on 21 July. Cunliffe announced several flagship election policies, including a promise of free GP visits and prescriptions to pregnant women and those aged under 13 and over 65. In a speech he stated, "We are basing our policies on a very old idea. That your healthcare is based on your health need, not on the size of your wallet." He was criticised for taking a three-day skiing holiday in Queenstown at the start of the campaign. His performance in the leadership debates was viewed as mixed. Key claimed a win in the 2 September The Press leaders' debate after Cunliffe could not answer whether family homes held in a trust would be exempt under Labour's capital gains tax policy, but then went on to recover in the second and third debates. Cunliffe's Labour Party received 25.1% of the party vote and 32 seats, its lowest share of the vote since 1922, while the National Party gained a plurality with 47.0% of the party vote, its best result since 1951. Cunliffe initially vowed to remain as the party leader, in spite of the poor election result. On 27 September Cunliffe formally resigned as leader but announced he was re-contesting in the 2014 party leadership election. Later on 13 October, he announced he was pulling out of the leadership race. Political views Cunliffe is generally liberal when it comes to conscience issues. He voted in favour of the decriminalisation of prostitution, the establishment of civil unions, and the criminalisation of parental corporal punishment. He voted against defining marriage as between one man and one woman, and in 2013, he voted in favour of legalising same-sex marriage. In 2006, he voted in favour of raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 20, but voted against it in 2012. Cunliffe has expressed a view that New Zealand will become a republic in the future. During a debate after the speech from the throne on 4 September 2002, Cunliffe spoke of "Building a New Zealand ... where we journey together towards maturity as a nation, and to the Commonwealth republic I personally believe we will become before the Treaty turns 200". Life after politics Following his retirement from Parliament on 21 April 2017, Cunliffe joined the New Zealand-based management consultancy firm Stakeholder Strategies as a partner, working for a range of public and private sector clients. In the 2018 New Year Honours, Cunliffe