In a shock move today during his weekly press conference, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced that he is resigning.
“This is the hardest decision I’ve ever made and I don’t know what I’ll do next,” he told reporters during an emotional speech.
Key added that he had “given everything I could to this job” but had never seen himself as a career politician and “did not believe I could look the public in the eye” and say he planned to serve a fourth term.
“I gave everything I had, I had nothing left in the tank,” he said.
He also indicated that his time as Prime Minister “had come at quite some sacrifice from the people who are dearest to me, my family”.
The New Zealand Herald reports that Key’s wife Bronagh asked him to resign – and during the press conference, he said they had had a “pretty long discussion” about the topic during their recent trip to Hawaii.
However, despite the difficulties, Key said in his speech that his time as Prime Minister had “been the most remarkable and satisfying time of my life”.
“I’m going to leave forever grateful to the New Zealand public that gave me a chance,” he continued.
The National Party caucus will be holding a meeting on December 12 to elect the new party leader and Prime Minister.
Bill English is tipped to take over in the role of Prime Minister, with Steven Joyce stepping up in the finance role.
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