birth while in office. This biography follows her life and career up to November 2026 and takes no position on political disputes.
Jacinda Ardern at a Glance
| Full name | Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern |
| Born | 26 July 1980, Hamilton, New Zealand |
| Age | 46 (as of November 2026) |
| Profession | Former politician; trustee of the Earthshot Prize |
| Education | University of Waikato (Bachelor of Communication Studies, 2001) |
| Prime minister | 26 October 2017 to 25 January 2023 |
| Labour leader | August 2017 to January 2023 |
| Constituency | Mount Albert (2017 to 2023) |
| Honours | Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (2023) |
| Spouse | Clarke Gayford (married 13 January 2024) |
| Child | Neve Te Aroha (born 21 June 2018) |
Early Life and Education
Jacinda Ardern was born in Hamilton in New Zealand's North Island and grew up in Morrinsville in Waikato and then in Murupara in the Bay of Plenty. Her father, Ross Ardern, worked as a police officer and her mother, Laurell, as a school catering assistant. She joined the Labour Party at the age of 17 and graduated from the University of Waikato in 2001 with a Bachelor of Communication Studies in politics and public relations.
Early Political Career
After university Ardern worked as a researcher in the office of the then prime minister Helen Clark, and later worked in London as an adviser in the Cabinet Office during Tony Blair's premiership. In 2008 she was elected president of the International Union of Socialist Youth, and in the same year she was first elected to Parliament as a list MP. She was elected to represent the Mount Albert electorate in a by-election on 25 February 2017. When the Labour leader Andrew Little resigned after poor polling in August 2017, seven weeks before the election, Ardern took over as leader, and Labour's support increased rapidly.
Prime Minister
Labour won 46 seats at the 2017 general election to the National Party's 56, and New Zealand First chose to enter a minority coalition with Labour, supported by the Green Party, with Ardern as prime minister. She was sworn in on 26 October 2017. She gave birth to her daughter on 21 June 2018, making her the second elected head of government, after Benazir Bhutto, to give birth in office, and took maternity leave from 21 June to 2 August 2018. Her government faced challenges from the housing crisis, child poverty and social inequality, and she promised to halve child poverty within a decade and began a school lunches programme that was extended to support 200,000 children.
On 15 March 2019, 51 people were killed and 49 injured in two mosque shootings in Christchurch, and Ardern responded by quickly introducing strict gun laws. She later established the Christchurch Call to combat online extremist content. In 2020 she led New Zealand's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the country was praised as one of the few Western nations to contain the virus. In October 2020 she led Labour to a landslide win with 65 seats, the first time a party had won an outright majority since 1996.
Resignation
Facing declining popularity and criticism over the economy, housing, child poverty and the pandemic, Ardern announced on 19 January 2023 that she would resign. She stepped down as Labour leader on 22 January and submitted her resignation as prime minister three days later, and Chris Hipkins succeeded her.
After Politics
On 4 April 2023 Ardern was announced as a trustee of the Earthshot Prize, and Prime Minister Hipkins appointed her Special Envoy for the Christchurch Call. She took up fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School from the autumn of 2023, including work on online extremism with Harvard's Berkman Klein Center. In August 2024 she endorsed Kamala Harris's presidential campaign. She received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Harvard in May 2022, was appointed a Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2023 King's Birthday and Coronation Honours, and was invested at Windsor Castle on 16 October 2024. Time included her in its 2019 Time 100 list, and in May 2021 Fortune ranked her first on its list of the world's 50 greatest leaders.
Personal Life
Ardern's husband is the television presenter Clarke Gayford. They met in 2012, announced their engagement in 2019, and married on 13 January 2024 at Craggy Range Winery near Havelock North in Hawke's Bay, after a planned 2022 wedding was postponed because of COVID-19 restrictions. Their daughter is Neve Te Aroha.
Legacy
Ardern is one of the best-known political leaders of her generation, praised internationally for her response to the Christchurch attack and the pandemic, while critics at home pointed to the economy, housing and the cost of living. This biography draws on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacinda_Ardern).
