Prime Minister Bill English's chief of staff, Wayne Eagleson, has resigned after 12 years in the Beehive.
A spokeswoman for Mr English confirmed the resignation to NZ Newswire and said Mr Eagleson would be staying on for a few weeks to see through the coalition negotiations.
Mr Eagleson has been senior advisor to Mr English and former prime minister Sir John Key.
He was particularly close to Sir John and had been expected to leave before now.
He has said he wants to look at other career options.
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