List of parliaments of New Zealand

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This page is a list of elections and their subsequent parliamentary makeups in New Zealand. After the adoption of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, which granted New Zealand self-governance, New Zealand has had a parliamentary system, with its first election in 1853. For a government to form, they must obtain the confidence of a majority of the elected MPs in Parliament. Initially, governments were formed through bargaining with individual MPs, however after the introduction of political parties in 1890, confidence was brokered through these parties when required.

Until the introduction of MMP in the 1996 election, electors voted only for their electorate MP; thereafter, party politics was formalised and third parties became viable, with electors now voting for both an electorate MP and a specific (and possibly unrelated) party. MMP changed the makeup of parliament such that outright majorities now became rare and parties had to regularly broker coalitions or confidence agreements to form governments.

Key[]

Li Liberal
Co Conservative
Re Reform
Un United
La Labour
Co Country
Na National
Sc Social Credit
Al Alliance
Fi NZ First
Ac ACT
Gr Green
Uf United Future
Pr Progressive
Mi Māori
In Independent
_ Other

Table[]

The following table lists all general elections held in New Zealand, displaying the dates of the elections, the officially recorded voter turnout, and the number of seats in Parliament each party won.[1][2] Note that elections for Māori seats initially took place separately from elections for general seats.

List of elections and consequent seats in Parliament.
Parlia­ment Election Date Turn­out Government makeup Elected seats
General Māori
First past the post (FPP) period
1st 1853 14 Jul
– 1 Oct		 — — Independent 37: In 37
2nd 1855 26 Oct
– 28 Dec		 — — Independent 37: In 37
3rd 1860/61 12 Dec
– 28 Mar		 — — Independent 53: In 53
4th 1866 12 Feb
– 6 Apr		 15 Apr
– 20 Jun 		— Independent 70: In 70
5th 1871 14 Jan
– 23 Feb		 — — Independent 78: In 78
6th 1875/76 20 Dec
– 29 Jan		 4/15 Jan — Independent 88: In 88
7th 1879 28 Aug
– 15 Sep		 8 Sep 66.5% Independent 88: In 88
8th 1881 8 Dec 9 Dec 66.5% Independent 95: In 95
9th 1884 21 Jul 22 Jul 60.6% Independent 95: In 95
10th 1887 7 Sep 26 Sep 67.1% Independent 95: In 95
11th 1890 27 Nov 5 Dec 80.4% Liberal 74: Li 40 Co 25 In 9
12th 1893 28 Nov 20 Dec 75.2% Liberal 74: Li 51 Co 13 In 10
13th 1896 4 Dec 19 Dec 76.1% Liberal 74: Li 39 Co 26 In 9
14th 1899 6 Dec 19 Dec 77.6% Liberal 74: Li 49 Co 19 In 6
15th 1902 5 Nov 22 Dec 76.7% Liberal 80: Li 47 Co 19 In 14
16th 1905 6 Dec 20 Dec 83.3% Liberal 80: Li 58 Co 16 In 4 _ 2
Two-round system period
17th 1908 17 Nov
– 1 Dec		 2 Dec 79.8% Liberal 80: Li 50 Co 26 _ 1 In 3
18th 1911 7/14 Dec 19 Dec 83.5% Liberal-led[fn 1] 80: Re 37 Li 33 In 6 _ 4
Reform[fn 1]
Return to FPP
19th 1914 10 Dec 11 Dec 84.7% Reform 80: Re 40 Li 34 _ 5 In 1
20th[fn 2] 1919 16 Dec 17 Dec 80.5% Reform 80: Re 45 Li 19 La 8 In 8
21st 1922 6 Dec 7 Dec 88.7% Reform 80: Re 37 Li 22 La 17 In 4
22nd 1925 3 Nov 4 Nov 90.9% Reform 80: Re 55 La 12 Li 11 In 2
23rd 1928 13 Oct 14 Oct 88.1% United 80: Un 27 Re 27 La 19 In 6 Co 1
24th 1931 1 Dec 2 Dec 83.3% United–Reform 80: Re 28 La 24 Un 19 In 8 Co 1
25th[fn 3] 1935 26 Nov 27 Nov 90.8% Labour 80: La 53 Re 9 Un 7 In 7 Co 2 _ 2
26th 1938 14 Oct 15 Oct 92.9% Labour 80: La 53 Na 25 In 2
27th[fn 4] 1943 24 Sep 25 Sep 82.8% Labour 80: La 45 Na 34 In 1
28th 1946 26 Nov 27 Nov 93.5% Labour 80: La 42 Na 38
29th 1949 29 Nov 30 Nov 93.5% National 80: Na 46 La 34
30th[fn 5] 1951 1 Sep 89.1% National 80: Na 50 La 30
31st 1954 13 Nov 91.4% National 80: Na 45 La 35
32nd 1957 30 Nov[fn 6] 92.9% Labour 80: La 41 Na 39
33rd 1960 26 Nov[fn 6] 89.8% National 80: Na 46 La 34
34th 1963 30 Nov[fn 6] 89.6% National 80: Na 45 La 35
35th 1966 26 Nov[fn 6] 86.0% National 80: Na 44 La 35 Sc 1
36th 1969 29 Nov[fn 6] 88.9% National 84: Na 45 La 39
37th 1972 25 Nov[fn 6] 89.1% Labour 87: La 55 Na 32
38th 1975 29 Nov[fn 6] 82.5% National 87: Na 55 La 32
39th 1978 25 Nov[fn 6] 69.2%[fn 7] National 92: Na 51 La 40 Sc 1
40th 1981 28 Nov[fn 6] 91.4% National 92: Na 47 La 43 Sc 2
41st[fn 8] 1984 14 Jul 93.7% Labour 95: La 56 Na 37 Sc 2
42nd 1987 15 Aug 89.1% Labour 97: La 57 Na 40
43rd 1990 27 Oct 85.2% National 97: Na 67 La 29 _ 1
44th 1993 6 Nov 85.2% National-led 99: Na 50 La 45 Al 2 Fi 2
MMP era
45th[fn 9] 1996 12 Oct 88.3% National-led 120: Na 44 La 37 Fi 17 Al 13 Ac 8 _ 1
46th 1999 27 Nov[fn 6] 84.1% Labour-led 120: La 49 Na 39 Al 10 Ac 9 Gr 7 Fi 5 _ 1
47th[fn 10] 2002 27 Jul 77.0% Labour-led 120: La 52 Na 27 Fi 13 Ac 9 Gr 9 Uf 8 Pr 2
48th 2005 17 Sep 80.9% Labour-led 121: La 50 Na 48 Fi 7 Gr 6 Mi 4 Uf 3 Ac 2 Pr 1
49th 2008 8 Nov 78.7% National-led 122: Na 58 La 43 Gr 9 Mi 5 Ac 5 Uf 1 Pr 1
50th 2011 26 Nov[fn 6] 74.2% National-led 121: Na 59 La 34 Gr 14 Fi 8 Mi 3 Ac 1 Uf 1 _ 1
51st 2014 20 Sep 77.9% National-led 121: Na 60 La 32 Gr 14 Fi 11 Mi 2 Ac 1 Uf 1
52nd 2017 23 Sep 79.8% Labour-led 120: Na 56 La 46 Fi 9 Gr 8 Ac 1
53rd 2020 17 Oct 82.5% Labour 120: La 65 Na 33 Gr 10 Ac 10 Mi 2

