were later axed due to the company's poor financial position. A citizens-initiated referendum on the sell-downs returned a 67.3% vote in opposition (on a turnout of 45.1%). The National Government won a third term at the 2014 general election. The National Party won 47.04% of the party vote, and increased its seats to 60. National resumed its confidence and supply agreements with ACT and United Future. The National government extended free general practitioner visits to children under 13 as part of their 2014 election package, as well as extending paid parental leave by two weeks to 16 weeks. The National parliamentary caucus was split on the issue of same-sex marriage in 2014. Throughout his second and third terms, Key campaigned heavily in favour of free-trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. After serving Prime Minister for eight years, Key announced his resignation as the party leader on 5 December 2016. He stepped down as Prime Minister on 12 December. Key's deputy Bill English was acclaimed as the party's new leader on 12 December 2016 after Health Minister Jonathan Coleman and Minister of Police Judith Collins withdrew from the leadership election. Opposition (2017–present) In the 2017 general election, National's share of the party vote dropped to 44.4%. It lost four seats, dropping to 56, but remained the largest party in Parliament. Two of the National government's three support parties lost representation in parliament. New Zealand First, led by Winston Peters, held the balance of power, and formed a coalition with Labour, who also gained Green Party support, marking an end to the 9-year National government. English announced his intention to stay on as party leader until the 2020 general election but subsequently resigned. On 27 February 2018, English was succeeded by Simon Bridges. Following the Christchurch Mosque shootings, the party removed content from their website which indicated opposition to the UN Migration Compact; a position also espoused by the terrorist in his manifesto. On 2 July 2020, however, the party's new leader Todd Muller confirmed in response to a question from a journalist that the party was still opposed to the pact, although it was not an issue he was focused on. On 22 May 2020, following poor poll results for the party during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, the National Party held an emergency caucus meeting and voted to oust both leader Simon Bridges and deputy leader Paula Bennett,