New Zealand’s prime minister has been caught calling a rival politician an “arrogant p***k” during a parliamentary debate.

Labour’s Jacinda Ardern made the comment as she returned to her seat following a series of questions from libertarian ACT leader David Seymour.

Thanks to a hot microphone, the vulgarity was picked up in parliament and entered into the official transcript of the debate.

The name-calling incident was also broadcast on Parliament TV, but missed by most MPs as house speaker Adrian Rurawhe started talking at the same time.

Ms Ardern’s office said she apologised to Mr Seymour for the remark.

The transcript details that Mr Seymour asked: “Can the prime minister give an example of her making a mistake, apologising for it properly, and fixing it?”

To which Ms Ardern replied: “There’s been a number of occasions where we acknowledge that we will not have perfect responses…

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“But I stand by the work that we’ve done as a government over this last year and over this past term-we’ve always made decisions that we believe to be in the best interests of New Zealand at the time.

“[Prime minister resumes seat] He’s such an arrogant prick.”

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‘Very out of character’

The 42-year-old has been prime minister for five years and has enjoyed high approval ratings for most of her two-term tenure, but now faces a tough election campaign in 2023.

According to reports, Mr Seymour later confirmed he had received an apology from Ms Ardern in a text message.

Speaking to AP, the MP said he was “absolutely shocked and astonished” at the PM’s language and described it as being “very out of character”.

In a video report by Newshub, he added: “Jacinda Ardern text me and said, ‘I apologise. It’s not something I should have said.’

“And she said, ‘As my mum would say, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all.’ I agree with the sentiment, and it’s all good as far as I’m concerned.”

Sky News has contacted Ms Ardern’s office for a comment.

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