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Jacinda Ardern Facts & Worksheets

Jacinda Ardern is the 40th prime minister of New Zealand, and the youngest in over 150 years to hold that position.

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Jacinda Ardern is a politician who became the 40th prime minister of New Zealand, making her the youngest in over 150 years to hold that position. She was reelected for a second term as prime minister in 2020. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party since she was 17 years old, Jacinda has been the leader of the party since 2017. She is also the youngest female head of government in the world.

See the fact file below for more information on Jacinda Ardern, or you can download our 23-page Jacinda Ardern worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE, FAMILY, AND EDUCATION

  • Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern was born on July 26, 1980 to a Mormon family in Hamilton, New Zealand.
  • She is the second of two daughters of Ross Ardern, a law enforcement officer, and Laurell Ardern (née Bottomley), a school catering assistant.
  • Jacinda grew up affiliated to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2017, she began identifying as agnostic.
  • She was raised in the provincial town of Murupara until her family relocated to Morrinsville, a town in the Waikato region of New Zealand’s North Island.
  • Morrinsville is where Jacinda received her primary and secondary school education.
  • At Morrinsville College, Jacinda secured a leadership role as the student representative on the school’s board of trustees.
  • Jacinda decided to join the New Zealand Labour Party when she was 17 years old.
  • Jacinda’s recruitment to the Labour Party can be credited to her aunt, Marie Ardern, who was a stalwart member of the party.
  • Jacinda was reportedly recruited by her aunt to help with the 1999 re-election campaign of Harry Duynhoven, Member of Parliament for the New Plymouth electorate.
  • In 1999, she enrolled at the University of Waikato for her higher education.
  • In her last year at university, she spent a semester abroad at Arizona State University.
  • She earned a Bachelor of Communication Studies in politics and public relations in 2001.
  • In 2014, Jacinda’s father served as the High Commissioner to the island of Niue.

EARLY CAREER

  • Jacinda’s first job out of college was as a researcher. She spent time working in the offices of Phil Goff, who was a Member of the New Zealand Parliament at the time, and Helen Clark, the 37th prime minister of New Zealand.
  • In 2005, she moved to London and worked as a senior policy officer in the Government Cabinet Office of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
  • She was also endorsed to the United Kingdom’s Home Office to work on a review of policing in England and Wales.
  • In 2008, she was elected president of the International Union of Socialist Youth for a two-year term.
  • Halfway through her term as IUSY president, Jacinda entered New Zealand’s Parliament as a list candidate for the Labour Party.
  • At 28 years old, she became the youngest member of parliament, and remained so until Gareth Hughes entered the House of Representatives in February 2010.
  • Opposition leader Phil Goff appointed Jacinda as Labour’s spokesperson for Youth Affairs and as associate spokesperson for Justice (Youth Affairs).
  • In 2014, Jacinda graduated as one of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Young Global Leaders.
  • In the 2017 Mount Albert by-election, Jacinda won a landslide victory with 77 percent of votes in favor of her in the preliminary results, which led to her unanimous election as deputy leader of the Labour Party.

LEADER OF THE LABOUR PARTY

  • On August 1, 2017, several weeks prior to the 2017 general election, Jacinda officially became the leader of the Labour Party at 37 years old, making her the youngest person to ever assume that position.
  • She is also the second female leader of the Labour Party following Helen Clark.
  • She then became leader of the Opposition, succeeding Andrew Little.
  • Following Jacinda’s appointment, the party saw an increase in donations and positive results in opinion polls.

FIRST TERM AS PRIME MINISTER

  • On October 19, 2017, New Zealand First formed a coalition party with Labour, as agreed upon by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.
  • The decision made Jacinda New Zealand’s next prime minister.
  • Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy officially swore her in on October 26.
  • Jacinda appointed Winston as deputy prime minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
  • Jacinda became New Zealand’s third female prime minister following Jenny Shipley, who served from 1997 to 1999, and Helen Clark, who held the position from 1999 to 2008.
  • She also became the youngest person to be New Zealand’s head of government.
  • In her first term, she acted as Minister for National Security and Intelligence; Arts, Culture, and Heritage; and Vulnerable Children.
  • Her role as Minister for Vulnerable Children was later replaced by  Minister for Child Poverty Reduction.
  • On January 19, 2018, Jacinda announced that she was expecting her first child with partner Clarke Gayford, making history yet again by being the first prime minister to be pregnant in office.
  • Having decided to take six weeks’ maternity leave after giving birth, she appointed Winston Peters to be New Zealand’s acting prime minister while she was out of office.
  • After giving birth to her daughter, she took leave from June 21 to August 2, 2018.
  • As part of the government’s plan to reduce child poverty, Jacinda announced the government’s Families Package in July 2018, which benefited middle and low-income families.
  • Also in 2018, Jacinda was the first female head of government to bring her baby with her to a United Nations General Assembly meeting.
  • After fatal mass shootings happened in two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019, Jacinda released an official statement wherein she offered condolences and asserted that the shootings were done by suspects with “extremist views” who “have absolutely no place in New Zealand and, in fact, have no place in the world”.  
  • She responded to the shootings by announcing her government’s intention to establish stronger firearms regulations.
  • At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Jacinda acted swiftly on the government’s response by announcing the mandate that anyone entering the country from midnight of March 15 must isolate themselves for 14 days.

SECOND TERM AS PRIME MINISTER

  • Jacinda and her party won a landslide victory in the 2020 general election, with an overall majority of 65 seats in the 120-seat House of Representatives, and 50 percent of the party vote.
  • In December 2020, she pledged that the New Zealand government would be carbon neutral by 2025 in a parliamentary motion, in line with her declaration of a climate change emergency in the country.
  • In April 2022, she, along with 129 members of parliament, was banned from entering Russia following the New Zealand Parliament’s unanimous decision to impose sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

Jacinda Ardern Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Jacinda Ardern across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Jacinda Ardern, who is the 40th prime minister of New Zealand, and the youngest in over 150 years to hold that position.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Jacinda Ardern Facts
  2. Account of Ardern
  3. Labels As a Leader
  4. Sequencing Events
  5. Prime Minister Duties
  6. Leadership Quotes
  7. Significant Leaders
  8. Admirable Qualities
  9. New Zealand News
  10. Opinion Polls
  11. Letter to the Prime Minister

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Jacinda Ardern become famous?

The magnetic Jacinda Ardern became a household name when she led the then-ailing New Zealand Labour Party to an unexpected win in the 2017 parliamentary election. As her star began to rise, people across the country and beyond christened her as a “rock star” politician – just before she became New Zealand’s youngest Prime Minister in over 150 years at only 37!

Where did Jacinda Ardern grow up?

Jacinda Ardern was born into a Mormon family with one older sister. When she was younger, her family lived in Murupara, New Zealand. Murupara is a small town known for having a lot of Maori gang activity. Later, her father got a job working for the government in Niue and moved his family to Morrinsville, southeast of Auckland.

Who is the New Zealand president?

The prime minister who was already in office, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on October 26, 2017.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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