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By: Sydney Carroll
What is Ardern’s background?
Jacinda Ardern was born July 26, 1980, in Hamilton, New Zealand. She grew up a Mormon in the small village of Murupara, a hotspot for Maori gang activity. Ardern attended primary and secondary school southeast of Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island. The BBC explains, “It was these towns - and the poverty she saw in them - which would shape her political views.” Afterwards, she attended Waikato University where she completed a B.A in communications. Ardern left the Mormon Church in 2005 due to its intolerance of the LGBTQ+ community, telling the New Zealand Herald, “I could never reconcile what I saw as discrimination in a religion that was otherwise very focused on tolerance and kindness.”
What are Ardern’s policies?
Ardern is considered a modern socialist, and according to the Guardian, her campaign platform centered around, “providing free higher education, decriminalizing abortion, cutting immigration and lifting children out of poverty.” Ardern is the leader of New Zealand’s Labour Party, a center-left political group. As stated by their website, the Labour Party’s main goal is “to educate the public in the principles and objectives of democratic socialism and economic and social cooperation.” Their policies include climate change prevention, promoting socioeconomic diversity and equity, providing adequate mental health resources to all residents of New Zealand, and most recently providing stimulus and protection for the economy and all Kiwis in the face of COVID-19.
What is Adern’s political experience?
PM Ardern has been involved in New Zealand’s Labour party since before she could even vote. According to Britannica, “In 1999, at age 17, she joined the party and, with the help of an aunt, became involved in the reelection campaign of Harry Duynhoven, a Labour member of parliament (MP) in the New Plymouth district.” After completing her degree, Ardern became a researcher for Labour MP Phil Goff, eventually leading to a position on the staff of New Zealand’s second female Prime Minister, Helen Clark. In 2005, while on an overseas trip in London, she found a job in the cabinet of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair as an associate director for Better Regulation Executive - meaning she helped relationships between the local authorities and small businesses. Afterward, in 2007 she was elected as president of the International Union of Socialist Youth, a position which led her to spread education and civic leadership initiatives across the globe. Just a year later Ardern was officially elected to New Zealand’s House of Representatives. Along with this position, 28-year-old Ardern was appointed to the Regulations Review, the Justice and Electoral Select Committees, as well as being named the Labour Party’s spokesperson for Youth Affairs. By 2014, Ardern also served as a spokesperson for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Children, Justice, and Small Business. Just 3 years later, the Labour Party’s support ratings across New Zealand were decreasing significantly, and the Labour Party’s head Andrew Little made plans to step down, knowing that in order to restore the party’s reputation, someone more affable would need to take over. As such, he asked Ardern to become Labour Party head - and after declining the position 7 times, Ardern finally agreed.
How did Ardern become New Zealand’s Prime Minister?
After becoming Labour Party leader, Ardern wasted no time setting her sights on New Zealand’s highest office. Thus began New Zealand’s ‘Jacindamania’, in which the young politician quickly took the country by storm. Many began to compare her to Canada’s Justin Trudeau, or former US President Barack Obama, whose charisma led them to significantly more progressive national policy. A large part of Ardern and the Labour Party’s campaign was to defeat the National Party, as at the time, “the centre-right National party looked like a shoo-in for a fourth term,” according to The Guardian. Ardern’s galvanizing performance in debates as well as her connection with voters ramped up competition and led to a highly competitive race as election day approached. However, Ardern’s election as Prime Minister was far from typical - according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the election results, “[came] nearly a month after an inconclusive election result left both National and Labour courting the nationalist party to form a governing coalition.” Though a confusing process to Americans, in New Zealand there must be an outright majority in any Prime Minister Election as they use not a two-party system, but rather have several political parties. As such, with neither the Labour nor National party’s candidates receiving an outright majority, both needing the New Zealand First Party’s support to win the election. After the New Zealand First Party put their support behind Ardern, she was officially elected Prime Minister on October 19th, 2017.
Has Ardern had success as a Prime Minister?
Although dealing with one of the most difficult terms any Kiwi PM has ever faced, Ardern has continued to be a national and international source of calm and strength throughout her term. She’s made history in almost every facet of her term, through passing net-zero climate legislation, becoming the first Prime Minister to march in a Pride parade, providing free period products in schools, and launching New Zealand’s first wellbeing budget. Later in her term, tragedy hit New Zealand after a gunman killed 51 in a Christchurch mosque. In response, “She announced a change to the country's gun laws, banning the sale of all semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles with a speed which prompted questions in other countries,” according to the BBC. This included a gun buyback policy, in which Kiwis turned in over 50,000 guns to New Zealand’s government, according to NPR. Ardern’s speed with which she reacts to the crisis both in a political and humanitarian capacity would come to great use in March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic entered New Zealand. Ardern gained fame worldwide as she calmly and quickly acted to implement a nationwide lockdown and economic stimulus in face of the virus. While many argued that her stance was far too severe, Ardern has also had arguably the best success of any world leader in tackling COVID. Now, as remarked upon by NBC, New Zealand has “all but eradicated community transmission of Covid-19. While the coronavirus rages elsewhere, New Zealand has become something of a parallel universe where lockdowns, masks and social distancing are no longer necessary.” This explains how Ardern won reelection this October in a landslide victory. In fact, CNN explained, “results show that Ardern's centre-left Labour Party won 49% of the vote, meaning her party looks likely to score the highest result that any party has achieved since the current political system was introduced in 1996.”
How has Arden’s female identity affected her experience as a world leader?
Though a highly successful leader, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has dealt with a fair amount of misogyny directed towards her leadership. Thankfully, Ardern also knows how to push back against sexism remarkably well. Though constantly taunted as New Zealand’s ‘pretty communist’, she’s also made a point to acknowledge that there’s nothing wrong with that. Ardern was repeatedly asked about her plans to have a family during her campaign for Prime Minister, most aggressively when the host of the AM Show, Mark Richardson, argued that since her employer was the country of New Zealand, she should be open with them about her plans to have children. Ardern didn’t hold back, saying, “It is totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace. It is unacceptable, it is unacceptable. It is a woman's decision about when they choose to have children and it should not predetermine whether or not they are given a job or have job opportunities.” She made headlines in 2018 when she announced her pregnancy, making her the second world leader after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto to give birth in office. Though many were sceptical about her ability to be both a new mother and a Prime Minister at the same time, Ardern advocated against sexist ideals that many continued to promote, telling the Guardian, “I'm not going to leave any room for doubt that I can do this.” She returned to the office just six weeks after giving birth, giving credit to her partner Clark Gayford, who is a stay-at-home father to the couple’s daughter, Neve. She became the first world leader to bring her child to the UN Generafil Assembly and has continued to advocate for working mother’s rights since becoming one herself.
Though she took an unlikely path to become New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern’s leadership in the face of several crises has allowed New Zealand and the world to see the power of female leadership. Though increasingly popular across the globe, Ardern has had to push through insurmountable obstacles to become a high-ranking female leader. In her leadership, not only has Ardern given hope for a better future for New Zealand, but also for a brighter future for women and girls worldwide.
Discussion Questions:
How has Ardern changed the world’s perception of New Zealand?
Is Ardern’s leadership invaluable in the time of COVID-19?
Does New Zealand provide an example of a near-perfect COVID-19 response?
Which other female leaders across the world do you admire?
Why is it important to acknowledge female leaders during Women’s History Month?
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