Jacinda Ardern reveals secret quirks

  • 10/08/2017

Jacinda Ardern has revealed a number of quirky facts about herself in a Facebook live broadcast.

Ms Ardern answered supporters' questions in the half hour broadcast - some serious and some not so much.

Here are some of the things we learnt about the new Labour leader.

She's a Fat Freddy's Drop fan

If Ms Ardern becomes Prime Minister, she's open to Fat Freddy's Drop playing at her inauguration party.

She first saw the Wellington dub legends perform at The Matterhorn, but thinks it could be tricky to get them on stage at Parliament.

"I don't know if Parliament's grounds are large enough to host every past, present and current band member from Fat Freddy's Drop."

She would legalise medicinal cannabis

"I feel quite attached to this issue," she said, describing having a friend who used cannabis to help her suffering.

"In my perspective it's a no-brainer. We should improve access, we should allow access - it's the right thing to do."

She likes cats

"Yeah, I do. As a child I've always had cats, in part because my father refused to allow me to have a dog," she said.

"But I have a cat right now. It's a polydactyl, so it's got opposable thumbs, and it's called Paddles. I do resist from posting too much about Paddles, lest I look like a cat lady. But she's pretty amazing."

She had a pet lamb as a kid

"I was allowed a sheep. I had a lamb, called Reggie," she said.

"As many people who have had sheep will know, often mothers who have given birth to twins will often reject the second one. And so Reggie was a second.

"Reggie was amazing.  He acted like he was a human."

She campaigned to allow girls to wear pants at school

At a meeting at Morrinsville on Thursday, Ms Ardern told student reps one of her first campaigns was to allow girls to wear pants at the school - a proud moment in her long career.

She likes whisky

"You know what, the terrible answer is I like all of them. Always a good smoky, peaty, Islay you can't go past," she says.

"But sometimes you get those Highlands that are a bit of both, tastes a little bit of a Speyside and a little bit like a Islay. I'm not fussy."

But loathes Earl Grey tea

"I don't really drink coffee. I used to a lot but now - I moved to London and the coffee was a bit hit and miss so I moved onto tea," she said.

"I actually have very strong feelings about this. This might be polarising but I'm going to answer it anyway. I despise Earl Grey tea. I think it tastes like potpourri. Never been a fan. Never been a fan.

"Like, if someone gives me a cup of Earl Grey I'll drink it, I'm not going to brood about it, um, but."

And she had a message to a voter who may have been turned off by her tea views.

"You know what Ryan, if you vote for me I will drink a cup of Earl Grey the day after the election. That is my commitment to you."

Newshub.