The couple met in 2012.

Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, spoke recently about how she plans on marrying her partner later this year. During a radio interview on Coast FM, Ardern said that she and Clarke Gayford intend to get married during summer in the Southern Hemisphere, which runs from December through to February. "When I say we’ve got a date, that doesn’t mean we’ve actually told anyone yet," Ardern said on air. "So, I feel like we should probably put some invites out." The interviewer also asked Ardern about whether she'll have a traditional wedding, or if she'll go in a less conventional direction. "I feel a bit too old to have a bridal party," she said. "I don’t know if it’s just me, but for some reason I just feel like there are some things that, because I’m getting on a bit, I just need to forgo." The New Zealand Prime Minister met Gayford, a TV presenter in 2012. In 2018, Ardern announced that she was pregnant. She then became the second every elected head of government to give birth while in office. Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto became the first in 1990. In June 2018, the couple welcomed their daughter Neve. The politician chose an Anglicized spelling of the Irish name to help New Zealanders with the pronunciation. "When we met her we thought she looked like she suited the name," she said, at the time. Ardern was sworn in as New Zealand PM in October 2017. She was 37 years old at the time of her election, making her the world's youngest female head of government. Throughout her political career, Ardern has been praised for her leadership of the country, particularly for her response to the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019, and her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.