Career

Jacinda Ardern opens up about motherhood, marriage and what she feels guilty about

''No matter what role you have, there will always be that feeling of wanting to have done more... or guilt in some direction. I think that’s probably the human condition for mums.''
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Interview: Karyn Henger Videographer: Lana Byrne

There is the Jacinda Ardern BBPM (Before Becoming Prime Minister) and the Jacinda Ardern ABPM (After Becoming Prime Minister).

Both fiercely intelligent, passionate about politics and earnest about making positive change. But the latter – now also a first-time mum – is more formal and more carefully managed by her press team. She is more accountable to the New Zealand public than ever before.

In this interview, though, Jacinda allows herself to be endearingly vulnerable. She opens up about what becoming Prime Minister has taught her about herself as well as what becoming a mother has helped her understand.

After her off-the-cuff comment to a BBC reporter that she’d rather her partner Clarke Gayford ask her to marry him than the other way round, she admits she loves the tradition of marriage, despite the “fairly unconventional” life she and Clarke lead.

She admits to feeling “mother guilt” (just like the rest of us), and says she hopes that one day Neve will look back on her childhood and feel that her mum was around and there for her.

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