59 h. ago A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern review – not your usual PM

New Zealand’s former prime minister is a refreshingly informal narrator of her remarkable rise and fallJacinda Ardern was the future, once. New Zealand’s prime minister captured the world’s imagination with her empathetic leadership, her desire to prioritise the nation’s happiness rather than just its GDP, and her bold but deeply human approach to the early stages of the pandemic (though her “zero Covid” strategy of sealing borders to keep death rates low came back to bite her). She governed differently, resigned differently – famously saying in 2023 that she just didn’t have “enough in the tank” to fight another election – and has now written a strikingly different kind of political memoir. It opens with her sitting on the toilet clutching a pregnancy test at the height of negotiations over forming a coalition government, wondering how to tell the nation that their probable new prime minister will need maternity leave.Ardern is a disarmingly likable, warm and funny narrator, a...

Politics

4 d. ago ‘The high commissioner found us a bassinet!’ Jacinda Ardern on bringing her baby to the UN

New Zealand’s former PM made history as the first world leader to attend the general assembly meeting with a newborn. In the second extract from her book, she writes about her worry that the image would become a banner for ‘women doing it all’• Read our exclusive interview with Jacinda Ardern here• ‘I was pregnant and unwed. I was also new to the job’: read the first instalment of her memoir hereSeventy-two hours after our daughter, Neve, was born, Clarke and I held a press conference to introduce her to the world. We planned the whole thing before I gave birth, and I’d been sure it would be fine. Kate Middleton did it, I’d thought. I can make it work.Now that I’d just given birth, it did not feel fine. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Jacinda Ardern reveals Queen’s blunt parenting advice during pregnancy

The Dame was seven-months pregnant at the time and wanted to get the Queens take on raising a child while in the spotlight

Politics

7 d. ago ‘I asked Queen Elizabeth II if she had any advice for me’: Jacinda Ardern on her time as a pregnant prime minister

In an exclusive extract from her new memoir, the former New Zealand PM remembers coping with pregnancy while new in the job – and what the monarch said to her• ‘Empathy is a kind of strength’: Jacinda Ardern talks to the Guardian’s editor-in-chiefThere was one cheerful and imperfect baby blanket that stood out when it arrived in the post. It was made up of 24 squares, bright blocks of colour, each crafted with simple, uneven purl stitches. Looking at it, I could imagine the small hands still learning to master their needles and could almost hear the adult voice leading them. “The prime minister is having a baby. Shall our class make a gift for her family?”The response to the announcement about my pregnancy in January 2018 was almost overwhelming. It began with so many emails. In the 24 hours after the news broke, the person who managed correspondence for me said she’d never seen such an influx. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago ‘Empathy is a kind of strength’: Jacinda Ardern on kind leadership, public rage and life in Trump’s America

Young, progressive and relatable, the former prime minister of New Zealand tried to do politics differently. But six years into power, she dramatically resigned. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, she explains why• Read an exclusive extract from Ardern’s memoirIn 2022, a few months before she quit as prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern was standing at the sink in the toilets in Auckland airport, washing her hands, when a woman came up to her and leaned in. She was so close that Ardern could feel the heat from her skin. “I just wanted to say thank you,” the woman said. “Thanks for ruining the country.” She turned and left, leaving Ardern “standing there as if I were a high-schooler who’d just been razed”.The incident was deeply shocking. Ardern had been re-elected in a historic landslide two years before. She enjoyed conversation and debate; she liked being the kind of leader who wasn’t sealed off from the rest of the population. But this, says A...

Politics

1 week ago New Zealand abandons Jacinda Ardern's ban on oil and gas drilling after she declared that the world had moved on from fossil fuels

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has urged Australia to follow New Zealand's lead in doing away with its net zero policy as Coalition negotiations continue.

Politics

2 w. ago Diddy brought three handguns to confront Suge Knight at a diner in LA, his former assistant testified

David James also told jurors about how he set up hotel rooms for Diddy — a task that included bringing baby oil and applesauce

Politics

2 w. ago Diddy’s brought three handguns to confront Suge Knight at a diner in LA, his former assistant testified

David James also told jurors about how he set up hotel rooms for Diddy — a task that included bringing baby oil and applesauce

Politics

2 w. ago Jacinda Ardern's swipe at Donald Trump as she declares the world is an 'all out dumpster fire'

Jacinda Ardern has re-entered the political fray with a rallying call for internationalism, rebuking the inward outlook of the United States under President Donald Trump.

Politics

3 w. ago Emily In Paris' Lily Collins surprises castmates as she brings baby to set four months after birth

Emily In Paris star Lily Collins brought her cast mates and crew to a standstill after she brought her four month old daughter to the set of the popular Netflix drama

Politics