Jacinda left nothing in the tank in pursuing her teen ideals

THE teenager looks – and sounds – older than her years. A champion speechmaker, she holds her United Nations trophy proudly in her hands. At the tender age of 17, Jacinda Ardern possessed confidence and debating skills rarely seen at her stage of life.

There’s something else, too – her smile that meets the eyes. As a self-assured teen who has just won a global award, she could easily be cocky, but she radiates warmth, a signature trait of both her personality and subsequent empathetic leadership style.

In January 2021, as the Covid pandemic grip tightened and Jacinda mania was at its peak, a newspaper clipping of her winning the coveted UN accolade went viral on Twitter.

The headline of the 1997 article was simple: ‘Jacinda for PM’ – citing the teen’s big dream of becoming New Zealand’s first female prime minister (she was in fact gazumped that very year by Jenny Shipley, who became the country’s 36th leader after staging a carefully planned coup against the then PM, Jim Bolger).

Nevertheless, here was a girl, who grew into a woman, and held on to her dreams. And she was determined to make her mark.

She made history in 2018 as the first female world leader to bring her baby, Neve, to the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

In a room of suits, the image of a gurgling baby playing with her mother, just before she gave an impassioned speech to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela, was truly an iconic moment.

I would go far as saying that this was a turning point for working mothers everywhere.

Sure, Jacinda, pictured right, was running a country, but she was also breastfeeding her baby – and she proved that she wasn’t going to sacrifice one over the other.

This was the reality of being a world leader and a mother, and it wouldn’t be the first time she would highlight the juggle and struggle facing working parents everywhere.

Another famed moment came when during one of the country’s lockdowns during the pandemic, Neve interrupted her mother, who was giving the nation a live update on changing restrictions. Jacinda answered her young daughter’s persistent call for ‘Mummy’ because, as she explained, it was way past her daughter’s bedtime.

As Jacinda announced her departure from leadership this week, her family was at the forefront of her mind again, as she made a point of telling Neve that she was looking forward to being there when she started school this year.

And while the world watched, she also told her longtime partner Clarke Gayford that it was time they married. Like millions all over the world, Covid put paid to their original nuptial plans.

The pair were set to get hitched last January, but they had to cancel after the bride-to-be herself announced the country’s new Covid restrictions.

Jacinda made the rules which initially made her an iconic world leader, and then, arguably, led to her stepping down. Much has been written of how her zero-tolerance strategy during the terrifying, early days of the pandemic made her a poster girl for effective leadership, but would ultimately lead to a rising unpopularity in her own country.

Her most controversial decision, to close her country’s borders to foreigners – even though tourism is one of New Zealand’s biggest industries – has never been forgotten or forgiven, and her Labour party has been tanking in the polls for several months now.

SO it’s no surprise that she admitted to the media that she ‘slept well for the first time in a long time’ the morning after announcing she was stepping down this week, when you consider the sort of pressure she had been under. The former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark issued a statement this week praising the ‘extraordinary job’ Ardern has done, but also noted: ‘Jacinda has faced a level of hatred and vitriol which, in my experience, is unprecedented in our country.’ A quick Google search will confirm the sort of thing Clark was referring to – for example, a protest last year attended by thousands, including calls to ‘hang the b **** ’, and a makeshift hearse, or Ardern’s face superimposed on a sex worker’s body, posted on Facebook.

Even a glance at comments on her Instagram post announcing the news gives an insight into the sick misogyny Ardern was subjected to, although she denies this is why she is leaving her role in office. Her reason was simple - she had nothing left to give.

She told the world this week: ‘I am human. We give as much as we can for as long as we can.’

Her detractors will say she walked before she was pushed. I say Jacinda left before it was too late – while she stood proud, the smile still met her eyes, and her dream of making a difference remained. She made her mark.