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Long-standing New Zealand foreign minister to leave politics

Xinhua, December 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

New Zealand will have a new top diplomat on the global stage from next year after Foreign Minister Murray McCully on Thursday announced his retirement from politics.

McCully, who has been foreign minister since the center-right National Party came to power in 2008, said he would not seek re-election in the 2017 general election.

He is the third minister to say he will leave Parliament since Prime Minister John Key announced his shock resignation last week and Bill English was elected the new leader.

English is expected to announce a Cabinet reshuffle this coming weekend.

"I feel greatly privileged to have had a unique partnership with John Key in managing New Zealand's foreign policy interests for over eight years," McCully said in a statement reported by Radio New Zealand.

"We can look back on some significant foreign policy achievements, including New Zealand's election to the United Nations Security Council."

McCully was in New York, holding final meetings at the UN as New Zealand's two-year term on the Security Council draws to a close at the end of this year. Endit