Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger dies

Jim Bolger, New Zealand’s prime minister from 1990 to 1997 who helped usher in a new era of reconciliation with indigenous Maori, died on Wednesday aged 90, his family said in a statement. Bolger had suffered kidney failure last year and had been undergoing dialysis. He died surrounded by his wife Joan, nine children and 18 grandchildren, the statement said. Bolger entered parliament in 1972 and became leader of the National Party in 1986 before becoming prime minister in 1990 when the party took power. He retired from politics in 1998 and served as New Zealand’s ambassador to the United States from 1998 to 2002. “To those who worked alongside him, he was a principled and formidable colleague. To his political opponents, he was a worthy adversary who never allowed disagreement to become personal,” New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in a statement following his death. During his time in government, Bolger ushered in the Mixed Member Proportional electoral system that