Prime Minister of New Zealand of the few countries in the world to have had three female heads of government, and one of only three countries to have had a female head of government directly succeed another. The first female prime minister was Jenny Shipley of the National Party, who replaced Jim Bolger in late 1997; Shipley was succeeded by Helen Clark in 1999. Jacinda Ardern, the second female leader of the Labour Party after Clark, became prime minister in 2017. On becoming the Colony of New Zealand in 1841, New Zealand was directly governed by a governor, appointed by the Colonial Office in Britain.
Helen Clark by secret ballot in October 2016. Clark finished fifth place in the sixth poll—her candidacy was effectively vetoed when three of the permanent Security Council members voted against her. Clark's bid for Secretary-General is the topic of a documentary film, "My Year With Helen", directed by Gaylene Preston, which premiered in February 2018. Clark was brought up as a Presbyterian Christian, attending Sunday school weekly. When she was Prime Minister she described herself as an agnostic. She married sociologist Peter Davis, her partner of five years in 1981, shortly before she was elected to Parliament. Clark had been under pressure