Rt Hon John Key

Prime Minister of New Zealand

Biography

Prime Minister John Key was born in Auckland but moved to Christchurch with his mother and sisters when he was a child. He was educated at Burnside High School and then gained a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Canterbury.

John launched his investment banking career in New Zealand in the mid 1980s. After 10 years working in the New Zealand market he headed offshore, working in Singapore, London, and Sydney for US investment banking giant Merrill Lynch. During that time he was in charge of a number of business units including global foreign exchange and European bond and derivative trading. In 1999, John was invited to join the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of NY and on two occasions undertook management studies at Harvard University in Boston.

In 2001, John headed back to New Zealand to fulfill a long-held ambition to stand for Parliament for the National Party. He won the Helensville seat in 2002 with a majority of 1589. John rose through the ranks, becoming deputy finance spokesman and then finance spokesman, rising to number 7 in the party ranking prior to the 2005 election. At the 2005 election he again won the Helensville seat, this time with a majority of 12,778. He continued to be the Party’s finance spokesman and was ranked at number 4 before being elected National Party Leader on 27 November 2006.

In the November 2008 General Election, the country voted for a National-led Government and John was re-elected as MP for Helensville with an increased majority of 18,562 votes. On November 19 he was sworn in as New Zealand’s 38th Prime Minister.

John is married to Brenagh and has 2 children. When he has some spare time he likes to spend it with his family, cooking, playing golf, and watching rugby.

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