The New Zealand Labour Party, also known simply as Labour ( mi, Reipa), is a
centre-left political party in New Zealand.
The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as
democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...
,
while observers describe Labour as
social-democratic
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
and pragmatic in practice.
The party participates in the international
Progressive Alliance.
It is one of two
major political parties in New Zealand, alongside its traditional rival, the
National Party.
The New Zealand Labour Party formed in 1916 out of various
socialist parties
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
and
trade unions. It is the country's oldest political party still in existence.
Alongside the National Party, Labour has alternated in leading
governments of New Zealand
The New Zealand Government exercises executive power in New Zealand. This article lists spans of government under a party or coalition, as well as ministries under a prime minister. There have been three distinctly different periods of governme ...
since the 1930s. , there have been six periods of Labour government under 11 Labour
prime ministers. The party has traditionally been supported by
working class, urban,
Māori,
Pasifika Pasifika may refer to:
*Pacific Islander people, indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands
**Pasifika New Zealanders, Pacific peoples living in New Zealand
*Pacific islands, including Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia
*The Pasifika Festival, an an ...
,
immigrant
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 ...
and
trade unionist New Zealanders, and has had strongholds in inner cities and the
Māori seats
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
for much of its existence. The party is currently strongest in
Wellington,
Palmerston North and
Hamilton, where it won all of the electorates in 2020. Labour also won the
party vote
Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...
in 71 out of 72 electorates in that election, making it overwhelmingly the most successful political party of
the MMP era.
The party first came to power under prime ministers
Michael Joseph Savage and
Peter Fraser from
1935 to 1949, when it established
New Zealand's welfare state. It governed
from 1957 to 1960, and again
from 1972 to 1975. In 1974, prime minister
Norman Kirk died in office, which contributed to a decline in party support. However, Labour won the popular vote in
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
and
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
, with the
first-past-the-post voting system preventing them from governing. Up to the 1980s, the party advocated a strong role for governments in economic and social matters. When it governed from
1984 to 1990, Labour's emergent
neoliberal faction had a strong influence; the party broke precedent and transformed the economy from a
protectionist one through extensive
deregulation
Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...
. As part of
Rogernomics, Labour
privatised state assets and greatly reduced the role of the state, causing a
party split in 1989. Labour prime minister
David Lange, a member of the party's
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right
* L ...
, also introduced
New Zealand's nuclear-free policy
In 1984, Prime Minister David Lange banned nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports or entering New Zealand waters. Under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987, territorial sea, ...
. After a significant defeat in the
1990 election, Labour's neoliberal faction would largely defect from the party and form
ACT New Zealand. Labour again became the largest party
from 1999 to 2008, when it governed in coalition with, or based on negotiated support from, several minor parties;
Helen Clark became the first Labour prime minister to secure a third term in office. Clark's government was marked by the creation of
Kiwibank, a state-owned banking corporation; strong opposition to the
Iraq War; and the
foreshore and seabed controversy
The New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy is a debate in the politics of New Zealand. It concerns the ownership of the country's foreshore and seabed, with many Māori groups claiming that Māori have a rightful claim to title. These c ...
, which caused disillusioned Māori Labour MPs to split and create the
Māori Party.
In the
2017 election the party, under
Jacinda Ardern, returned to prominence with its best showing since the
2005 general election, winning 36.9% of the
party vote
Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...
and 46 seats.
On 19 October 2017, Labour formed a
minority coalition government with
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 ...
, with
confidence and supply from the
Green Party. In the
2020 general election
The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...
, Labour won in a
landslide
Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...
, winning an overall majority of 10 and 50.01% of the vote.
In the
2023 election, Labour lost its majority to the National Party and subsequently returned to
Opposition.
,
Chris Hipkins serves as the party's
leader, while
Carmel Sepuloni
Carmel Jean Sepuloni (born 1977) is a New Zealand politician and a member of parliament for the Labour Party. She was first elected to Parliament following the 2008 general election as a list member, becoming New Zealand's first MP of Tongan ...
is the
deputy leader
History
Background
The founding of the New Zealand Labour Party, on 7 July 1916 in Wellington,
brought together a number of earlier socialist groups advocating
proportional representation, the abolition of the
country quota, the
recall
Recall may refer to:
* Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop
* Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure
* ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning
* Recall (memory)
* ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...
of
members of Parliament, as well as the
nationalisation
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
of
production and
exchange.
