Conservatives win power in New Zealand

New Zealand today elected its first conservative government in almost a decade, ending the rule of one of the world’s longest-serving elected women.

John Key, a 47-year-old multi-millionaire former foreign currency trader, swept easily to power in the South Pacific country of 4.1 million people, ousting Prime Minister Helen Clark’s Labour Party.

“Today, New Zealand has spoken, in their hundreds of thousands, they have voted for change,” Key, leader of the National Party, said in his victory speech, borrowing a slogan from US President-elect Barack Obama.

He made another reference to Obama, saying that unlike the American there would be no new dog for his children after the election.

The worldwide financial crisis loomed large during the campaign, and Key named it as the most serious challenge facing the country.

“The state of the global economy and the global financial crisis means that the road ahead may well be a rocky one,” Key said. “Now, more than ever, New Zealand needs to be on top of his game.”

“Tomorrow, the hard work begins.”

Clark, who was seeking a historic fourth term that would have pushed her rule past a dozen years, accepted responsibility for a crushing loss by quitting as Labour Party leader. She will stay in Parliament, but out of the limelight.

“There’s always a certain time-for-a-change factor and that took us out with the tide,” Clark told reporters.

Clark, a 58-year-old former academic and avid wilderness trekker with a reputation for a serious, even dour, demeanour, has led the country since 1999.