Ex-New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern marries long-time partner Clarke Gayford. Pics here
- The couple got engaged in May 2019 and had planned to marry in early 2022, but had to cancel due to Covid restrictions.
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern married longtime partner Clarke Gayford in a small ceremony after Covid restrictions forced them to cancel their original wedding plans in 2022.
Following her unexpected departure in January of last year, Ardern expressed to reporters her excitement about "finally" marrying her TV presenter fiancé.
The 43-year-old married fishing show host Clarke Gayford, 47, on Saturday in New Zealand's Hawke's Bay wine region. The couple had got engaged in May 2019.
The couple planned to marry in early 2022, but were forced to cancel after Ardern's government ramped up Covid restrictions in the face of surging cases.
Ardern won international acclaim for her handling of the pandemic, although her popularity within New Zealand had soured in the months before she stood down from politics.
A small number anti-vaccination demonstrators attempted to protest outside the wedding venue, Reuters stated citing New Zealand media reports.
An international hero of progressive politics, Ardern steered New Zealand through natural disasters, the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre. Ardern for the past six month has been undertaking three fellowships at Harvard University. She is a trustee of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize and a special envoy for the Christchurch Call - a network seeking to "eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online". It was set up after a massacre targeting Muslims, for which Ardern's sympathetic response won applause.
In her final speech in parliament, Ardern told Gayford, a New Zealand television presenter, "Let’s finally get married.” The couple's daughter Neve, is five years old.
She graced the cover of Time Magazine in 2020, and drew widespread praise after carrying baby daughter Neve with her on the floor of the United Nations general assembly.
However, her her popularity began to dip towards the end of her second term in office, driven by deteriorating economic conditions and a backlash to her government's strict Covid policies. Ardern's successor, Chris Hipkins, was trounced by conservative opponent Chris Luxon in a general election last October.
(With inputs from Reuters, AFP)
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