What is Michael Cullen (politician)?
[[File:Michael Cullen, 2008.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cullen in 2008]] '''Sir Michael John Cullen''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|KNZM}} (5 February 1945 &ndash; 19 August 2021) was a British-born New Zealand [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]] politician and historian. He held key job positions during the [[Helen Clark]] cabinet such as [[Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand]] from 2002 to 2008. ==Early life== Cullen was born in [[London]]. His family emigrated to [[New Zealand]] in 1955 where he was raised in [[Christchurch]]. He studied at the [[University of Canterbury]] and [[University of Edinburgh]]. From 1971 to 1981 he was a lecturer at the [[University of Otago]], with a term as a visiting fellow at the [[Australian National University]] from 1975 to 1976.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hon Dr Michael Cullen |url=http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/MPP/MPs/MPs/6/4/d/48MP601-Cullen-Michael.htm |work=New Zealand Parliament |access-date=5 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101101714/http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/MPP/MPs/MPs/6/4/d/48MP601-Cullen-Michael.htm |archive-date=1 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ==Career== [[File:Michael Cullen.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Cullen in 2007]] In 1981, he was elected to the [[New Zealand Parliament]]. He was [[Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand]] from 2002 to 2008 during the [[Helen Clark]] cabinet. He was also [[Minister of Finance (New Zealand)|Minister of Finance]] from 1999 to 2008 and [[Attorney-General (New Zealand)|Attorney-General]] in 2005 and again from 2006 to 2008. He was the [[Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party|Deputy Leader]] of the [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour Party]] from 1996 until November 2008, when he resigned following a defeat in the [[2008 New Zealand general election|general election]]. He resigned from Parliament in April 2009, to become the deputy chairman of [[New Zealand Post]] from 1 November 2009<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10565648|title=Cullen leaves