Clark: Cool and unruffled leader known as a control freak

When the the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, visited Wellington last month, his officials mistakenly handed out a internal briefing paper describing his New Zealand counterpart, Helen Clark, as a left-wing control freak.

The paper, prepared under Mr Rudd's conservative predecessor, John Howard, could have sparked diplomatic ructions. But they were quickly defused by Ms Clark, who called the document "a hoot".

Related articles

• Helen Clark seeks fourth term as New Zealand PM

While the incident demonstrated her relaxed style, Ms Clark would not, anyway, regard left-wing as an insult. Once known as "Red Helen", she was a student radical who rebelled against her family's conservative farming background to campaign against the Vietnam War. And control freak? Few people in Wellington would deny it. She demands iron discipline and unswerving loyalty. Critics accuse her of micro-management, call her the Minister for Everything and suggest the capital be renamed Helengrad. No one could accuse her of lacking broad interests. A lover of the arts, particularly opera and theatre, she is also a keen mountain climber and cross-country skier.

She held ministerial posts in David Lange's Labour government in the 1980s and rose to be Deputy Prime Minister. But she opposed his free-market reforms and, as party leader in opposition, steered Labour back towards its traditional roots.

Ms Clark rarely appears ruffled. One exception was two years ago, when she was forced to deny that her husband, Peter Davis, who is rarely seen in public, is gay.