NZ PM Ardern brings baby Neve to UN assembly

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has made history by bringing her infant child to the UN assembly in New York. The Kiwi leader, accompanied by her partner Clarke Gayford, brought Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford, on Monday to a roomful of international leaders and representatives.

Ardern and Gayford were photographed cuddling with their 3-month-old daughter while the NZ PM waited to address the crowd at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit in the main United Nations assembly hall. Baby Neve and her dad later watched from their seats as her mum spoke of Mandela’s heroic legacy.

Television presenter Gayford, Neve’s main caregiver, posted both his UN ID and Neve’s on his social media pages. He quipped that he was a “professional plus one” while showing off his card that read “Spouse of the Prime Minister.” Neve’s ID, on the other hand, identified her as “New Zealand’s First Baby.”

Ardern, the world’s youngest female leader at now 38, is also the second elected head of government to give birth while in office. The first was the late Benazir Bhutto, who gave birth to her daughter in 1990 while she was the prime minister of Pakistan.

Ardern, became her country’s leader in October last year three months after becoming the Labour Party leader, also spoke at the launch of the annual Climate Week event earlier this week.