What's the deal on this guy? Is he your country's version of Barack Obama?
John Key is conservative National Party- equivalent to your Republican party.
The Maori Party will not hold the balance of power here. Key does not need them in coalition to govern. But he has indicated he will discuss things with them, but again, he does not need them to govern (they ended up with 5 seats). He will, however, be bringing Act and United Future in with him to complete a centre-right setup.
But on the global english-speaking scene this result makes for a very interesting picture for the political landscape-
UK .. Socialist
Australia .. Socialist
USA .. Socialist
New Zealand .. Conservative
Canada .. Conservative
> What’s the deal on this guy? Is he your country’s version of Barack Obama?
He is about the same age as Obama, and the similarities really end there. I’d call him the “anti-Obama”, if that makes sense. He’s a self-made millionaire who has actually accomplished meaningful things in life. Jewish Mum. Plenty of substance, not all show. Not a particularly inspiring orator. Not corrupt. No known dodgy criminal or terrorist connections.
I have met John Key several times and I am impressed.
Because Barack Obama has a fair degree of populist appeal here, John Key cleverly made a linkage between him and Obama in people’s minds. That is about as far as the similarity goes.
John Key is right-of-center.