Jacinda Ardern Facts: New Zealand Gets Its Youngest Female Prime Minister

Jacinda Ardern, 37, of the Labour Party is set to become New Zealand's third female prime minister after the the New Zealand First leader, Winston Peters, agreed Thursday to support Ardern in forming a coalition government, reports said.

Ardern will be New Zealand's youngest female prime minister. The nation previously had two female prime ministers — National Party's Jenny Shipley (1997 to 1999) and Ardern's own mentor, Helen Clark (1999 to 2008). She is also the youngest person to lead the country in more than 150 years of the nation's history, Independent reported.

The development puts an end to almost a month of uncertainty and weeks of negotiations carried out by Peters with both Ardern and Prime Minister Bill English's National Party after Sept. 23 general election resulted in a hung parliament, reports said.

"This is an exciting day. We aspire to be a government for all New Zealanders and one that will seize the opportunity to build a fairer, better New Zealand," Ardern said, according to abc.net.au.

The coalition process has apparently taken a toll on Peters and his political team. In an interview with Newstalk ZB — a nationwide talk radio network operated by New Zealand Media and Entertainment Radio — Peters said: "Unlike most political meetings on these occasions you've got to pay attention from the start to the finish, you can't afford to miss anything. It's been one of those very, very highly concentrated environments. But that's what you'd expect in any business."

Peters also admitted he would expect criticism even if he didn't agree with the coalition. "I'd be utterly surprised if it didn't happen," he said. "But that doesn't avoid the fact that we have to make a decision and that's what we're here for. We're not making a decision by ourselves, we are not holding the country to ransom."

He added: "I know that others will be saying but you promised this and you promised that but the fact is, extenuating circumstances and clarity and certainty are far more important than coming to an agreement in haste and regretting it in the future."

Here are some facts about Ardern.

1) Jacinda's passion for social justice made her join the Labour Party in 1997 when she was just 17. She was elected to the Parliament in 2008.

2) She has experience in areas such as policy development, managing a large international non-governmental organization.

3) Before entering the Parliament, she worked for two-and-a-half years for the Better Regulation Executive that leads the regulatory reform agenda across the United Kingdom government. As an associate director, she was responsible for improving the way the local authorities, in particular, interfaced with business.

4) In 2007, she became the second woman to be elected as the president of the largest international political youth organization in the world — International Union Of Socialist Youth. In that role, she spent time traveling in places such as Jordan, Israel and Algeria through to China.