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Home / New Zealand

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reveals how she spent her 40th birthday

NZ Herald
27 Jul, 2020 07:44 AM3 mins to read

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PM Jacinda Ardern was surprised with a cake and a birthday singalong at Newtown Markets on Saturday. Video / NZ Labour Party

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern turned 40 yesterdayand says she spent the day "having some quiet time" and reading Cabinet papers.

Asked about her birthday during this afternoon's presser on funding for educational institutions, Ardern described how she spent her special day.

"Like everyone else actually, a bit of cake and a bit of quiet time," she said, before adding: "that's actually not true, not like everyone else. I don't think everyone else probably reads Cabinet papers on their birthday, but I did."

Known among those who work with her for carrying a briefcase full of documents home each night, Ardern was this morning surprised with an edible version.

The PM shared a snap of the "briefcake" on her Instagram page.

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It seems entirely appropriate that this was the amazing cake the office blew me away with this morning. Every night they send me off with one of these briefcases, an edible one made for a very nice change! Thanks team, very grateful to work with such an amazing group of people.

A post shared by Jacinda Ardern (@jacindaardern) on Jul 26, 2020 at 4:45pm PDT

"It seems entirely appropriate that this was the amazing cake the office blew me away with this morning," she wrote.

"Every night they send me off with one of these briefcases, an edible one made for a very nice change!

In the presser, she said the cake was "fantastic".

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"A little heavy on the fondant, as you can imagine," she added.

Her partner Clarke Gayford also took to Instagram yesterday to share a birthday tribute to his "favourite achiever".

View this post on Instagram

I don't really do these posts, but I think a bit of symmetry like the number 40 is worth positing on. Happy Birthday today to my favourite achiever in the whole wide world, someone, who despite everything on her plate, still finds time to squeeze lots of fun, love and happiness into our wee family unit. The. Best. xx

A post shared by Clarke Gayford (@clarkegayford) on Jul 26, 2020 at 1:00am PDT

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