Despite the Labour Party's Wellington origins, the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
town of
Blackball
Blackball, black-ball, black ball, blackballed, or blackballing may refer to:
* Blackballing, a rejection in a traditional form of secret ballot
Film
* ''Blackball'' (film), a 2003 film starring Paul Kaye
* '' Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Stor ...
is regarded as the "spiritual home" of the party, because it was the site of a
miners' strike in 1908 that led to the founding of the first nationwide federation of trade unions (the "
Red Federation"). The Labour Party was established by trade unions, among other groups, and the party identifies itself as part of the wider
labour movement in New Zealand. The Labour Party has long been identified with red, a
political colour
Political colours are colours used to represent a political ideology, movement or party, either officially or unofficially. It is the intersection of colour symbolism and political symbolism.
Parties in different countries with similar ideolo ...
traditionally affiliated with socialism and the labour movement.
Formation (1901–1916)
At the turn of the 20th century, the radical side of New Zealand
working class politics was represented by the
Socialist Party, founded in 1901. The more moderate leftists generally supported the
Liberal Party. In 1905 a group of working-class politicians who were dissatisfied with the Liberal approach established the
Independent Political Labour League
The Independent Political Labour League (IPLL) was a small New Zealand political party. It was the second organised political party to win a seat in the New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and was a forerunner of the m ...
(IPLL), which managed to win a seat in Parliament in the . At the same time, moderates contested as "
Lib-Lab
The Liberal–Labour movement refers to the practice of local Liberal associations accepting and supporting candidates who were financially maintained by trade unions. These candidates stood for the British Parliament with the aim of representing ...
" candidates, aligning with the Liberal Party while enjoying the endorsement of the labour movement. This established the basic dividing line in New Zealand's left-wing politics – the Socialists/IPLL tended to be revolutionary and militant, while the moderates focused instead on progressive reform.
The process of unifying these sides into a single party was difficult, with tensions between different factions running strong.
In 1910 the Independent Political Labour League was relaunched as an organisation called the
Labour Party (distinct from the modern party). Soon, however, the leaders of the new organisation decided that additional effort was needed to promote left-wing cooperation, and organised a
"Unity Conference". The Socialists refused to attend, but several independent labour activists agreed. The
United Labour Party (ULP) was born.
Soon afterward, the labour movement went through the 1912
Waihi miners' strike, a major industrial disturbance prompted by radicals in the union movement.
The movement split over supporting or opposing the radicals, and in the end, the conservative
Reform Party government of
William Massey suppressed the strike by force. In the strike's aftermath, there was a major drive to end the divisions in the labour movement and to establish a united front. Accordingly,
Walter Thomas Mills
Walter Thomas Mills (1856–1942) was an American socialist activist, educator, lecturer, writer, and newspaper publisher. He is best remembered for the role he played in the Socialist Party of America during the first decade of the 20th Century ...
organised another
Unity Conference, and this time the Socialists attended.
The resulting group was named the
Social Democratic Party.
Not all members of the United Labour Party accepted the new organisation, however, and some continued under their own banner. Gradually, however, the differences between the Social Democrats and the ULP Remnant broke down, and in 1915 they formed a unified caucus – both to oppose Reform better and to differentiate themselves from the Liberals. A year later yet another gathering took place. This time, all major factions of the labour movement agreed to unite, forming the Labour Party as it is today.
Electoral record of constituent parties pre–1916 Labour
Early years (1916–1935)
Almost immediately, the new Labour Party became involved in the acrimonious debate about
conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
which arose during
World War I. The party strongly opposed conscription, and several leading members –
Peter Fraser,
Harry Holland,
Bob Semple and
Paddy Webb – were jailed and expelled from Parliament for their stand against the war.
The loss of leadership threatened to seriously destabilise the party, but the party survived.
(Fraser, Semple and Webb later supported conscription in
World War II.
)
In its first real electoral test as a united party, the , Labour won eight seats – the party's quick success shocked many conservatives. The eight seats compared with 47 for the governing
Reform Party and 21 for the
Liberal Party.
Although Labour had split with its more militant faction (which went on to form various socialist parties), it maintained what were at the time radical socialist policies. Labour's 'Usehold' policy on land was, in essence, the replacement of freehold tenure by a system of perpetual lease from the state, with all land-transfer conducted through the state (the full nationalisation of farmland). This policy proved unpopular with voters, and Labour dropped it, along with other more radical policies, in the course of the 1920s.
