Shock Revelation: John Key and Nicolas Sarkozy – Twins!

The Prime Minister of New Zealand and the President of the French Republic were elected within a year of one another, Nicolas Sarkozy in May 2007, and John Key in November 2008. Key’s National Party and Sarkozy’s UMP are both right of the political center. Apart from the power, their knowledge of finance and the political views they have in common, these heads of state have many personal similarities; they were both raised by Jewish solo mothers, they have strikingly similar taste in women …

Both leaders are the children of immigrants. Key’s father was from Great Britain, Nicolas Sarkozy’s paternal family is Hungarian. Both suffered from the absence of their father. George Key died of heart attack in 1967 when little John was only 6 years old. Paul Sarkozy left his wife Andree and his three sons when Nicolas was 4 years old. He felt abandoned by his father, who he seldom saw.

More surprising perhaps is their Jewish ancestries. John Key was raised in Christchurch by his Austrian-Jewish mother. Sarkozy’s mother is a Sephardic Jew. Nevertheless Nicolas Sarkozy received a catholic education. He visited Pope Benedict XVI in 2007.Key has never been very clear about his religious beliefs. He often goes to church with his two daughters but has said, “I certainly don’t believe in life after death”.

Nicolas Sarkozy and John Key both live a kind of American dream. Models of success, they came from poor backgrounds but managed to become rich. Sarkozy’s father refused to give financial help and the family lived in a small house in Paris. Nicolas’s classmates’ wealth gave him a complex. "What made me who I am now is the sum of all the humiliations suffered during childhood", Sarkozy said according to Catherine Nay's semi-official biography. He began to earn well when he became a lawyer specialising in business and family law. New Zealand’s Prime Minister grew up in a state house in Christchurch. By 1995 he was earning US$ 2.25m a year, after becoming Merill Lynch’s global head of foreign exchange in London. Today he is worth an estimated NZ$ 50 million, whereas Sarkozy is worth about NZ$4 million. Nicolas Sarkozy is the first French President to give himself a raise since General De Gaulle, lifting his yearly salary from NZ$ 202,000 to NZ$ 480,000.

Both politicians have a jet-set lifestyle. Sarkozy has the nickname ‘Bling bling president’, with his Ray-Bans, Rolex and holidays on the yacht of a millionaire friend. John Key often seems much plainer in dress and more discreet in the media, but still spends holidays in his luxurious Hawaiian summer house.

Key and Sarkozy have similar taste in women. Both are married to thin brunettes with blue almond-shaped eyes. Bronagh Key has a good sense of fashion, like Sarkozy’s wife, super model Carla Bruni. Sarkozy’s ex-wife Cecilia Attias also has a striking resemblance to Bronagh Key. Mrs Key confesses to taking little notice of the wives of other politicians, mentioning Carla Bruni by name. The first ladies are both artistic women. Carla is a famous singer and Bronagh is keen on photography. As for politics, Key’s wife once voted Labour, and Carla has never hidden her socialist convictions.

Both leaders embody the change and the opening. John Key is more centrist than his national predecessors. On the French side, Sarkozy’s government has welcomed several socialist personalities, like Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner.

Both men share a harsh view on alcohol. Sarkozy has toughened France’s drink driving laws, and personally doesn’t drink a drop; almost a paradox when you think he is the chief of France. John Key voted for rising the legal drinking age from 18 back to 20, a point of view maybe linked with his father’s alcoholism.

People address the same judgments and criticisms at them concerning the Iraq war. Sarkozy is considered the most pro-US French president ever and many journalists say that France would have joined the Iraq war if Sarkozy had been in charge when it began. When in opposition John Key said he would send troops to Iraq if PM, but has changed his mind since coming to power.

The struggle against terrorism in Afghanistan is a priority for Sarkozy and Key. On the 10th of August John Key announced his decision to send three rotations of 70 SAS personnel to Afghanistan over 18 months. Kiwi troops are going to join the 100.000 foreign soldiers who are deployed in there, among them 2500 French. One French soldier was been killed, the last on the 1st of August in Kabul. During the tribute for this soldier, Nicolas Sarkozy has reaffirmed his desire to “fight terrorism”. 29 French soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the their deployment in 2001. The biggest loss for France was on the 18th of August 2008, when 10 soldiers were killed.

We were almost given a chance to assess the two leaders side by side at the France-Oceania Summit in July, but these two busy men did not come, sending their ministers instead: Bernard Kouchner for France and New Zealander Minister of Defense Wayne Mapp. What a pity! The two heads of state could share all their numerous common points.

ENDS

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