Political parties in New Zealand
New Zealand national politics feature a pervasive party system. Usually, all members of Parliament's unicameral House of Representatives belong to a political party, although the current House includes one MP who became an independent after her party expelled her. Independent MPs occur relatively rarely. Unlike some democracies, New Zealand no longer has an entrenched two-party arrangement - while two primary parties do indeed dominate the political landscape, smaller groups can reasonably expect to play a role in government. As of 2004 eight parties have representatives in parliament.
History
Political parties in New Zealand evolved towards the end of the 19th century out of interest groups and personal cliques. Most historians regard the Liberal Party, which began its rule in 1891, as the first real party in New Zealand politics. During the long period of Liberal Party control the party's more conservative opponents created the Reform Party, forming the original duopoly in the New Zealand parliament.
Gradually, Liberal and Reform found themselves working together more often, mostly in opposition to the growing Labour Party. After Labour eventually won office in 1935, the Liberals and Reform came together to form the National Party. Labour and National currently exist as the two main parties of New Zealand politics.
Over the years, a number of "third parties" or so-called "minor parties" developed - notably the Social Credit Party, the New Zealand Party, the Values Party, and the Alliance. However, the electoral system meant that no matter how popular a party was nationally, it could not win seats without a majority in a particular voting district. Under such conditions, these parties mostly performed poorly in terms of making an impact in Parliament.
With the introduction of the MMP electoral system at the 1996 elections, however, it became much easier for smaller parties to enter parliament - and more difficult to gain election as a non-party independent. Since the change to MMP, Parliament has consistently had significant numbers of MPs representing parties other than Labour and National.
Registration of Parties
Political parties in New Zealand can be either registered or unregistered. Registered parties must have five-hundred paying members, each eligible to vote in general elections. If a party registers, it may submit a party list, enabling it to receive party votes in New Zealand's MMP electoral system. Unregistered parties may still nominate candidates for individual electorates, however.
Parties Currently in Parliament
The order in which parties appear in this list corresponds to the number of MPs they currently have.
| Party
| Leader(s)
| Description
| Seats
|
| Labour Party
| Helen Clark
| A centre-left, socially progressive party. Currently the largest party in Parliament, it dominates the governing coalition. Its leader serves as the current Prime Minister.
| 51
|
| National Party
| Don Brash
| A centre-right, mildly conservative party. The second-largest party in Parliament, it has traditionally opposed Labour, but suffered a considerable defeat in the most recent general election in 2002.
| 27
|
| New Zealand First
| Winston Peters
| A centrist, populist, and (arguably) nationalist party, presently focused on opposing immigration, campaigning for harsher sentences for crime, and reducing payments related to the Treaty of Waitangi settlements process.
| 13
|
| Green Party
| Jeanette Fitzsimons
and Rod Donald
| A left-leaning environmentalist party. In recent times, its most notable campaign has denounced genetic engineering. It also promotes highly progressive social policies.
| 9
|
| ACT
| Rodney Hide
| A party that promotes free market economics and campaigns against high government expenditure. Recently, it has also begun to focus on its policies of increasing punishments for crime.
| 8
|
| United Future
| Peter Dunne
| A centrist or centre-right party with a strong Christian streak: it describes itself as based around "common sense". It has a particular focus on policies concerning the family and social issues.
| 8
|
| Progressive Party
| Jim Anderton
| A left-wing party with a particular focus on job creation and regional development. It forms the junior partner in Labour's coalition government, with its leader serving as a cabinet minister.
| 2
|
| Maori Party
| Tariana Turia
and Pita Sharples
| A party based around New Zealand's indigenous Maori minority. It was formed in 2004 by Tariana Turia, a former minister of the Labour Party. It promotes what it sees as the rights and interests of Maori.
| 1
|
Parliament also has one independent MP : Donna Awatere Huata, a former member of ACT, ejected from that party following allegations of fraud. If found guilty of the charges against her, she may lose her seat in parliament, and her seat will probably revert to ACT.
Registered Parties Outside of Parliament
Parties listed in alphabetical order:
| Party
| Leader
| Description
|
| The Alliance
| Matt McCarten
| A left-wing party supporting the welfare state, free education, environmental protection, and Maori interests. The Progressive Party (see above) was formed when Jim Anderton, former leader of the Alliance, left.
|
| Christian Heritage NZ
| Ewan McQueen
| A party based around Christian conservative values. It supports policies to strengthen marriage, and opposes abortion and same-sex unions.
|
| Democratic Party
| Stephnie de Ruyter
| A party based around the idea of Social Credit. The party formerly formed part of the Alliance (see above), and prior to that, as the Social Credit Party, was one of the older surviving parties in New Zealand.
