John Key

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Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand former politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016.

After resigning from both posts in December 2016 and leaving politics, Key was appointed to board of director and chairmanship roles in New Zealand corporations. Born in Auckland before moving to Christchurch when he was a child, Key attended the University of Canterbury and graduated in 1981 with a bachelor of commerce.

He began a career in the foreign exchange market in New Zealand before moving overseas to work for Merrill Lynch, in which he became head of global foreign exchange in 1995, a position he would hold for six years.

In 1999 he was appointed a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York until leaving in 2001. Key entered the New Zealand Parliament representing the Auckland electorate of Helensville as one of the few new National members of parliament in the election of 2002 following National's significant defeat of that year.

In 2004, he was appointed Finance Spokesman for National and eventually succeeded Don Brash as the National Party leader in 2006.

After two years as Leader of the Opposition, Key led his party to victory at the November 2008 general election.

He was subsequently sworn in as Prime Minister on 19 November 2008.

The National government went on to win two more general elections under his leadership: in November 2011 and September 2014.

Key was expected to contest for a fourth term of office at the 2017 general election, but on 5 December 2016 he resigned as Prime Minister and leader of the National Party.

He was succeeded by Bill English on 12 December 2016. As Prime Minister, Key led the Fifth National Government of New Zealand which entered government at the beginning of the late-2000s recession in 2008.

In his first term, Key's government implemented a GST rise and personal tax cuts.

In February 2011, a major earthquake in Christchurch, the nation's second largest city, significantly affected the national economy and the government formed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority in response.

In its second term, Key's government implemented a policy of partial privatisation of five state-owned enterprises, while voters in a citizens-initiated referendum on the issue were 2 to 1 opposed to the policy.

In foreign policy, Key withdrew New Zealand Defence Force personnel from their deployment in the war in Afghanistan, signed the Wellington Declaration with the United States and pushed for more nations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Early life and education

Key was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to George Key (1914–1969) and Ruth Key (née Lazar; 1922–2000) on 9 August 1961. His father was an English immigrant and a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Key and his two sisters were raised in a state house in the Christchurch suburb of Bryndwr by his mother, an Austrian-Jewish immigrant. Key is the third prime minister or premier of New Zealand to have Jewish ancestry, after Julius Vogel and Francis Bell.

He attended Aorangi School, and then Burnside High School from 1975 to 1979, where he met his wife, Bronagh. He went on to attend the University of Canterbury and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting in 1981. He also attended management studies courses at Harvard University.

Personal life

On 25 July 2008, Key was added to the New Zealand National Business Review (NBR) Rich List for the first time. The list details the wealthiest New Zealand individuals and family groups. He had an estimated wealth of NZ$50 million, which made him the wealthiest New Zealand Member of Parliament. In the 2016 NBR Rich List, Key had an estimated wealth of NZ$60 million. Most of his financial investments are held in a blind trust.

Key married Bronagh Irene Dougan in 1984; they met when they were both students at Burnside High School. She has a BCom degree, and worked as a personnel consultant before becoming a full-time mother. They have two children, Stephie and Max. Max is a night-time radio host for George FM, and is also a singer. Stephie is a performance artist.

In 2008 Key stated that he attended church frequently with his children, but was an agnostic. He has said that he does not believe in an afterlife, and sees religion as "doing the right thing".

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Career before politics

In 1982, Key's first work was as an auditor at McCulloch Menzies. He then became a project manager for Lane Walker Rudkin, a Christchurch-based clothing company. He began working as a foreign exchange dealer at Elders Finance in Wellington and rose to the position of head foreign exchange trader two years later, before being relocated to Auckland-based Bankers Trust in 1988.

He joined Merrill Lynch in 1995 as the head of the Asian foreign exchange in Singapore. At 2001 exchange rates, he was promoted to Merrill's global head of foreign exchange, based in London, where he may have earned more than USD 2.25 million a year, which is about NZ$5 million. Some coworkers referred to him as "the smiling assassin" for retaining his normal joia while sacking hundreds (some say hundreds) of employees following the 1998 Russian financial crisis, which has caused significant unemployment. From 1999 to 2001, he served on the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

National Party president John Slater began recruiting him in 1998 after finding out that he was keen on pursuing a political career. Jenny Shipley, the party's former leader, lists him as one of the individuals she "liberately sought out and put my head on the line" – whether privately or publicly – to have them in there."

Early political career

Auckland's population increased in 2002, when a new electorate named Helensville, which included the north-western corner of the Auckland urban area, was elected. Through boundary changes, key beat long-serving National MP Brian Neeson (who's own Waitakere seat had shifted to being a Labour seat) for the National Party Helensville pick. Key gained the seat with a majority of 1,705, ahead of Labour's Gary Russell, who now stands as an outsider.

In the 2002 election, the National Party was largely defeated, winning only 29% of the party's total vote – the party's lowest-ever election result. Don Brash, another of the 2002 recruits, launched a leadership coup against Bill English following the fallout. Key was voted out of office by England and his allies, who were confident they had the numbers with him. Brash barely won 14 votes to 12, and at the time it was thought that Key had changed his support to Brash. The votes were private, though later Key said he did vote for English.

Key re-elected in 2005 after winning 63% of the vote. In 2008, he gained 73% of the popular vote.

Key was given more opportunities and responsibilities than any other new Members of Parliament. Key was promoted to the Opposition front benches in 2004 after serving as Brash's deputy finance spokesperson. Michael Cullen, the Minister of Finance and a veteran of 23 years in parliament, was up for retaliation. Key was feared he'd be out of his place in his first term against Cullen, and there was talk among the opposition of trying to "protect" Key. Key matched Cullen in the debates during the 2005 election campaign, but political commentators said he may have benefited from Labour's emphasis on discrediting Brash.

Despite the fact that Brash lost the election, Key remained as the finance spokesperson. He was promoted to number four on the list, partially due to his success in promoting the party's tax package during the campaign. Although Keys' goal to become a leader had been telegraphed early in his career, he was now rated highly on preferred Prime Minister polls. Key was expected to take over the leadership, according to rumors that he was destined to become the natural successor.

Things came to a halt sooner than expected. Brash resigned as the leader in November 2006, citing damaging rumors over his future as the reason. The resignation of Brash due to scandals surrounding an extramarital affair and leaked internal National Party documents that were later revealed in the book The Hollow Men, as a result. Key stood for the party's leadership after months of rumors, and was unopposed.

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