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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s former prime minister, has married her longtime partner, Clarke Gayford, after their original wedding plans in 2022 were scuttled by an outbreak of the omicron coronavirus variant.
Ardern, 43, and Gayford, 47 — the host of a TV fishing show — were engaged for five years before Saturday’s private ceremony at a vineyard on New Zealand’s North Island.
She wore a sleeveless, ivory cowl-neck halter gown by New Zealand fashion designer Juliette Hogan, and her hair was styled into a chignon by celebrity hairdresser Tane Tomoana. Gayford wore a black Zambesi suit and white shirt.
Ardern, who won international praise for her leadership during the coronavirus pandemic and the 2019 mass shootings in Christchurch, unexpectedly announced her resignation from politics a year ago.
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At the time, Ardern cited getting married as one of her post-politics goals — along with spending more time with the couple’s daughter, Neve, 5, who was born during Ardern’s first year as prime minister, making her only the second elected world leader in modern times to have a child while in office.
“Arguably, they’re the ones that have sacrificed the most out of all of us,” she said in January last year, before addressing her daughter and partner. “So, to Neve, Mum is looking forward to being there when you start school this year. And to Clarke, let’s finally get married.”
The wedding guests Saturday included Ardern’s successor as leader of the center-left Labour Party, Chris Hipkins, and a number of other current and former lawmakers.
Ardern’s empathetic brand of governance elevated her to the global stage, as she responded to a string of crises including the coronavirus pandemic, a volcanic eruption and the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attack.
But local sentiment toward her administration soured as the island nation emerged from a long period of pandemic isolation. In October, Labour lost an election to a coalition of three conservative parties led by the center-right National Party.
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Many viewed New Zealand’s coronavirus policies — which included tight lockdowns and sealed borders — as a success. But opposition, fueled in part by misogyny and misinformation, led to violent clashes outside Parliament in protest of vaccine mandates and other coronavirus restrictions.
When Ardern announced that she was canceling her original 2022 wedding plans after an omicron outbreak led to restrictions on public gatherings to limit the virus’s spread, she said she was joining “many other New Zealanders who have had an experience like that as a result of the pandemic.”
“Such is life,” she added.
A small group of protesters gathered outside the wedding venue on Saturday, according to local media reports and footage posted on social media.
Since quitting politics, Ardern has joined Prince William’s environmental charity and started a new global role combating online extremism.