New Zealand party leader quits after election loss


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The leader of New Zealand's main liberal party has resigned after suffering a humiliating election defeat.

Labour Party leader David Cunliffe announced Saturday he was quitting but still planned to compete against other candidates in a primary to try and win the leadership back.

The announcement comes one week after the Labour Party suffered its worst election result in more than 90 years, winning less than 25 percent of the vote.

The election saw Prime Minister John Key returned to office for a third term after his center-right National Party won 48 percent of the vote.

In a statement, Cunliffe took responsibility for the loss.

The Labour Party's rules require it to now hold a leadership primary with weighted voting among party leaders, members and affiliates.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent World stories

Related topics

World
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast