World leaders: Before and after they took office

As John Key resigns as New Zealand Prime Minister, we look at the dramatic transformations of six world leaders.

Presidents and Prime Ministers

Love them or loathe them, there is no doubt that being the leader of a country is more high pressure than the vast majority of jobs.

And with every politician sure they can make a difference to the nation they serve, many of them begin their terms in the White House, the Beehive or Downing Street, fresh faced and full of youthful enthusiasm.

But after a decade running a country, the stress of doing so can sure start to take its toll.

In December, Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key announced he would step down from his position as he had nothing more to give the country. We took a look at how he’s changed since a forty-something leader in 2008, and how other world leaders fared over their terms of office.

Click through for John Key’s thank you to New Zealand.

John Key was only in his forties when he became the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand in 2008.

He announced he would step down from the role in December 2016, after deciding he needed to put family first.

Tony Blair, of the Labour Party, led the UK from 1997 to 2007.

Although he was a popular Prime Minister for many years, he received huge backlash for embarking on the invasion of Iraq and the Iraq War, along with then American President George Bush. The Iraq Inquiry, published in 2016, criticised his actions and deemed the invasion unnecessary.

Bill Clinton was a Democrat and President of America from 1993 to 2001. He served for two terms and endured several scandals, including the affair with a 22-year-old colleague, Monica Lewinsky.

Bill left the White House after two terms in 2001.

George W Bush was elected after Clinton, to become the 43rd President of the United States. He came from a political family, with both his father and grandfather having being politicians.

During his 8 year, two term rule, Bush launched the War on Terror, in response to the attacks on The World Trade Centre.

Helen Clark was Prime Minister of New Zealand between 1999 and 2008.

Following her three terms as Prime Minister, Clark has gone onto work for the United Nations, and has been named by Forbes as one of the World’s Most Influential Women.