Marital woes nothing new

Marital troubles have affected Don Brash's career before.

His biography last year revealed how the collapse of his first marriage after an affair meant he was sometimes unable to concentrate on work.

The affair was with his present wife, Je Lan, whom he met in 1982 while they were working at the Kiwifruit Authority, where he was managing director.

Their relationship broke down because both were married but later - once they were free of their spouses - Dr Brash re-established contact.

"It was pretty hard to forget her. I managed to find her, and I rang her and asked her to marry me," he told a women's magazine in 2003.

A chapter, "The Difficult Years", in Brash: A Biography describes the collapse of his marriage of 25 years and his separation in 1985. The book tells of him "living in a little pad in Glenfield" in early 1986.

"For the next three years he made desultory attempts to win back Je Lan, struck up relationships with one or two other women, and even thought about returning to the family home."

His personal troubles repeatedly broke into his working life in the late 80s, to a point where he once found himself "alone in a picture theatre during the afternoon, watching Crocodile Dundee to take his mind off his difficulties".

He and Je Lan eventually married in December 1989.