Conservatives Win New Zealand Election

The National Party has won the New Zealand general election thus thwarting Labour Party leader Helen Clark's attempt to win a fourth term in office. The Labour Party had been in power since 1999.

John Key will become New Zealand's next Prime Minister.

Key is 47 and exactly five days younger than Barack Obama.

I think Key is similar to David Cameron of Britain's Tories in that he has moved his party to the center so how conservative Key will actually be remains to be seen. While he is considered more sympathetic to the United States than his predecessor; New Zealand has long deemed itself a nuclear free zone and thus refuses access to U.S. naval ships to come within 12 miles of its shores. I suspect that this will not change under a National government as it didn't while the National Party was last in power between 1990 and 1999.

It is worth noting that Key is Jewish and becomes the second Jewish Prime Minister in New Zealand's history and is said to be keen to visit Israel.