2002 New Zealand General Election
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The 2002 New Zealand general election was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of
Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
's Labour Party government, as well as the worst-ever performance by the opposition National Party. The 2020 election would see it suffer a greater defeat in terms of net loss of seats. A controversial issue in the election campaign was the end of a moratorium on
genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...
, strongly opposed by the
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
. Some commentators have claimed that the tension between Labour and the Greens on this issue was a more notable part of the campaign than any tension between Labour and its traditional right-wing opponents. The release of
Nicky Hager Nicky Hager (born 1958) is a New Zealand investigative journalist. He has produced seven books since 1996, covering topics such as intelligence networks, environmental issues and politics. He is one of two New Zealand members of the Internationa ...
's book ''
Seeds of Distrust ''Seeds of Distrust: The Story of a GE Cover-up'' was a study of government processes and decision making under New Zealand's Labour-led government written by Nicky Hager. The setting was an incident in November 2000, during the Royal Commission ...
'' prior to the election also sparked much debate. The book examined how the government handled the contamination of a shipment of imported corn with genetically modified seeds. Helen Clark called the Greens "goths and anarcho-feminists" during the campaign.


Background

On 12 June the government announced that the country would have a general election on 27 July. This was several months earlier than was required, a fact which caused considerable comment. The
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
,
Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
, claimed that an early poll was necessary due to the collapse of her junior coalition partner, the
Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
. Critics, however, claimed that Clark could have continued to govern, and that the early election was called to take advantage of Labour's strong position in the polls. Some commentators believe that a mixture of these factors was responsible. Before the election, the Labour Party held 49 seats in parliament. It governed in coalition with the smaller (and more left-wing) Alliance, which had 10 seats. It also relied on support from the Greens, but this was a largely informal arrangement, and the Greens were not a part of the administration itself. Opposing Labour were the National Party (centre-right),
United Future United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a centrist political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2005 and 2017, first alongside Labour (2005–2008) and then supporting National (2008–2017). Uni ...
(centrist),
New Zealand First New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Winst ...
(
populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
),
ACT New Zealand ACT New Zealand, known simply as ACT (), is a right-wing, classical-liberal political party in New Zealand. According to former party leader Rodney Hide, ACT's values are "individual freedom, personal responsibility, doing the best for our natur ...
(
free-market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
). Many opinion polls for the election indicated that Labour was popular enough to conceivably win an absolute majority, leaving it able to govern without the support of smaller parties. Labour's dominance over National was such that for many people, the question was not whether Labour would win, but whether Labour would receive the absolute majority it sought.


MPs retiring in 2002

Eleven MPs, including two Alliance MPs, six National MPs, and two Labour MPs intended to retire at the end of the 46th Parliament.


The election

There were 2,670,030 registered voters, the highest number for any election in New Zealand. However, only 77% of these registered voters chose to cast a vote, a considerable drop from previous elections. Many commentators cited Labour's dominance in the polls as a reason for this low turnout. Many people saw the outcome as inevitable, and so did not bother to vote at all. In the election 683 candidates stood, and there were 14 registered parties with party lists. Of the candidates, 433 were electorate and list, 160 were electorate only, and 90 were list only. 71% of candidates (487) were male and 29% (196) female.


