New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced his resignation, saying that he would step down shortly. Key said he will stay in Parliament long enough to avoid a by-election, and that he will vote for Deputy Prime Minister Bill English if he puts his name forward for leader.

Key, 55, who is in his third term as prime minister, was first elected to the country’s top job in 2008, ending the nine-year rule of Labour’s Helen Clark. He has been the leader of the National Party since 2006, and his party was re-elected to government in 2014.

A former foreign exchange dealer who worked at firms including Merrill Lynch, Key won praise for his stewardship of the NZ$240 billion (US$170 billion) economy in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and two devastating earthquakes around Christchurch.