Jacinda Ardern

Jacinda Ardern served as the prime minister of New Zealand from 2017-2023. She was first elected to the New Zealand Parliament in 2008.

Ardern was born in Hamilton, New Zealand, on July 26, 1980, and grew up in Morrinsville and Murupara. She received a Bachelor of Communication Studies in politics and public relations from the University of Waikato. After college, Ardern began her career as a researcher in the office of Prime Minister Helen Clark. She later worked in the United Kingdom as a policy advisor to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In 2008, she was elected president of the International Union of Socialist Youth.

Ardern became a list MP in 2008, a position she held for almost ten years until her election to the Mount Albert electorate in the 2017 by-election. She was unanimously elected as deputy leader of the Labour Party following the resignation of Annette King. Ardern became leader of the Labour Party after Andrew Little resigned from the position following a historically low poll result for the party. In the general election in September 2017, the Labour Party won 46 seats (a net gain of 14), putting it behind the National Party, which won 56 seats. After negotiations with the National and Labour parties, the New Zealand First party chose to enter into a minority coalition government with Labour, supported by the Greens, with Ardern as prime minister. Ardern became the world's second elected head of government to give birth while in office when her daughter was born on June 21, 2018.