Summary of results

As most people expected, Labour was victorious. It did not, however, receive an absolute majority, gaining only 52 seats (eight seats short of the half-way mark). Labour's former coalition partner, the Alliance (which had splintered shortly before the election), was not returned to parliament. However, the new Progressive Coalition (now the Progressive Party) started by former Alliance leader
Jim Anderton James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of left-wing parties after leaving the Labour Party in 1989. Anderton's political career began when he was elected to th ...
won two seats, and remained allied with Labour. The Greens, who were now distanced from Labour over the genetic engineering controversy, gained nine seats (an increase of two). In general, it was a bad election for the parties of the right. The National Party, once referred to as "the natural party of government", suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat, gaining only 21% of the vote.
ACT New Zealand ACT New Zealand, known simply as ACT (), is a right-wing, classical-liberal political party in New Zealand. According to former party leader Rodney Hide, ACT's values are "individual freedom, personal responsibility, doing the best for our natur ...
, National's more right-wing neighbour, failed to capitalise on the exodus of National supporters, retaining the same number of seats as before. Instead, the most notable gains among opposition parties were made by two centrist parties. One of these was
Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020 ...
's New Zealand First, a
populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
and
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
party opposed to
immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
. Strong campaigning by Peters allowed the party to recover from its serious losses in the 1999 election. The other was
United Future New Zealand United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a centrist political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2005 and 2017, first alongside Labour (2005–2008) and then supporting National (2008–2017). Uni ...
party, a centrist party based on a merger of the United Party and the
Future New Zealand The Christian Democrat Party of New Zealand was a Christian Social conservatism, socially conservative political party established in 1995. It contested the 1996 New Zealand general election, 1996 general election as part of the Christian Coalit ...
party - primarily due to the performance of leader
Peter Dunne Peter Francis Dunne (born 17 March 1954) is a retired New Zealand politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ōhāriu. He held the seat and its predecessors from 1984 to 2017—representing the Labour Party in Parliament from 1984 ...
, the party shot from having one seat to having eight seats. Once the final distribution of seats was determined, it was clear that Labour would be at the centre of the government, and that it would be allied with the Progressives. However, this still left Labour needing support in matters of confidence and supply, as the two parties together fell short of an absolute majority. Labour expressed a preference for an "agreement" rather than a full coalition, hoping to establish an arrangement similar to the one that existed with the Greens prior to the election. Three realistic choices existed for a partner - the Greens, United Future, and New Zealand First. Labour had repeatedly ruled out deals with New Zealand First during the election campaign, and reaffirmed this soon after the election, leaving just the Greens and United Future as candidates. After a period of negotiation, Labour opted to ally with United Future, being unwilling to change their genetic engineering policies to secure the Green Party's support. Labour and the Progressives remained in power, with support in
confidence and supply In a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply are required for a ruling cabinet to retain power in the lower house. A confidence-and-supply agreement is one whereby a party or independent members of parl ...
votes from United Future.


Detailed results


Parliamentary parties

, colspan=12 align=center, , - style="text-align:center;" ! colspan=2 rowspan=2 style="width:213px;" , Party ! Colspan=3 , Party vote ! Colspan=3 , Electorate vote ! Colspan=4 , Seats , - style="text-align:center;" ! Votes ! % ! Change
( pp) ! Votes ! % ! Change
( pp) ! List ! Electorate ! Total ! +/- , - , , 838,219 , 41.26 , 2.52 , 891,866 , 44.69 , 2.94 , 7 , 45 , 52 , 3 , - , , 425,310 , 20.93 , 9.57 , 609,458 , 30.54 , 1.38 , 6 , 21 , 27 , 12 , - , , 210,912 , 10.38 , 6.12 , 79,380 , 3.98 , 0.21 , 12 , 1 , 13 , 8 , - , , 145,078 , 7.14 , 0.10 , 70,888 , 3.55 , 0.97 , 9 , 0 , 9 , , - , , 142,250 , 7.00 , 1.84 , 106,717 , 5.35 , 1.14 , 9 , 0 , 9 , 2 , - , , 135,918 , 6.69 , 5.04a , 92,484 , 4.63 , 2.59a , 7 , 1 , 8 , 7 , - , , 34,542 , 1.70 , ''new'' , 36,647 , 1.84 , ''new'' , 1 , 1 , 2 , ''new'' , - , , 27,492 , 1.35 , 1.03 , 40,810 , 2.05 , 0.14 , 0 , 0 , 0 , , - , , 25,985 , 1.28 , ''new'' , — , — , — , 0 , 0 , 0 , ''new'' , - , , 25,888 , 1.27 , 6.47 , 33,655 , 1.69 , 5.21 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 10 , - , , 12,987 , 0.64 , 0.46 , 3,397 , 0.17 , 0.17 , 0 , 0 , 0 , , - , , 4,980 , 0.25 , , 8,130 , 0.41 , 0.22 , , 0 , 0 , , - , , 1,782 , 0.09 , 0.03 , 2,617 , 0.13 , 0.12 , 0 , 0 , 0 , , - , , 274 , 0.01 , 0.04 , — , — , 0.03 , , 0 , 0 , , - , , — , — , 0.29 , 672 , 0.03 , 0.03 , 0 , 0 , 0 , , - , style="background-color:#ffffff" , , style="text-align:left;" , Unregistered parties , — , — , — , 3,821 , 0.19 , 0.08 , 0 , 0 , 0 , , - , , — , — , — , 14,927 , 0.75 , 0.37 , 0 , 0 , 0 , , - ! colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Valid votes ! 2,031,617 ! 98.84 ! 1.74 ! 1,995,586 ! 97.09 ! 0.84 ! Colspan=4 , , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Informal vote , 8,631 , 0.42 , 0.51 , 26,529 , 1.29 , 0.49 , Colspan=4 , , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Disallowed votes , 15,156 , 0.74 , 1.23 , 33,289 , 1.62 , 0.35 , Colspan=5 , , - ! colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Total ! 2,055,404 ! 100 ! ! 2,055,404 ! 100 ! ! 51 ! 69 ! 120 ! , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Eligible voters and Turnout , 2,670,030 , 76.98 , 7.79 , 2,670,030 , 76.98 , 7.79 , Colspan=4 ,


