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Jacinda Ardern reopens the Dunedin Courthouse. She presents a flag to be placed in the building鈥檚 time capsule. photo by Ministry of Justice of New Zealand

Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Jacinda Ardern

Jacinda Ardern who was born in 1980 in Hamilton. She has been Zealand politician who has  served as the 40^th prime minister of New Zealand. Ardern grew up in Morrinsville and Murupara. Her father was Ross Ardern who worked as a police officer and her mother, Laurell Ardern. She worked as a school catering assistant.

Jacinda who was raised in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She has been the general authority in the church. Ardern studies at Morrinsville college. This is where she was the student representative on the school’s board of trustees. Jacinda found her first job while she was in school. Her job which she worked at a local  fish and chip shop.

 She attended the university of Waikato and graduated in 2001 with a Bachelors of communication studies (BSC) in politics and public relations. Ardern who took a semester abroad at Arizona State University in 2001. She spent time working in the offices of  Phil Goff and of Helen Clark as a researcher. This was after she graduated from university.

Ardern volunteered at at soup kitchen and worked on the workers right campaign. Later se moved to London. This is  where she became the senior policy adviser in an 80-person policy unit of British prime minister Tony Blair.

Here are the Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Jacinda Ardern

1.Jacinda had joined the labor party at the age 17

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the 2018 Arts Foundation Icon Awards. photo by Government House

She joined the labor party at the age of 17.This was after Jacinda graduated from the university of Waikato in 2001. She worked as a researcher in the office of prime minister Helen Clark. And later worked in London as an Adviser in the cabinet office

2. She had been elected the president of International Union of Socialist youth

In 2008 Ardern had been elected the president of (IUSY). This Union focused on the human rights and equal opportunities for the World鈥檚 children. It gave her the chance to travel the world. And attend meetings in countries like China, Lebanon and Jordan.

3.Ardern became the first and the youngest elected MP

She was elected the first MP of the Waikato district. in the 2008 general elections. This was when the labor has lost its powers after nine years. Jacinda who was only 28 year at the time making her the youngest member at the House of Representatives.

4. She was the youngest leader of a labor party in the history

Jacinda Ardern, following the swearing-in of Dame Cindy Kiro as governor-general of New Zealand at Parliament on 21 October 2021. photo by Office of the Governor-General

 In 2017 Jacinda who had assumed the position of leader of the labor party. And became the leader of the opposition following the resignation of Andrew Little. At the age of 37 Ardern had become the youngest leader of the labor party. She was also the second female leader of the party after Helen Clark.

5. Jacinda Ardern was once DJ

She had a few gigs like the set for Record Store Day at Real Groovy Records Auckland’s in 2013.Ardern who was the Dj for Auckland鈥檚 Laneway Festival in 2014. Some songs in her playlists included of Gossip鈥檚 Carless Whisper and Terry Reid鈥檚 Bang Bang.

6. She was the first Prime Minister to march in a Pride parade

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, photographed in Tauranga, New Zealand, 29 August 2018. photo by Newzild

Jacinda Ardern attended the 2018 Pride Parade alongside Finance Minister Grant Robertson. During her visit, Ardern said LGBTQI people in New Zealand still faced many challenges, including bullying, mental health problems and discrimination.

鈥淯ltimately this is a parade about diversity and inclusiveness. And I鈥檓 really proud of the work the team has done to make that real over the years and in our laws,鈥� Ardern told TVNZ.

7. Jacinda who had launched New Zealand’s first Wellbeing Budget

Her government became the first western country to introduce an entire budget based on wellbeing as a priority.

The Wellbeing Budget signals a new approach to the way governments work, by placing the wellbeing of New Zealanders at the heart of what we do. This approach is a significant departure from the status quo. We are measuring our country’s success differently.

The Budget priorities were based on evidence of what would make the greatest contribution to the long-term improvement of New Zealand鈥檚 living standards and wellbeing. This Budget required extensive information about the wellbeing impact of initiatives and more scrutiny of initiatives than has been the case in the past

8. She wore a Maori cloak to Buckingham Palace

Throughout her time as prime minister, Ardern has repeatedly said she endeavours to represent all New Zealanders 鈥� and her decision to wear a M膩ori cloak to a Commonwealth heads of government meeting in 2018 was a particularly poignant example.

As Janina Matthewson wrote for Stylist at the time: 鈥淭he cloak is a way of demonstrating that Ardern represents a multi-ethnic country, that she is working for all New Zealanders.

9. Jacinda Ardern who Reformed Gun Laws

On 15 March 2019, Ardern openly condemned the two Christchurch mosque attacks that occurred around the time.

Days later on 18 March 2019, she then announced the reformation of gun laws in New Zealand.

The laws aimed to tighten firearm possession and license-holding. It also targetted the ammunition people were allowed to possess even while having a gun.

She succeeded and it wasn鈥檛 easy, because unlike Singapore whereby a majority of MPs are from a party, the MPs from New Zealand are from several parties, which means she has to do a lot of convincing to pass the new laws.

10. She has received   several awards

Jacinda Ardern, at Government House, Wellington, on 3 July 2019. photo by Office of the Governor-General

In 2020, Jacinda Ardern was awarded the 2020 Gleitsman International Activist Award by Harvard University. In 2021, she was listed 34th in the Time 100 List issued by ‘Forbes’ magazine.
Apart from all these awards, she has also had a lot of honors bestowed on her. Plus there are different zoological species named after her! She was also one of 15 women who made an appearance ion the British ‘Vogue’ cover of September 2019.
In 2021, ‘Fortune’ magazine also added her to the list of World Powerful Leaders