Helen Clark In 1999, Clark was involved in a defamation case in the High Court of New Zealand with Auckland orthopaedic surgeon Joe Brownlee, resulting in Clark making an unreserved apology. The case centered on a press statement issued by Clark criticising Brownlee, triggered by a constituent's complaint over the outcome of a hip replacement. Clark admitted the criticism was unjustified in that the complication suffered by her constituent was rare, unforeseen and unavoidable. Under Clark's leadership, Labour became the largest party in parliament from 1999 to 2008. Clark became the second woman to serve as Prime Minister of New Zealand, and
Helen Clark ordered a military deployment to the 2006 East Timorese crisis alongside international partners. After three successive election victories, her government was defeated in the ; Clark resigned as Prime Minister and party leader on 19 November 2008. She was succeeded as Prime Minister by John Key of the National Party, and as Leader of the Labour Party by Phil Goff. Clark resigned from Parliament in April 2009 to become the first female head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). "Forbes" magazine ranked her the 22nd most powerful woman in the world in 2016, down from 20th in 2006. In