Statistics[]

Current parties[]

Party Created Age In Parliament In Government
First year Latest year Terms[fn 11] First year Latest year Terms[fn 11]
Labour 7 July 1916 105 1919 2022 34 1935 2022 13
National 14 May 1936 85 1936 2022 28 1949 2017 16
Green 1990 32 1997 2022 8
ACT 1994 28 1996 2022 9
Māori Party 2004 18 2004 2022 5

Defunct parties[]

Party Created Dissolved Age In Parliament In Government
First year Latest year Terms[fn 11] First year Latest year Terms[fn 11]
Liberal 1889 17 September 1928 39 1890 1928 11 1890 1912 7
Reform 11 February 1909 14 May 1936 27 1911 1936 8 1912 1935 5
United 17 September 1928 14 May 1936 9 1928 1936 3 1928 1935 2
As of 2021

References[]

  1. ^ a b "1853-2020 general elections: Overview". Vote.nz. Electoral Commission.
  2. ^ "1890–1993 general elections: Overview". Vote.nz. Electoral Commission.

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ a b The Liberal Party lost their majority in the 1911 election; however, due to the lack of a majority, they were able to stay in power with the support of independents until a vote of no confidence resulted in the formation of the Reform Government in 1912.
  2. ^ Delayed due to World War I.
  3. ^ Delayed in hopes of better economic conditions.
  4. ^ Delayed due to World War II.
  5. ^ Snap election due to waterfront strike.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k General election held on last Saturday of November.
  7. ^ Due to major problems with the enrolment process, commentators generally consider that the 1978 election had a significantly higher turnout than official figures indicate.[1]
  8. ^ Muldoon's snap election.
  9. ^ Called early to circumvent a by-election in Hawkes Bay.
  10. ^ Clark's snap election.
  11. ^ a b c d Counts the number of times the party was elected to Parliament.
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