Party vote by electorate


Votes summary


Electorate results

Of the 69 electorates in the 2002 election, a majority (45) were won by the Labour Party. The opposition National Party won 21 electorate seats. Labour dominated the urban areas, where it has traditionally been strongest, while National performed best in rural areas. However, Labour's strong position in this election led to National losing ground in a number of its traditional strongholds. The loss of Otago electorate, a rural area, was one notable example. Labour also dominated in the seven Maori seats. National gained second place in only one Maori electorate, with Labour's main rivals being the Mana Maori Movement, the Greens, and the Alliance. Of the minor parties, only three managed to win electorates, mostly due to the strong personal following of the incumbents. United Future leader
Peter Dunne Peter Francis Dunne (born 17 March 1954) is a retired New Zealand politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ōhāriu. He held the seat and its predecessors from 1984 to 2017—representing the Labour Party in Parliament from 1984 ...
retained his strong support in the Wellington electorate of Ohariu-Belmont, while New Zealand First leader
Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020 ...
retained Tauranga. Progressive leader
Jim Anderton James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of left-wing parties after leaving the Labour Party in 1989. Anderton's political career began when he was elected to th ...
retained the Christchurch seat of Wigram, which he had formerly held as leader of the Alliance. The table below shows the results of the 2002 general election: Key: , - , colspan="8" style="background:#eee; text-align:center;", Māori electorates , - ! Electorate !! colspan=2 , Incumbent !! colspan=2 , Winner !! Majority !! colspan=2 , Runner-up , -


List results

MPs returned via party lists, and unsuccessful candidates, were as follows: *Chal was ranked fifth on the United Future list and was declared elected, serving as an MP for 17 days. However, it emerged that Chal was not actually eligible to stand for election, as she was not a New Zealand citizen. As a result, she was removed from the party list. ;Notes: # These party list members later entered parliament in the term as other list MPs elected resigned from parliament. # These party list members later resigned during the parliamentary term.


Summary of seat changes

* Electoral redistributions: ** A minor reconfiguration of electorates and their boundaries occurred between the 1999 and 2002 elections. Five seats were abolished and seven were created, giving a net increase of two electorates. ** The seats of ''Albany'', ''Hunua'', ''Karapiro'', ''Titirangi'' and ''Hauraki (Maori)'' ceased to exist. ** The seats of ''Clevedon'', ''East Coast Bays'', ''Helensville'', ''New Lynn'', ''Piako'', ''Tainui (Maori)'' and ''Tamaki Makaurau (Maori)'' came into being. * Seats captured: ** By Labour: ''Hamilton East'', ''Otago'' and ''Waitakere'' were captured from National. ** By National: ''Coromandel'' was captured from the Greens. ** The seat of ''Wigram'' transferred from the Alliance to the Progressives due to a change of its MP's party affiliation. * Seats transferred from departing MPs to new MPs: ** The seat of ''Rakaia'', held by a departing National MP, was won by a new National candidate. ** The seats of ''Mana'', ''Napier'', ''Otaki'', and ''Te Tai Hauauru'', all held by departing Labour MPs, were won by new Labour candidates (although the departing Mana MP became a list MP and the departing Te Tai Hauauru MP returned to Parliament in another electorate). * Labour list seats: Lost 1 (was 8, fell to 7) ** Retired: 1 ** Became electorate MPs: 3 ** Re-elected: 4 ** Newly elected: 3 (including a former electorate MP) * National list seats: Lost 11 (was 17, fell to 6) ** Retired: 4 ** Re-elected: 5 ** Not re-elected: 8 ** Newly elected: 1 * New Zealand First list seats: Gained 8 (was 4, rose to 12) ** Re-elected: 4 ** Newly elected: 8 * ACT list seats: No change (was 9, remained 9) ** Re-elected: 7 ** Not re-elected: 2 ** Newly elected: 2 * Green list seats: Gained 3 (was 6, rose to 9) ** Re-elected: 6 ** Newly elected: 3 (including a former electorate MP) * Alliance list seats: Lost 9 (was 9, fell to 0) ** Retired: 1 ** Not re-elected: 3 ** (''Transferred to Progressives: 5'') * United Future list seats: Gained 7 (was 0, rose to 7) ** Newly elected: 7 * Progressive list seats: Gained 1 (was 0, rose to 1) ** (''Transferred from Alliance: 5'') ** Retired: 2 ** Re-elected: 1 ** Not re-elected: 2


References


Further reading

* *


External links


Official election results
{{New Zealand elections July 2002 events in New Zealand