'Sexist row': Key stands by hot Hurley comments

JOHN KEY: 'I think [Liz Hurley] will be thrilled by the endorsement.'

Key question about Liz Hurley

LIZ HURLEY: A 'definite'.

JESSICA ALBA: On the hot list.

ANGELINA JOLIE: On the hot list.

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Prime Minister John Key has brushed off claims that he's a sexist for calling British actress and model Liz Hurley "hot", claiming she'd be flattered with his endorsement.

Key's comments were picked up by the British tabloid the Daily Mail after he listed glamour-girl Hurley among his celebrity crushes during an interview on Radio Sport last week.

He revealed his list of favourite females to host Tony Veitch after being asked if he'd like to be cricketer Shane Warne.

"Yeah, well, given, his current liaisons with Liz Hurley," Key said.

"I like Liz Hurley, actually. I reckon she is hot."

He also listed Jessica Alba on his 'hot' list, along with Angelina Jolie.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Phil Goff said Liz Hurley "was pretty close" to being on his top five hot women list.

Today is Goff's wedding anniversary and he put his wife Mary in the number one spot.

He said Elle Macpherson and Julia Roberts would also feature in his top five, "all being totally hypothetical of course".

The Mail today ran a story titled Liz Hurley is hot: New Zealand PM slammed over 'sexist' remarks, saying Key's comments had sparked a "sexist row".

"Mr Key, who has two teenagers, Stephie and Max, said that in his dream date top three - and there were 'a range' - Miss Hurley was 'a definite', especially as she's only 'slightly older'," the article read.

Despite criticisms from women's rights campaigner Sue Kedgley - who the Mail said went after Key with "talons sharpened" - the Prime Minister was unfazed by the implications he'd said something wrong.

When quizzed today, Key said: "I think [Liz Hurley] will be thrilled by the endorsement."

He was quite comfortable appearing on Veitch's show and would do so weekly.

Kedgley said she thought the comments were a bit "1960s".

"It is a bit stereotypical and rather odd, coming from a Prime Minister," she said.

PR expert Claudia Macdonald, managing director of Mango Communications, agreed with Key's approach, saying his comments were "refreshing" to hear from a Prime Minister.

"The days of tightly buttoned-up politicians with carefully managed facades are waning," she said.

"His popularity in New Zealand is high, partly because of this persona as it appeals to a wide range of people."

Macdonald said with the Rugby World Cup and election approaching, she would counsel Key to moderate the number of times he revealed his blokey side, "so that he is seen more as a capable leader; then he can let it loose again once re-elected".

The article is not the first the Mail has run on Key. Last June it ran a story about his vasectomy.

- © Fairfax NZ News