Why did he step down? Who fills his shoes? What does it mean for next year's election? Kathryn Ryan speaks to political commentators Matthew Hooton and Stephen Mills.
Stephen Mills, left, and Matthew Hooton. Photo: RNZ/Dru Faulkner
Stephen Mills:
"He was marketed as a businessman but if you look at his career he was essentially a brilliant foreign exchange trader, and they made brutal decisions on what’s in front of them in the moment and then just move on, and I think that’s the way he operated.
He was great at dominating the news cycle, and he won three election campaigns but his legacy as a prime minister is very mixed."
Matthew Hooton:
"What he believes in is stability. He believed if radical changes were made to deliver some quick gains to the economy he believed it want necessary to make such disruptive changes which could harm people’s lives in order to get the gains he was seeking – he believed small changes can deliver bigger gains down the track.”
