New Zealand Premier Jacinda Ardern plans summer wedding
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (right) and her partner Clarke Gayford.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has revealed that she will soon wed her partner, TV host Clarke Gayford, in a summer ceremony.
Ms Ardern, who announced her engagement to Mr Gayford in 2019, made the revelation during a live interview on a local radio station, Coast Radio.
While announcing that they had set a date, the PM said no invites have been sent out yet.
"That doesn't mean we've told anyone yet, so I feel like we should probably put some invites out," she said.
Ms Ardern, 40, has a two-year-old daughter with Gayford, 44, and is one of few elected Heads of State to hold office while pregnant. She was also the first world leader to take maternity leave.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and partner Clarke Gayford pose with their baby daugther Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford outside the hospital in Auckland on June 24, 2018.
In previous interviews, she had indicated that the couple's unwed status was not a "deliberate decision."
"It sounds terrible, because we're very committed to each other. [Marriage is] just not something we've really gotten around to."
The New Zealand PM is widely credited with excelling in managing the Covid-19 pandemic in her country by spurring the necessary response from citizens. The country imposed a strict five-week nationwide lockdown in March last year, while overall coronavirus cases and death toll remain low when compared to other western countries.
She is serving her second term after she won a re-election by a landslide in October, delivering the Labour Party the best electoral performance in almost 50 years.
