As a small town girl, she became the country’s minister: the success story of Jacinda Ardern

He has been interested in politics since he was a child

Mr. Ardern was born in Murupara, a small town surrounded by the forests of northern New Zealand, and grew up in nearby Morinsville, a dairy community, reports smh.com.au. This place, according to various sources, prides itself on having the highest number of cows per hectare than any other in the world. Ardern not only showed himself early enough, but also made his penchant for politics clear. He joined the Human Rights Action Group while still in high school and initiated student activists to speak out against drunk driving.

However, although young Ardern worked a shift at a fish and chip shop on Friday nights, she never had a full-time job outside of politics. In this sense, his early life is reminiscent of the careers of most modern politicians.

Mr. Ardern grew up as a Mormon with devoted parents. His father was a policeman and his mother a coffee worker. Parents taught their daughter to dress modestly, avoid cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, and Coca-Cola, and refrain from playing on Sundays. What a great challenge for sports in crazy New Zealand.

In 2001, she studied communication, politics, and public relations at the University of Waikato and began her career in the office of then-New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. She was involved in politics by her aunt Marie Ardern, who had been a member of the Labor Party for a long time. Jacinda herself joined the Labor Party early enough – she was only 17 years old.

This was followed by a search for herself in the United States and Britain, but she didn’t deviate from her path either: politics. In 2008, she was elected president of the International Union of Young Socialists. For this position, he spent some time in Jordan, Israel, Algeria and China. Eventually, Jacinda returned to New Zealand to continue working for the Labor Party, becoming deputy leader of the party in March 2017 and leader in August.

Motherhood did not interfere with work.

It was this woman’s charisma, passion and social media that changed the image of the Labor Party. As one commentator put it after the start of his campaign, “It would be like pulling a thick dark curtain to turn on the summer noon light.” 2017 Mr. Ardern became Prime Minister of New Zealand. She is the youngest prime minister in the country’s 150-year history.

It is true that when the career of a 37-year-old woman climbed by leaps and bounds, she found out she was pregnant. Clarke Gayford, with her partner, a journalist and host of the fishing show, hoped the family would grow.

Ardern became the second world leader to give birth and continue in office. The first of these was in 1990. Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who concealed the pregnancy, while Ardern spoke openly about it, and in her Facebook Live videos, she spoke about politics from her living room, where the sounds of his daughter are heard in the background. True, after the birth of her daughter, the woman transferred her duties for 6 weeks. After which he returned to take the helm of the government. Interestingly, she was not married to her life partner, which is rare in the world of politics.

Ms Ardern herself said that by becoming a mother she had discovered many things. “Motherhood has helped me feel empathy for all my mother, whether she works or is a housewife, for everyone. Especially for those who are single mothers,” said the politician. In an interview, when asked if Feeling guilty for trying to find a balance between family and career, the prime minister replied that she was just a mother and not a super mother.

She has had to take her baby on business trips more than once, but, as Ardern herself put it, she hopes her adult daughter understands the decisions she has made.

Does not promise to stop

In the parliamentary elections a couple of weeks ago, Mr Ardern once again won the votes of his compatriots. The Labor Party under his leadership won the majority of seats for the first time since 1996, when a proportional electoral system was introduced in the country.

It is true that Ardern is not only praised, but also receives criticism. His political achievements are considered “modest”: the extension of paid parental leave, the ban on disposable plastic bags, free lunches for students from poor areas, a mandatory history of New Zealand in schools, and so on.

The policy is also criticized for not implementing the 2017 promises to protect nature and reduce child poverty. The 40-year-old leader faced considerable challenges: dealing with the worst terrorist attack in the country’s history, a volcanic eruption and a coronavirus pandemic. With the first wave of the latter, the country managed to face it in an exemplary way.

Mr. Ardern announced the quarantine quite early and communicated very clearly about the highest level of danger announced in the country and why it was announced. He announced the need for self-isolation to people arriving in New Zealand surprisingly early, when only six cases of coronavirus were reported nationwide and foreigners were soon banned from entering the country. Clarity and determination save New Zealand from adversity. April to mid-2006, only four deaths from Covid-19 were recorded in the country.