In the , Labour more than doubled its number of seats, winning seventeen. In the , it declined somewhat but had the consolation of soon overtaking the Liberals as the second-largest party. Labour leader Harry Holland became the official
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
on 16 June 1926, after the
Eden by-election on 15 April elected
Rex Mason (Labour) to replace
James Parr James Parr may refer to:
* James Parr (baseball) (born 1986), American baseball player
* James Parr (politician) (1869–1941), New Zealand lawyer and politician
* Jim Parr
James Gordon Parr (May 26, 1927 – April 5, 2000) was an English-Ca ...
(Reform), who had resigned. After the , however, the party was left in an advantageous position – the Reform Party had 28 seats and the new
United Party (a revival of the Liberals) had 27 seats, and neither could govern without Labour support. Labour chose to back United, the party closest to its own views – this put an end to five terms (1912–1928) of Reform Party government.
In the early 1930s the rigours of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
brought Labour considerable popularity, but also caused tension between Labour and the United Party. In 1931 United passed a number of economic measures which Labour deemed hostile to workers, and the agreement between the two parties collapsed. United then formed
a coalition government with Reform, making Labour the Opposition. The coalition retained power in the , but gradually, the public became highly dissatisfied with its failure to resolve the country's economic problems. Harry Holland died in 1933 and his deputy, Michael Joseph Savage, became the Labour Party parliamentary leader. In the , the Labour Party gained a significant majority, gaining 53 seats to the coalition's 19, and returned to government.
Several of the early Labour Party stalwarts were Australian-born:
Alfred Hindmarsh
Alfred Humphrey Hindmarsh (18 April 1860 – 13 November 1918) was a New Zealand politician, lawyer and unionist. He died in the 1918 influenza epidemic. He served as the first leader of the modern New Zealand Labour Party.
Early life
Hindmars ...
,
Harry Holland,
Michael Joseph Savage,
Bob Semple,
Paddy Webb,
Bill Parry William or Bill Parry may refer to:
Sports
*William Parry Crake (1852–1921), or William Parry, Wanderers footballer
*Bill Parry (footballer, born 1873) (1873–1923), Welsh international footballer
*Bill Parry (footballer, born 1914) (1914–196 ...
and later
Jerry Skinner,
Mabel Howard,
Hugh Watt,
Jim Edwards and
Dorothy Jelicich
Dorothy Catherine Jelicich (née MacDonald, 19 January 1928 – 10 April 2015) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. She served one term in the House of Representatives representing the electorate, and was afterwards a city counci ...
.
First Government (1935–1949)
Party leader
Michael Joseph Savage became
prime minister on 6 December 1935, marking the beginning of Labour's first term in office. The new government quickly set about implementing a number of significant reforms, including a reorganisation of the
social-welfare system and setting up the
state housing scheme. Workers also benefited from the introduction of the forty-hour week, and legislation making it easier for unions to negotiate on their behalf. Savage himself was highly popular with the working classes, and his portrait could be found on walls in many houses around the country. At this time the Labour Party pursued an alliance with the
Māori Rātana movement.
The parliamentary opposition, meanwhile, attacked the Labour Party's more left-wing policies and accused it of undermining free enterprise and hard work. In May 1936, months after Labour's first general election win, the Reform Party and the United Party took their coalition to the next step, agreeing to merge with each other. The combined organisation, named the
National Party, would be Labour's main rival in future years.
Labour also faced opposition within its own ranks. While the Labour Party had been explicitly socialist at its inception, it had gradually drifted away from its earlier radicalism. The death of the party's former leader, the "doctrinaire" Harry Holland, had marked a significant turning-point in the party's history. Some within the party, however, were displeased about the changing focus of the party. Most notably,
John A. Lee
John Alfred Alexander Lee (31 October 1891 – 13 June 1982) was a New Zealand politician and writer. He is one of the more prominent avowed socialism in New Zealand, socialists in New Zealand's political history.
Lee was elected as a me ...
. Lee, whose views were a mixture of socialism and
social credit theory, emerged as a vocal critic of the party's leadership, accusing it of behaving autocratically and of betraying the party's rank and file. After a long and bitter dispute, the Party
expelled Lee from the party, who then established his own breakaway
Democratic Labour Party.
Savage died in 1940 and
Peter Fraser, who became Labour's longest-serving prime minister, replaced him. Fraser became best-known as New Zealand's head of government for most of
World War II. In the
post-war
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
period, however, ongoing shortages and industrial problems cost Labour considerable popularity, and the National Party, under
Sidney Holland
Sir Sidney George Holland (18 October 1893 – 5 August 1961) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 25th prime minister of New Zealand from 13 December 1949 to 20 September 1957. He was instrumental in the creation and consolidation o ...
