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Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern (26 July 1980) is the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand and second elected female Prime Minister of New Zealand (New Zealand has had three female Prime Ministers but only two have been elected via an election) after Helen Clark. Adern is also the leader of the left-wing New Zealand Labour Party and is the worlds youngest female leader and the second woman in history to give birth while in office. Arden's Labour Party was elected after 9 years of centre right/right-wing rule hence Ardern and her party benefited from a strong economy which had been left by the right-wing National Party. While her party is a minority government it is in a coalition with The Greens (further to the left of the Labour Party) and the New Zealand First Party (further to the right of Labour and traditionally conservative). Interestingly the opposition National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand Parliament yet does not hold enough seats to form a majority.
Ardern came to power quickly and but not without controversy. During the 2017 election the Labour Party had elected Andrew Little to run as the leader and potential Prime Minister however Little, who was a former union boss, suffered in that he had very little charisma, was not eloquent and had difficulty sloughing off the "union boss" pulic perception. A few weeks before the election, with Labour tanking in the polls, Little suddenly stepped down and Ardern was promoted to leader. While Ardern had little executive experience she was young, attractive and well-spoken which contrasted against the dour Little and older opposition leader, Bill English. The polls swung towards Labour but not far enough to guarantee an outright victory.
On April 19, 2019, Fortune Magazine named Ardern the world's second greatest leader[1].
Biography
Jacinda Ardern was born in Hamilton, a small city south of Auckland but spent her formative years in the small town of Morrinsville. Her father was a police officer and her mother worked in a school cafeteria. She started in politics small by being a representative on her school council. She then went to the University of Waikato and majored in Communications Studies with a minor in politics and PR. Ardern has said from an early age she became a Social Democrat and a Progressive and was heavily involved in the Young Labour party working in the office of Helen Clark and Clark's successor, Phil Goff.