Who is Jacinda Ardern?

The lady I am writing about today needs little introduction. I’m sure you all know who she is – our current Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern?

But you might not know her backstory. I thought it could be interesting to do a profile on her just as we did with Judith Collins (click here to read). If you read the article on Judith Collins, you will know that currently, both the Labour and National Party are being led by women. That’s pretty cool! It’s something that hasn’t occurred for over twenty years.

In just two months after being elected the leader of the Labour Party Ardern became the third female prime minister of New Zealand. Ardern is currently the world’s youngest female leader and the second leader to ever become a mother whilst in office.

She has had some setbacks as well as successes.

Jacinda Arden grew up in Morrinsville, where she said she often saw “children without shoes on their feet or anything to eat for lunch.” Ardern says that kids going without the things they need is what inspired her to enter politics and help. She got involved in the political world very young and joined the Labour Party with her aunt when she was just 17 years old.

Since then, she has worked for some famous politicians such as Phil Goff  (the old leader of the Labour Party whom Jacinda took over from), Prime Minister Helen Clark, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Although Ardern has had luck on her side, she also has had to be resilient. In 2008 she ran as Labour’s candidate for MP of the Waikato district and she lost by 13,000 votes (that’s quite a lot). In 2011 she ran in Auckland Central and this time she only lost by 717 votes. In 2014, she lost again in Auckland but this time by only 600 votes. Only in 2017, the year she became prime minister did she win a seat as she ran unopposed.

This is the kind of thing you don’t read about as regularly, and it shows the importance of resilience. I hope it’s a lesson for all the girls (and boys and whoever else!) that you can do anything you want. You too could be running for Prime Minister one day.

Would you ever want to be prime minister? If so, what would you do! Let us know in the comments below