1989 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election

1989 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election

← 1988 8 August 1989 1990 →

Candidate Geoffrey Palmer Mike Moore Popular vote 41 13 Percentage 75.92% 24.08%

Leader before election David Lange Leader after election Geoffrey Palmer

The 1989 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held to determine the leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. The leadership was won by Christchurch Central MP Geoffrey Palmer, who had been Deputy Leader the party since 1983.

Background[]

Following months of infighting and division within the Labour Party, most of caucus wanted both David Lange and Roger Douglas in cabinet with a peace deal, as the caucus was still ready for implementing radical reforms according to Michael Cullen.^[1] The caucus voted to return Douglas to the cabinet. David Lange decided to resign as leader as Lange interpreted it as a sign of no-confidence in his leadership.^[2]

Candidates[]

Geoffrey Palmer[]

Palmer stood for the leadership feeling a sense of duty to do so as Lange's deputy. His image with the populace was one of distance to the publicly resented Rogernomics policies and was instead associated with Labour's more popular policies such as environmentalism, electoral reform and the nuclear-free stance.^[2] Many in the party, particularly the newer caucus members, hoped this would allow Labour's popularity to heal and rebrand the party along more positive lines.^[3]

Mike Moore[]

Moore was one of the senior cabinet ministers in the government and was ranked third in Labour's caucus. He was a supporter of the Rogernomics reforms, albeit less radical. As a result, he was seen as a more acceptable alternative leader to both Douglas and his supporters as well as critics of Douglas. In the lead up to the vote Moore claimed he could only hope to beat Palmer if he had a 'clear run' against him, leading Douglas to withdraw.^[3]

Roger Douglas[]

Former Minister of Finance Roger Douglas (who had previously challenged Lange for the leadership in 1988) also considered contesting the position. He later withdrew in favour of Moore upon realizing that he could not beat Palmer and concentrated on a bid for the deputy leadership. He lost this position to left-wing Health Minister Helen Clark by only a narrow margin.^[3]

Result[]

A caucus vote was held on 8 August 1989. The result of the ballot saw Geoffrey Palmer win the leadership over Mike Moore 41 votes to 13.^[3] The result for the deputy leadership was far less decisive, with Helen Clark defeating Roger Douglas 29 votes to 25.^[3]

Leadership ballot[]

Deputy-leadership ballot[]

Aftermath[]

Palmer lead Labour for the next fourteen months, though struggled repair the party's damaged unity. After becoming clear that Labour could not win the next election, Palmer was replaced as leader by Moore only two months before the 1990 general election. Having Moore as leader was believed by many in the Labour caucus to give it better success at the polls. Palmer then decided not to stand for election in 1990 and retired from politics, returning to his academic career.

Notes[]

References[]

• Bassett, Michael (2008). Working with David: Inside the Lange Cabinet. Auckland: Hodder Moa. ISBN 978-1-86971-094-1.
• Franks, Peter; McAloon, Jim (2016). Labour: The New Zealand Labour Party 1916-2016. Wellington: Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-1-77656-074-5.
• Lange, David (2005). My Life. Viking. ISBN 0-670-04556-X.
• Russell, Marcia (1996). Revolution: New Zealand from Fortress to Free Market. Hodder Moa Beckett. ISBN 1869584287.