New Zealand politician and prime minister (1999 ), born in Hamilton, New Zealand. A former lecturer in political studies at Auckland University, she became an MP in 1981, and served in Labour administrations in the 1980s. She became deputy prime minister (1989), leader of the party (1993), and New Zealand's first elected woman prime minister (1999), winning a second term in 2002. She secured a narrow win in the 2005 general election and formed a Labour-led coalition deal with minor parties.
Helen Clark|
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| 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand | |
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| Incumbent | |
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In office since December 5, 1999 |
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| Preceded by | Jenny Shipley |
| Born |
February 26, 1950 Hamilton, New Zealand |
| Constituency | Mount Albert, since 1981 |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Peter Davis |
Helen Elizabeth Clark (born February 26, 1950) became Prime Minister of New Zealand in December 1999 and entered her third successive term in that office in 2005.
Early life
Clark grew up as the eldest of four daughters of a Waikato farming family.
Clark worked as a junior lecturer in Political Studies at the University of Auckland from 1973 to 1975, studied abroad on a University Grants Committee post-graduate scholarship in 1976, and then lectured in political studies at Auckland while undertaking her PhD (which she never completed) from 1977 until her election to Parliament in 1981.
She married sociologist Peter Davis, her partner of five years at that time, shortly before that election (under pressure from some members of the New Zealand Labour Party to marry despite her own feelings about marriage - her biography reports that she cried throughout the ceremony, although she attributes that to a headache) .
As a teenager Clark protested against the Vietnam War and campaigned against foreign military bases in New Zealand.
Involvement in the Labour Party
Clark has worked actively in the New Zealand Labour Party for most of her life. She was chair of the University of Auckland Princes Street branch of the Party during her studies, she held the positions of president of the Labour Youth Council, executive member of the Party's Auckland Regional Council, secretary of the Labour Women's Council and member of the Policy Council.
She represented the New Zealand Labour Party at the congresses of the Socialist International and of the Socialist International Women in 1976, 1978, 1983 and 1986, at an Asia-Pacific Socialist Organisation Conference held in Sydney in 1981 and at the Socialist International Party Leaders' Meeting in Sydney in 1991.
Member of Parliament
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Styles of Helen Clark, New Zealand Prime Minister |
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| Style | Right Honourable (Rt.Hon.) | |
| Post nominals | MP | |
Helen Clark first gained election to the New Zealand House of Representatives in the 1981 general election as one of four women who entered Parliament on that occasion.
Clark served in the Labour cabinets of David Lange (1984 - 1989), Geoffrey Palmer (1989 - 1990) and Mike Moore (1990), first as Minister of Housing and as Minister of Conservation, then as Minister of Health and later as Deputy Prime Minister.
Clark served as Minister of Conservation from August 1987 until January 1989 and as Minister of Housing from August 1987 until August 1989. She chaired the Cabinet Social Equity Committee and became a member of the Cabinet Policy Committee, of the Cabinet Committee on Chief Executives, of the Cabinet Economic Development and Employment Committee, of the Cabinet Expenditure Review Committee, of the Cabinet State Agencies Committee, of the Cabinet Honours Appointments and Travel Committee and of the Cabinet Domestic and External Security Committee.
From October 1990 until December 1993, Clark held the posts of Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Opposition spokesperson for Health and Labour and member of the Social Services Select Committee and of the Labour Select Committee.
Prime Minister
When the New Zealand Labour Party came into office as part of a coalition following the 1999 election, Clark became the second female Prime Minister of New Zealand and the first to have won office at an election. (The previous Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley took office as the result of a mid-term party leadership challenge.)
Clark has held the positions of Prime Minister and of Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage from 1999 until the present.
As Leader of the Labour Party, Clark negotiated the formation of successive minority coalition governments. The coalition with the Alliance Party collapsed in 2002, with the ultimate result that Clark called an early election and then went into coalition with Jim Anderton's Progressive Party, a spin-off of the Alliance Party (2002, with parliamentary supply and confidence coming from United Future and a "good-faith" agreement with the Green Party). In 2005, following the election of that year, the Labour Party and the Progressive Party renewed their coalition, gaining supply-and-confidence support from both New Zealand First and United Future in exchange for giving the leaders of those parties ministerial positions outside Cabinet.
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— Prime Minister Helen Clark, |
Clark supports New Zealand becoming a republic. Some critics of Clark's government have derided her support for a republic, arguing that the Prime Minister has no mandate for such moves, which people who see such things see as "republicanism by stealth" Some observers claim that the Prime Minister desires to be "President Helen" should New Zealand become a republic.
Achievements
Social policy
Clark's government has brought in significant changes to the welfare system, such as child tax credits in the Working for Families package.
Economic Growth
Some commentators have praised Helen Clark (along with the Minister of Finance Michael Cullen) for overseeing a period of sustained and stable economic growth, with an increase in employment that has seen a gradual lowering of the unemployment rate to 3.6%.
Stable government
Even though some commentators saw stable government within the relatively new MMP electoral system as unlikely, Clark's supporters credit her with maintaining two terms of stable MMP government, as well as being able to form the current government given the close election result. Clark has actively promoted New Zealand arts, and this has partially been responsible for the growth in New Zealand music being played on radio.
Crime rate
Police statistics report a drop in the rate of recorded offences by population over the period of Clark's leadership, which continued the trend shown in years prior to her leadership.
Foreign policy
New Zealand has, during Clark's terms of office, pursued what she and her supporters call an "independent" foreign policy.
In March 2003, regarding the U.S. led coalition actions in the Iraq War, Clark told the newspaper Sunday Star Times that, "I don't think that September 11 under a Gore presidency would have had this consequence for Iraq."
Helen Clark has always enjoyed very good relations with China.
Controversies
In 2000 Labour MP Chris Carter investigated the background of one of Clark's Cabinet colleagues, Māori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels.
Clark signed a painting for a charity auction that someone else had painted.
In 2005 a motorcade involving Police, Diplomatic Protection Squad, and Ministerial Services staff reached speeds of up to 172 Km/h when taking Clark and Cabinet Minister Jim Sutton from Waimate to Christchurch Airport so she could attend a rugby match in Wellington.
Clark was criticised for some of Labour's election campaign spending during the 2005 election campaign.
Some criticism has arisen that Clark supported some of her ministers (notably David Benson-Pope and Taito Phillip Field) when they faced allegations of improper behaviour, but gave less support to others such as Lianne Dalziel.
Honours
Helen Clark was awarded the Star of the Solomon Islands in 2005 in recognition of New Zealand's role in restoring law and order in the Solomon Islands .
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