| Jacinda Ardern MP |
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| Official New Zealand Labour Party portrait of Jacinda Ardern | |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Labour Party List |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 8 November 2008 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 July 1980 Hamilton, New Zealand[1] |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Political party | Labour Party |
Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern[2] (b. 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician. A member of the Labour Party, she was elected as a list MP at the 2008 general election.[3]
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Ardern has spent time in London, working as a senior policy advisor.[4] In early 2008 she was elected as the President of the International Union of Socialist Youth[5]
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| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party |
| 2008–2011 | 49th | List | 20 | Labour |
| 2011–present | 50th | List | 13 | Labour |
After being placing high on Labour's party list for the 2008 election (at number 20 she was virtually guaranteed a seat in Parliament) she returned from London to campaign full time. She was selected as the Party's candidate for the Waikato electorate. Upon election, she was the youngest sitting MP in Parliament, succeeding fellow Labour MP Darren Hughes, and remained the youngest MP until the election of Gareth Hughes on 11 February 2010.
Ardern was appointed Labour's spokesperson for Youth Affairs, and associate spokesperson for Justice (Youth Affairs) by Labour leader Phil Goff.[6]
Jacinda Ardern has twice featured as a panel guest on the TVNZ show Back Benches. The episode's panel was all young members of the political parties. On 19 November 2008, shortly after the 2008 general election, Ardern featured for her first time on this show. She featured again on Wednesday 23 June 2010,shortly after the shadow cabinet reshuffle, in which Ardern had no portfolio change.
She has also made regular appearances on TVNZ's Breakfast programme as part of the 'Young Guns' feature in which she appeared alongside National MP Simon Bridges.
Ardern contested the Auckland Central seat for Labour at the 2011 general election, against incumbent National MP Nikki Kaye for National and Greens candidate Denise Roche. She came second in the electorate, 717 votes behind Kaye, and was returned to Parliament via the party list.[7]
She was elevated to the fourth-ranking position in the Shadow Cabinet on 19 December 2011, becoming Spokesperson for Social Development under new leader David Shearer.