John Key - Prime Minister

The first seven words of the Herald article say it all:

New Zealand has a new Prime Minister.

At 11.08am John Key signed his warrant of office and seven minutes later he was taking the oath of office. Mr Key is New Zealand's 38th prime minister and at the age of 47 is one of the youngest.

The ceremony was presided over by Governor General Anand Satyanand and was watched over by the 28 new ministers' friends and families.

There was silence in the audience until the Maori Party colleagues of ministers Pita Sharples and Tariana Turia burst into song, as the co-leaders entered the Grand Hall at Parliament.

Mr Key was for the first time called Prime Minister when he was asked to sign his affirmations of office.

The new Cabinet will hold its first meeting this afternoon with Mr Key indicating he will warn his new ministers there is little money for new spending.

He said yesterday he would emphasise that the government's books and the wider economy were in a parlous state.

There are indeed some major challenges ahead for the incoming government, and Labour may not be too disappointed to have lost - hence the rapid exits of Helen Clark and Michael Cullen. However John Key has already put his mark on the ship of state, and in building relationships with National's three support partners so quickly has shown decisiveness that was lacking in the last months of Helen Clark's administration.

John Key has promised an action-packed first 100 days, and Keeping Stock will be watching the progress of New Zealand's 38th Prime Minister with much interest and anticipation.