Bill English

Simon William "Bill" English, born 1961 is the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Infrastructure of New Zealand.

English entered parliament in 1990 as a National party MP representing the Wallace electorate. In 1999 English served as Minister of Finance for a brief period until National, under the leadership of Jenny Shipley at the time, lost the election later that year. In October 2001 he replaced Shipley as the leader of the National Party, but after a disastrous result in the 2002 election he was replaced as the leader by Don Brash in October 2003. After Don Brash's resignation in November 2006 he became deputy leader of the party under John Key, becoming the Deputy Prime Minister after a November 2008 election victory.

English was born in the small Southland town of Dipton. He was a boarder at St. Patrick's College, Silverstream in Wellington, and was Head Boy. He later gained degrees in commerce at the University of Otago, where he was a resident at Selwyn College and in English literature, at Victoria University of Wellington. After completing his studies, he returned to Dipton to work as a farmer. In 1987, he returned to Wellington to work as a policy analyst in the New Zealand Treasury, returning to Dipton two years later.

He married a GP, Mary, and they now have six children. He is an active Roman Catholic, but considers his religious beliefs personal and separate from politics.

On 7 June 2002, English took part in TV3's Fight For Life, a celebrity boxing fundraiser, in this case for the Yellow Ribbon anti youth-suicide campaign. English took part because of the death of a teenage nephew in 1997,and lost to entertainer Ted Clarke.

On 2 November 2003, when Brash announced changes in responsibilities for certain MPs, English became National's spokesman for education, ranked at fifth place in the party's parliamentary hierarchy. He remained in parliament after the 2005 election. In his new shadow education portfolio, English performed strongly, and remained a party favourite despite his election defeat as leader in 2002, as indicated by his subsequent appointment as Deputy Leader of the Opposition (see below) and spokesman for Finance and Revenue.

English became Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand in the Fifth National Government, being sworn into office on 19 November 2008. He also became Minister of Finance and gained the new portfolio of Minister of Infrastructure.

Living allowances controversy

In 2009, the media, including TVNZ and TV3 revealed that English was receiving about NZ$900 a week as part of a living allowance for ministers, to live in his own NZ$1.2 million Wellington home. English also receives $276,200 in his annual salary as Deputy Prime Minister. It was also revealed other ministers with homes in the capital city were also claiming accommodation allowances. On Monday 3 August 2009, Prime Minister John Key announced a review of the housing allowances claimed by cabinet ministers. The Prime Minister also stated that English was only claiming what he was entitled to under current ministerial housing allowances.