New Zealand PM Key announces shock resignation, backs finance minister

Reuters: New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who won praise for his economic stewardship after the global financial crisis, unexpectedly announced his resignation on Monday after eight years in power, backing his finance minister to take the helm.

Bill English, deputy prime minister and finance minister, said he would likely decide overnight whether to stand for the leadership of the ruling centre-right National Party at a special December 12 caucus meeting.

Key, a popular former foreign exchange dealer who grew up in state housing, is part-way through a third, three-year term that has been marked by political stability and economic reform.

He told reporters he would stay in parliament long enough for his party to avoid a by-election for his seat. National elections are not expected until late 2017.

New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key

“It leaves the Cabinet and caucus plenty of time to settle in with a new Prime Minister before heading into election year with a proud record of strong economic management,” Key told reporters in Wellington.

“I am hugely confident that National can and will win the next election.”

Key said he would vote for English if he stood for party leader and prime minister at the December 12 caucus meeting.

“I’ll be talking to caucus and family today and tonight,” English told reporters. “I wouldn’t stand if there wasn’t strong caucus support for me standing.”

English, a political veteran who previously worked on the family farm and as a Treasury Department policy analyst, would likely continue with many of Key’s core policies, analysts said.

Steven Joyce, who has held a variety of senior cabinet positions since joining the parliament in 2008, is seen as another potential candidate, while Judith Collins, the minister for police and corrections, told local media she would not rule out running.