Helen Clark's former chief of staff Heather Simpson will work for her at the United Nations Development Programme in New York.
It is understood Heather Simpson was persuaded to go after initially not being keen. She is believed to be going on a short-term basis at first.
Heather Simpson declined to comment last night.
Helen Clark and her husband Peter Davis left for New York on Saturday night.
He will spend the first week with her before returning to his work at Auckland University.
Heather Simpson, known by insiders as H2, was Helen Clark's chief of staff throughout her entire tenure as Prime Minister.
Their association goes back to 1987 when she was a policy adviser while Helen Clark held the Housing, Conservation and Health portfolios.
A former economics lecturer at Otago University, Helen Simpson also worked as policy adviser to Mike Moore as Opposition Leader. She stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in 1987 and 1993.
Former chief of staff to join Clark at UN
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