Roundup: Race begins for next New Zealand prime minister

Three Cabinet ministers from New Zealand's ruling center-right National Party emerged Tuesday in the contest for the next prime minister.

Other big names were keeping tight-lipped on whether they would enter the ring following Prime Minister John Key's surprise announcement Monday that he is resigning after eight years in power and retiring from Parliament.

Key has endorsed Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bill English in the race, which is set to be decided by National Party Members of Parliament on Dec. 12.

However, a smooth succession was thrown into doubt Tuesday when Health Minister Jonathan Coleman announced he would contest the leadership followed by the nomination of Judith Collins, who holds the Police and Corrections portfolios.

English, 54, remains the presumptive favorite despite his previous experience of leading the party to a disastrous election defeat in 2002.

English told Radio New Zealand Tuesday that the circumstances were different now.

"The National Party was different, the political environment was quite different, I've worked closely with the Prime Minister, learnt an awful lot in those 15 years and I think it's partly because of that experience can see the opportunities ahead," he said.

English said in a social media statement Tuesday that he had "a particular interest in grappling with our most intractable social problems."

"After 10 years under John Key's (party) leadership, we are reshaping government to more effectively support people with complicated needs and to work with them to become independent, but there is more to be done," he said.

As well as Key, English has picked up the support of six other Cabinet ministers.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman emerged as the self-proclaimed change to "the status quo" with "relative youth" on his side.

In a video posted on his Facebook page, Coleman, 50, said the party would have to build on its achievements in power over the last eight years.

"I feel it needs generational change. It's going to need new thinking in policy areas. It's going to need some new personnel - so combining the best of the current line-up with those who are coming through the caucus," he said.

However, Coleman's time in the health portfolio has been blighted by criticisms that the public health system is underfunded and failing to cope as well as a recent strike by junior hospital doctors.

Judith Collins, 57, is considered to be one of the more polarizing figures in the Cabinet and has a reputation for a combative style.

Collins has a history of controversy, having been forced to resign from Cabinet and her Justice portfolio in 2014 after e-mail leaks alleged she had colluded with a right-wing "attack blogger" in a bid to undermine the head of the Serious Fraud Office.

A controversial inquiry cleared her of the allegations, and in December last year Key recalled Collins to Cabinet in her current portfolios.

She told Radio New Zealand after announcing she would stand on Tuesday that she had "never been one to shy away from tough decisions."

Asked if it was important to have a woman in the race, she replied, "I think it's actually really important that the best people for the jobs get them and I happen to think I am, in fact, one of those people."

A poll taken in September and October - before Key's resignation announcement - asked the public who they would prefer to succeed Key in the event of his resignation.

The UMR Research poll found English as the favorite on 21 percent, followed by Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce on 16 percent, Climate Change Issues Minister Paula Bennett on 11 percent and Collins on 6 percent. Endit