|
| Destiny New Zealand
| Richard Lewis
| A party based around the Destiny Church, a Christian religious organization. The party does not stress its association with this particular church, however, and attempts to appeal to devout Christians of any denomination.
|
| Legalise Cannabis Party
| Michael Appleby
| A party which (as its name suggests) supports the legalisation of cannabis. This remains the core of its platform, although it also comments on other issues that it considers related.
|
| Libertarianz
| Russell Watkins
| A libertarian party dedicated to keeping government as small as possible and maximising freedoms.
|
| Mana Maori Movement
| Angeline Greensill
and Ken Mair
| A party based around New Zealand's indigenous Maori inhabitants. As of the last election, the Te Tawharau party also operated under the Mana Maori Movement banner.
|
| Mana Motuhake
| Willie Jackson
| A Maori-based party, once a part of the Alliance (see above), it advocates on a wide range of issues related to Maori.
|
| One New Zealand Party
| Alan McCulloch
| A small party modelled on Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party in Australia. It opposes all special policies towards Maori.
|
| Outdoor Recreation NZ
| Lester Roy Phelps
| A party dedicated to promoting the interests of the hunting, fishing, and shooting communities. Outdoor Recreation New Zealand has agreed to contest the 2005 election under the banner of the Socialism in New Zealand
Historical Parties
| Party
| From - To
| Description
|
| Christian Coalition
| 1996 - 1997
| A brief alliance of the Christian Democrats and the Christian Heritage Party. It narrowly missed entering parliament in the 1996 election, and disbanded shortly afterwards.
|
| Christian Democrats
| 1995 - 1999
| A Christian party established by sitting National MP Graeme Lee. After briefly establishing the Christian Coalition (see above) with the Christian Heritage Party, the Christian Democrats secularised themselves, adopting the name "Future New Zealand". Future New Zealand merged with United (see below) to form United Future New Zealand.
|
| Communist Party
| 1929 - 1994
| Probably New Zealand's most prominent and long-lived communist organisation. The party generally pursued hard-line doctrines, successively following Stalin's Soviet Union, Mao Zedong's China, and Enver Hoxha's Albania. In 1993, the party moderated its stance, adopting Trotskyism. It later merged with another party to form the modern Socialist Workers Organization.
|
| Liberal Party
| 1891 - 1936
| New Zealand's first real political party. It provided the country with a number of prominent Prime Ministers, including John Ballance and Richard Seddon. With much of its traditional support undercut by the growing Labour Party, it eventually merged with the Reform Party (see below) to form the modern National Party.
|
| Mana Wahine Te Ira Tangata
| 1998 - 2001
| A short-lived Maori feminist party established by Alliance (Mana Motuhake) defector Alamein Kopu. The party contested only one general election before vanishing.
|
| Mauri Pacific
| 1999 - 2001
| A party established by several New Zealand First MPs shortly after a coalition between New Zealand First and the National Party broke down. Mauri Pacific remained allied to the National government, giving it crucial support, but none of the party's MPs gained re-election in the 1999 elections.
|
| McGillicuddy Serious Party
| ? - 1999
| A joke party intended to satirise politics in general. Among other deliberately absurd policies it advocated the "Great Leap Backwards", a project to reverse the industrial revolution and to re-establish a medieval way of life.
|
| NewLabour Party
| 1989 - 1991
| A left-wing party established by former Labour MP Jim Anderton. It contested one election before joining with several other parties to establish the Alliance.
|
| New Zealand Party
| 1983 - 1986
| A party established by property tycoon Bob Jones to promote free market economic policies and liberal social policies. It gained twelve percent of the vote in its first election, but then vanished almost completely. Some regard the modern ACT party as the New Zealand Party's ideological successor, but not everyone accepts this view.
|
| Progressive Green Party
| ? - ?
| An environmentalist party established in opposition to the generally left-wing policies of the larger Green Party. It contested only one election before vanishing, although many of its members became active in the National Party.
|
| Reform Party
| 1909 - 1936
| New Zealand's second real political party, established as a more conservative opponent to the Liberal Party. William Massey became its most prominent leader. It eventually merged with its former rival, the Liberal Party to form the modern National Party.
|
| Socialist Unity Party
| 1966 - ?
| A splinter group of the Communist Party (see above). It formed around Communist Party members who rejected their party's decision to take China's side in the Sino-Soviet split. The Socialist Unity Party became one of the more prominent communist parties in New Zealand.
|
| United Party
| 1995 - 2000
| A centrist party established by moderate MPs from both National and Labour. The party did not achieve electoral success, with only one of the seven founding MPs managing to remain in parliament. United later merged with the Future New Zealand party to form the modern United Future New Zealand.
|
| Values Party
| 1972 - 1990
| Sometimes called the world's first national-level green party. Elements of the Values Party eventually went into the creation of the modern Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand.
|
See also
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