JACINDA ARDERN ‘I'm more present as a mum now’

In a new memoir, the former NZ Prime Minister reveals a deeply personal journey from small town Mormon girl to global political icon.

- WORDS by SOPHIE NEVILLE

When Dame Jacinda Ardern resigned as Prime Minister of New Zealand in early 2023 it came with a disarmingly simple admission: “I no longer have enough in the tank.” The frank statement and her shock decision to step away from politics made headlines around the world. Some applauded her honesty. Others condemned her for abandoning the problems the country was facing.

But it was only ever part of the story. Now, having released her highly anticipated memoir, the 44-year-old has turned the lens on herself. Within the pages, we meet Jacinda in all her guises – daughter, partner, politician, mother and woman. We discover a childhood marked by her mother’s emotional collapse, a complex relationship with faith, the yearning and heartbreak of fertility struggles, the revelation of a family secret, a battle with Imposter Syndrome that continues today, plus a good dose of “Mum guilt”.

“I have enjoyed the break from public life very much,” she says, connecting over Zoom from her office at Harvard University in Boston in the United States, where she is on a fellowship in the Center for Public Leadership. Jacinda pauses, and smiles as she considers her new life.

“It’s given me the chance to just be ... and to spend time with family and the people I love. It’s been really nice.”

It’s almost two years since Jacinda, her husband Clarke Gayford, 48, and their daughter Neve, who turns seven this month, left Aotearoa behind for what they’d thought would be a three-month stint in Boston. She hadn’t banked on being away for so long, but Boston is a lovely place to live, says Jacinda, so much so that her three-month fellowship at Harvard turned into a year, and one year into two. How much longer they'll stay is anyone’s guess. The only given is that one day, Jacinda, Clarke and Neve will return to settle in Aotearoa, where both sets of grandparents are and where they feel most at ease.