Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

New Zealand Ardern, Partner Finally Engage!


Fri 03 May 2019 | 08:44 AM
Yassmine Elsayed

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her longtime partner Clarke Gayford have gotten engaged media reports said.

A spokesman for Ardern said on Friday the pair got engaged over the Easter break in the town of Mahia, but said any further details would be for Ardern to discuss when she next speaks to media on Monday.

AP reported that on Friday, Ardern has been spotted wearing a ring on her middle finger, a variation from the traditional ring finger.

Ardern and Gayford have a 10-month-old daughter, Neve. Ardern became just the second elected world leader in modern history to give birth while holding office last June.

Gayford is Neve's primary caregiver and a presenter on a TV fishing show.

The 38-year-old Ardern was widely praised for the compassion and leadership she showed after a gunman killed 51 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15.

Time magazine last month included Ardern on its list of the 100 most influential people in 2019. London Mayor Sadiq Khan wrote in Time that Ardern's leadership after the attacks was an inspiration and she'd sent a powerful message that "those who seek to pide us will never succeed."