Time 100 list: New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern praised as 'political prodigy'

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has been named by Time magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world.

At 37 Ardern is the world’s youngest female prime minister and was elected to govern the country in October last year, after leading the beleaguered Labour party for just two months.

In the magazine, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer and author of Lean In, described Ardern as a “political prodigy” who was “changing the game” and inspiring women and girls around the globe.

“Just 11 countries out of almost 200 are led by a woman. Let that number sink in. That’s how hard it is for a woman to rise to lead a nation,” Sandberg wrote. “At a time when conservative politicians are ascendant across Europe and the US, she’s proudly progressive – with a raft of plans to fight economic inequality, address climate change and decriminalise abortion.

“In a world that too often tells women to stay small, keep quiet – and that we can’t have both motherhood and a career – Jacinda Ardern proves how wrong and outdated those notions of womanhood are.”

In late January, Ardern announced she was four months pregnant with her first child, putting her on course to become only the second prime minister in history to give birth in office.

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In a short video accompanying Ardern’s Time post, the prime minister said she thought her humble upbringing, rather than her age, was what helped her connect with people. “I hope that when I am a 50-year-old woman, that I have still the same level of empathy and compassion that I have as a 37-year-old woman,” she said.

At the Commonwealth Summit this week, Ardern met her fellow political trailblazer, the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, who was also named by Time as one of the top 100 most influential people of 2018.

Asked by Time to write about Trudeau, with whom Ardern appears to have a warm friendship and shared political ideals, Ardern said Trudeau’s name would be etched in the history books for shifting the political landscape at such a young age. Trudeau is 46 and also made Time’s list in 2016.

“Youth alone is not remarkable, but winning over people with a message of hope and warmth, tolerance and inclusion, when other politicians the world over choose an easier route – that is remarkable,” Ardern wrote.

Other people to make the 2018 cut include Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, snowboarder Chloe Kim, actors Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman and musician Shawn Mendes.

Forty-five women were included in the list – a record for the magazine. It also included 45 people under 40.