10 things to know about Jacinda Ardern, the very popular Prime Minister of New Zealand
In power since 2017, the center-left leader, driven by her management of the health crisis, has just won a resounding victory in the legislative elections.
1. Recordwoman
At 40, Jacinda Ardern is already collecting records. In 2008, at 28, she was the youngest member of Parliament in New Zealand history. In 2017, she became the youngest head of government in her country since… 1856. In the legislative elections of October 17, she won 49% of the vote , the best score for her party since 1946, and the absolute majority in the Chamber , which allows him to govern without a coalition - a first.
2. Mormon father
Jacinda grew up in a small town, Morrinsville, where her father was a police officer and… Mormon. Raised in this religion, she left it at the age of 25, after homophobic declarations by this Church called "of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". “At the time, ” she says, “ I lived with three gay friends and I continued to go to church from time to time. One day, I thought to myself that it was inconsistent. " Since then, she says agnostic but do not lose touch with the religious community.
3. Chamber pots
All New Zealanders know the hobbies of their First Minister: strangely, she collects the chamber pots of the XVI th century and especially younger, she loved being a DJ in parts very well attended in Auckland. His playlist was rather wise: Tom Jones, the Spice Girls, the Beatles…
4. Baby
After Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, she is the second Prime Minister to have given birth during her mandate and the only one to breastfeed during a UN session in New York. During her maternity leave, she was replaced by the Deputy Prime Minister. And since she took over the reins of power, her companion, a television producer, has been a housewife. Thanks to her, abortion was finally decriminalized this year in New Zealand.
5. Cannabis
During the last election campaign, she admitted to having smoked “pot” (cannabis), “a long time ago” . In December 2017, it authorized the medical use of the product to “alleviate the chronic pain” and suffering of terminally ill patients. But, in recent days, she has not called for a yes vote in a referendum on the general legalization of cannabis, the results of which will be known in early November.
6. Christchurch
Jacinda became a global icon on March 16, 2019, the day after the Christchurch massacre , when an Australian right-wing extremist murdered 51 Muslims outside the mosque. Wearing a black headscarf, visibly extremely emotional and determined, the Prime Minister said: “This is one of the darkest days in New Zealand. " Before asking the population to " show compassion to the victims. " This performance led the Martin Luther King Foundation to declare: “Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, this is what the world needs. "
7. Covid-19
Its popularity reached its peak during the very strict confinement imposed on New Zealanders on March 25. Sitting on her sofa at home, she presented each evening to her 5 million compatriots the real situation of the epidemic. In this sort of chat between friends, she gave advice in an empathetic and clear manner. The result has been remarkable. In New Zealand, there have been only 25 deaths from Covid-19 and the head of government said the virus was defeated there.
8. "Third way"
A 17-year-old member of the Labor Party, Jacinda chaired for a time the International Union of Socialist Youth. "Since then, some of my friends have become ministers around the world," she says. Today, she says she is rather a follower of the "third way" dear to Tony Blair, of which she was political advisor, for a few months in 2006, but which she criticizes a lot.
9. Well-being
"Economic growth accompanied by a deterioration in social performance is a failure," repeats the New Zealand Prime Minister. She is one of the followers of the welfare economy: she has passed a budget whose criteria are not exclusively financial, but include both the mental health of young people and the reduction of gas emissions.
10. Jacindamania
This extreme popularity gave birth to neologisms such as "Jacindamania", the "Jacinda effect", or "Jacindarella". But she keeps a cool head. Speaking of Blair's fall in 2006, she says, “You can have a huge career in politics and suddenly poof. It's like that. It's over and we're over. "
