Do we like John Key?
Our score: 6 out of 10. A clear win on same-sex marriage, set against a vaccine claim Pfizer rejected, the ponytail saga and a settled defamation claim.
John Key is the former National Party prime minister, and he was knighted in 2017 for services to the state. Asked on the day what he was proudest of, he pointed to steering the country through the global economic crisis. These days he is a businessman and an elder statesman who still gets a ring from the current National leadership.
The ugliest legal stoush was the teapot tape. Key said journalist Bradley Ambrose had deliberately recorded a café chat with another politician, and Ambrose sued for defamation, claiming $1.25 million. In 2016 it settled at a High Court hearing with a small confidential payment, and Key said he now accepted Ambrose hadn't acted improperly. Key called it “a pragmatic solution”.
Then there's Ponytailgate. In 2015 a waitress's blog post alleged that Key had repeatedly pulled her ponytail at a café he visited. His office said it was meant to be light-hearted and that he had apologised to her. It's an awkward look for a PM, though what's on the record is a single account and an apology, not a pattern.
Nicky Hager's book Dirty Politics alleged that Key's office ran a dirty tricks campaign through right-wing bloggers; Key rejected the claims at the time. The 2018 police settlement with Hager was about an unlawful search of his home, and the report doesn't link that to Key. Treat it as an allegation that was never tested against him in court.
On the harm check, the big tick is marriage equality. In 2012 Key said he would vote for the bill in a conscience vote, and called the public debate “quite healthy”. In 2024 he told his own party to “take the temperature down a wee bit” on race debates, and said Māori should be treated with respect as the indigenous people and Treaty partners.
The marks come later. In 2021 Key said New Zealand could have bought vaccines earlier for $40 million more, and Pfizer called the claim “incorrect and baseless”. Clarke Gayford, the then PM's partner, accused him of “disinformation”. He has also gone into property with the Chow brothers, who rose to prominence through brothel ownership. That is business company, not harmful words, so it doesn't change the harm result on its own.