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PORTRAITS OF INFLUENCE
The gesTure was simple, buT The effecT was profound. less
than 24 hours after a far-right extremist massacred 50 worshippers
in two Christchurch mosques in March, New Zealand Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern put on a black hijab to meet members of the Muslim
community, hear their fears and share in their grief. In one photo-
graph of the encounter, the young leader’s brow is lightly creased and
her mouth turned down, an uncanny expression of empathy mixed
with strength. The obscenity of the slaughters has been compounded
by being livestreamed. But here was a still frame that, as it spread
beyond the heartbroken island nation, would endure as an emblem
of compassion, tolerance and resolve.
When Ardern took power in October 2017 at the age of 37, it
was as the world’s youngest female leader. She advanced a range
of progressive policies, with a particular focus on the environment.
Under Ardern, New Zealand’s government banned single-use plas-
tic bags, planted 140 million trees and passed a bill to set a net-zero
target for CO₂ emissions by 2050. She also extended paid paren-
tal leave and took six weeks off herself after giving birth while in
office—a rare example of a head of state taking parental leave of
any length.
Yet it was in her response to tragedy that Ardern emerged as an
icon. The purpose of terrorism is to scare and divide. And so the
Prime Minister reassured and united. She immediately made her-
self available to her fellow citizens, particularly those who felt most
vulnerable. She kept attention focused on the affected by refusing
to utter the killer’s name. And she channeled the grief and rage of
her country into meaningful change, pushing through reforms of
gun laws only days after the attack.
New Zealand votes again in 2020, and despite Ardern’s popularity
her party is trailing in the polls. While she remains in power, she is
intent on using it against the scourge of far-right extremism, urging
fellow heads of state to join the Christchurch Call, a pledge to work
together to stem terrorist content online. But whatever the election
brings, the world has seen what leadership looks like.
JACINDA
ARDERN
Prime Minister of New Zealand
BY DAN STEWART
ILLUSTR ATION BY VIKTORIA SAVENKOVA FOR TIME
