Ex New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Marries Partner Clarke Gayford In Private Ceremony

New Zealand's ex Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday married her long-term partner Clarke Gayford in a private ceremony in North Island, almost after five years of engagement. The postponement was mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic that delayed the couple’s plan to take their vows in 2022.

Ardern delivered a five-minute wedding speech to scores of guests who attended the event. Among them was Ardern's successor as prime minister Chris Hipkins, New Zealand’s current opposition leader. Ardern and her husband have been together for over a decade.

The two have a five-year-old daughter, Neve. The wedding was solemnised in Hawke's Bay at Craggy Range Winery on the east coast of North Island, loacated 310km (190 miles) north of the capital Wellington. Ardern and Gayford, 47, have been dating since 2014. About her wedding cancelled previously, Ardern said, “Such is life. I am no different to, dare I say, thousands of other New Zealanders.”

'Let's finally get married'

Ardern resigned from public office last January. The former premier noted that she did not have ”enough in the tank.” In her final speech in parliament, Ardern said on LIVE TV to her partner, "Let's finally get married."She earned global recognition for her handling of the deadly mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019 and her style of leadership. She became the leader at young age 37 in 2017. 

In 2018, she became the second elected world leader to give birth while holding office of the Prime Minister. She also brought her daughter to the floor of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and was praised for juggling responsibility of a mother and a prime minister. In January 2023, Ardern saddened the New Zealanders as she announced that she was stepping down from her role after five-and-a-half. After she was appointed for dual fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School, Ardern announced that she would join Harvard temporarily.