webfact Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Bill English chosen as New Zealand's prime minister NICK PERRY, Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Bill English, New Zealand's finance minister and a former farmer, will be sworn in as the country's 39th prime minister on Monday after his colleagues in the Parliament chose him as their new leader. English emerged victorious from a meeting of the conservative National Party caucus. Two other candidates for the job withdrew last week after English gained more support than them. He is to be officially sworn in on Monday afternoon. His ascension from deputy prime minister follows the surprise resignation last week of John Key after eight years as prime minister. Key was a popular leader and was expected to contest a fourth straight election next year. But he said he wanted to leave while he was on top and to spend more time with his wife and two children. English, 54, has degrees in commerce and literature. He has been praised for his handling of the country's economy in his role as finance minister. A practicing Roman Catholic, English has been a politician for 26 years, after he was first elected to the parliament in 1990. He had a previous unsuccessful stint as party leader, taking his party to a big election defeat in 2002. He said he's gained wisdom and experience since then. "I was 39 years old then, with six children under 13," he said last week. "So if nothing else, I've got the opportunity to focus much more on the job now." Under English, New Zealand has been enjoying relatively robust annual GDP growth of more than 3 percent and the unemployment rate has fallen below 5 percent. English has also managed to return small surpluses on the government's books over the past couple of years. English said he will deliver tax cuts and spread the country's growing wealth to where it is needed. -- © Associated Press 2016-12-12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvr181 Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Are there any other western nations learning? Nah - didn't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwiken Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Bill English a failed Southland Farmer pushed into Politics by his family as he was such a poor Farmer. All the personality of a stale Cornflake. What does the World need to learn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
optad Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 New Zealand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sule9 Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Perhaps Guptil would have been choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 I know nothing about English, but I am glad the man that presided over a housing crisis that had NZ families living in cars has gone. Only popular with rich people, IMO. I'd like to know the real reason that Key resigned. Hopefully the truth will out, eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now