My Favorite World Leader: Jacinda Ardern

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a fan of nearly everything that comes from New Zealand. Sometimes I even bring a plush kiwi bird (gifted to me by one of my dearest friends) to school with me to represent the lesser-known of the “land(s) down under.” That kiwi’s name is Taika in honor of movie director and native New Zealander, Taika Waititi (who will most likely be the subject of a future Advocate article of mine). There’s so much to love about New Zealand, from its “reputation as a forward-thinking, tolerant country with progressive views, and… as a world leader in LGBTQI+ rights” to its host of opportunities, such as zip-lining and bungee jumping, for adrenaline junkies from far and wide. However, I for one am especially attached to the prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern.

Jacinda Ardern is someone who beautifully embodies the lyric from the song “My Shot” declaring “I’m passionately smashin’ every expectation,” which seems only fitting since she was born in the city of Hamilton, New Zealand. Ardern became the youngest female head of state in the entire world when she was elected to the position of prime minister in 2017. She was 37 years old, and according to The Sydney Morning Herald, “Ardern provided a lightning rod for dissatisfaction with the status quo.” In 2018 she became the second elected head of state in the history of the world to give birth while in office shortly after attaining the honor of being the first person to be both pregnant and the prime minister of New Zealand at the same time. Although I couldn’t find a definitive answer, in this case, it seems safe to assume that Ardern is also unique among world leaders in that she is not yet married to the man who’s been her romantic partner for almost a decade and who is the father of her child, and nothing makes me happier than seeing a powerhouse of a woman unapologetically bucking outdated traditions.

Ardern is also the only one of New Zealand’s 40 prime ministers to have marched in a pride parade, and she had both spoken and voted in support of the legalization of gay marriage in her country prior to becoming prime minister, contributing to the successful legalization of gay marriage in New Zealand in 2013. In fact, she is so strongly in favor of LGBT+ rights that she chose to prioritize them over the religion, and its accompanying beliefs and community, she’d been raised within. On that subject, she explains, “I just remember thinking – I’m either doing a disservice to the church or my friends.” In the present day, she identifies herself as an agnostic, and although agnosticism appears to be an increasingly common worldview in the western world I still find it refreshing, as someone who’s often overwhelmed by the presence of the Christian right in politics in my own country, to see a world leader who’s willing to risk backlash from that demographic in the interest of integrity. However, her empathy toward those who are religious has been made clear on numerous occasions, most notably in her response to a mass shooting in a Christchurch mosque in 2019. 

Ardern has been described in an article for the adorably entitled New Zealand news media website, Stuff, as “a foil… of the likes of US President Donald Trump.” This description neatly encompasses Jacinda Ardern’s own humanity as well as her respect for everyone else’s. The policies she enacted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic also exemplify her best moral and political traits, and the strictness of New Zealand’s lockdowns starting very early on and continuing throughout the pandemic have resulted in a mere 56 deaths by Covid-19 occurring there. Unfortunately, an increasing number of New Zealand citizens have begun protesting mask and vaccine mandates in the current day, albeit less violently than Americans have been since New Zealand imposed “a law banning military-style semi-automatic firearms within weeks” of the aforementioned mosque shooting (Reuters.com), having been inspired by American protests thanks to the existence of social media. Ardern’s approval rating has dropped significantly, but she remains steadfast in her commitment to science and personal responsibility regarding this crisis.