PM faints

Stuff reports:

Prime Minister John Key fainted and collapsed while out for dinner last night.

He was at dinner at the Italian restaurant Tutto Bene in Merivale, Christchurch.

He was taken to Christchurch hospital in a police car and assessed. He was there for two and half hours before being released.

Key is in Christchurch to fly to Antarctica and has been cleared to leave this morning.

A spokeswoman for Key said he was seen by three specialists during his time at the hospital but they had not given a reason for the fainting. 

“They said these things happen sometimes.”

Key returned from his summer holiday in Hawaii yesterday and has not been unwell, she said.

“He was given a clean bill of health,” his spokeswoman said.

It is well known that the PM is often up soon after 5 am for a morning run before work, and is often working until close to midnight. Being Prime Minister is the sort of job where you never can say there is no more work to do, but the hours take a toll.  Even on so called holidays, you are working a fair amount of the time.

It may indeed be just one of those things, especially as it was just after a return from a break. I hope so.