Caleb Clark

Caleb Aaron Clark (born 11 November 1969; in Dunedin, Nieu-Seeland) is the 40th and current Prime Minister of Nieu-Seeland and leader of the National Liberal Party.

Clark entered the Nieu-Seeland House of Representatives in 2005 after overturning a large majority to win the constituency of Christchurch West from the Labour Party. He has held the seat since then. On many occassions Clark was offered position in the Shadow Cabinet by then NLP leader Joe Watson. Clark refused until 2007 when he was offered the position of Spokesman for Defence. Upon Watson's retirement due to illness in July 2008, Clark was the hotly tipped favourite to succeed him as National Liberal Party leader.

Watson's death in September 2008 pushed back the leadership contest until October, just one month before the November 2008 general election. Clark won the leadership and just one month later, he led his party to the second largest landslide victory in Nieu-Seeland's history.

Among the many records he holds in Nieu-Seeland politics, Clark is the youngest Prime Minister in Nieu-Seeland's history.

Personal life
Caleb Clark was born just west of Dunedin, Nieu-Seeland, to Alexander Clark and Mary Clark *(née Ford). His father was a farmer turned banker and his mother was a nurse for the local hospital. Clark is the youngest of three children, having an older brother, Aiden, and an older sister, Hayley.

Clark's father was forced to sell the family farm in the 1970s during the now infamous Nieu-Seeland farming reforms of the Labour government. The family moved up the coast to Christchurch where Caleb's father found work as a banker and his mother continued on as a nurse.

Education
He attended Christchurch West High School and earned a scholarship to the University of Canterbury. In 1990 he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in financing and accounting. During his time at university Clark worked at First National bank, at the time Nieu-Seeland's largest bank.

Before politics
Whilst working for First National, he quickly learned how markets work and in 1987 Clark took out a personal loan and invested half of it (NS$3,500; ~1,560 Auralian dollars) in gold. He continued to invest in gold bullion whilst working for the bank Morgan-Frasier. When his maternal grandmother died in 1991, Caleb invested all of his inheritance money into gold. Family and friends often stated they criticised him heavily for this.

In 1992-1993, Nieu-Seeland slid into a recession. During this time, Clark's investment in gold paid off. Banks, businesses and even the government bought up stocks in gold as a means to lower risk. By late 1993, Clark had sold half of his gold shares for an estimated NS$250,000 (A$111,000). As the market and economy showed signs of recovery, Clark sold off the remainder of his gold shares. In 1994 at the age of 25 Clark became a millionaire.

At this time his calculated risks were noticed by the management of the Morgan-Frasier bank. During consultations, Clark suggested various courses of actions the bank could take during the economic recovery Nieu-Seeland was experiencing at this time. Clark became an investment manager and took charge of Morgan-Frasier's risky assets.

Clark worked for Morgan-Frasier until 2004. During that time, Morgan-Frasier overtook Clark's former employer, First National, to become Nieu-Seeland's second largest bank behind North Crown.