Gayford: She’s the greatest
It was a victory for the history books, but the Prime Minister- designate was too busy to waste a day with a hangover.
Her proud partner Clarke Gayford told the Weekend Herald that apart from a quick snack, the pair went straight to bed after the official tasks were done on Thursday night.
“We got home, sat on a bed in our tiny little apartment and realised that she hadn’t eaten, so we shared some two- minute noodles. That was about as exciting as it got.”
Gayford, 39, said he didn’t imagine he’d see his 37- year- old partner much between now and Christmas but he didn’t mind.
“I think she’s the greatest, and it’s been wonderful watching other people discover her potential. “She’s just beginning.” The noodle dinner came at the end of a long and emotion- filled day as the country waited to find out who would get the nod from New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.
Ardern and Gayford, her partner of more than three years, were as much in the dark as anyone else about who he would choose, making for a nervous wait. “It was pretty funny. “We were doing little snap polls around the room and it was 50/ 50,” he said.
Shortly before 7pm Peters announced he had chosen Labour, with the Green Party in a confidence and supply agreement.
“It was deafening. There was an excessive amount of hugging going on,” he said.
Feeling the historic moment should be captured on camera, Gayford started shooting video footage before giving Ardern a hug himself.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” he said yesterday from the Beehive, where he’s been doing lunch runs for Labour Party staffers and packing up Ardern’s belongings in her Wellington apartment.
“The mood today in the office is just incredible. Everyone’s so excited.”
Previously Gayford had said he was hoping to channel Michelle Obama in his new role as New Zealand’s first gentleman — but feared he might be more like the gaffe- prone Prince Philip.
He joked he wished he could match the former first lady’s sense of rhythm on the dance floor, before becoming serious.
“It’s not really about me, it’s about Jacinda and what she can do.
“My job is to be a supportive partner and to make sure she’s eating her lunch and remembering to get enough sleep.”
When asked if that meant being the primary caretaker for any children the couple might have in future, Gayford laughed and said he hadn’t thought about how to answer that question yet.
“That is obviously something we are going to . . . at the moment the focus is Jacinda and anything I can do to support her is going to be supported wholeheartedly.”