, gained ground, although Labour was able to win the 1943 and 1946 elections. Eventually, in the , Labour suffered electoral defeat.
Fraser died shortly afterward, and was replaced by
Walter Nash, the long-serving
minister of finance. It would be some time before Labour would return to power; Nash lacked the charisma of his predecessors, and National won considerable support for opposing the "industrial anarchy" of the
1951 waterfront dispute
The 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute was the largest and most widespread industrial dispute in New Zealand history. During the time, up to twenty thousand workers went on strike in support of waterfront workers protesting against financial ha ...
. In the , however, Labour won a narrow majority of two seats, and returned to office.
Second Government (1957–1960)
Nash, Labour's third prime minister, took office in late 1957. Upon coming to power, Labour decided that drastic measures were needed to address
balance-of-payments concerns. This resulted in the highly unpopular 1958
"Black Budget" of
Arnold Nordmeyer, the new minister of finance, which raised taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, cars, and petrol. It is widely thought to have doomed the party to defeat despite the economy rejuvenating less than a year after the adoption of the Black Budget. In the , the National Party returned to power.
The elderly Nash retired in 1963, suffering from ill health. Nordmeyer replaced him, but the taint of the Black Budget ensured that Nordmeyer did not have any appreciable success in reversing the party's fortunes. In 1965 the leadership went to the younger
Norman Kirk, who many believed would revitalise the party. Labour suffered defeat again in the next two elections, but in the , the party gained a significant majority over its rival.
Third Government (1972–1975)
Kirk proved an energetic prime minister and introduced a number of new policies. His
foreign-policy stances included strong criticism of
nuclear-weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
s testing and of
South Africa's
apartheid system. However, Kirk suffered from poor health, worsened by his refusal to slow the pace of his work. In 1974 Kirk was taken ill and
died.
Bill Rowling
Sir Wallace Edward Rowling (; 15 November 1927 – 31 October 1995), commonly known as Bill Rowling, was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the parliamentary leader of t ...
replaced him, but did not have the same electoral appeal – in the , Labour lost to the National Party, then led by
Robert Muldoon
Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party.
Serving as a corporal and sergeant in th ...
.
Rowling remained the leader of the Labour Party for some time after his defeat. In the and the Labour won a larger share of the vote than National but failed to win an equivalent number of seats. This led to a very heated debate on New Zealand's electoral system, and precipitated the introduction of
mixed-member proportional representation
Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...
(MMP)
fifteen years later. Rowling himself was compared by media unfavourably to Muldoon, and did not cope well with Muldoon's aggressive style. In 1983 Rowling was replaced as parliamentary leader by
David Lange, whom the parliamentary caucus perceived as more charismatic. In the
snap election of , Labour decisively defeated the National Party.
Fourth Government (1984–1990)
When the Fourth Labour Government came into power it uncovered a fiscal crisis that had been largely hidden by the outgoing
Third National Government. Government debt was skyrocketing, due largely to the costs of borrowing to maintain a
fixed exchange-rate. When the result of the election became clear, Lange asked Muldoon to devalue the
New Zealand dollar
The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...
, which Muldoon refused to do, resulting in
a constitutional crisis and precipitating some of the changes in the
Constitution Act 1986.
The economic-policy agenda of the Fourth Labour Government differed significantly from previous Labour governments. The minister of finance,
Roger Douglas, supported
neoliberal
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
theories, and sought to implement sweeping
free-market reforms (dubbed "
Rogernomics") to the economy and to the tax system.
This involved floating the New Zealand dollar, cutting government spending, reducing taxes and removing almost all industry subsidies.
The government also revolutionised New Zealand's foreign policy, making the country a
nuclear-free zone, which resulted in suspension from the
ANZUS alliance.
Labour liberalised
immigration policy and promoted migration from Asia.
Other innovations during the term of the Fourth Labour Government included extending the jurisdiction of the
Waitangi Tribunal
The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on cla ...
back to 1840 (the date of the signing of the
Treaty of Waitangi); the
Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986, which legalised homosexual relations; and the
Bill of Rights Act, which enumerated civil and political rights. Throughout its first term (1984–1987), the Labour government remained largely unified behind the enacted radical financial, economic and social policy reforms, but early signs of dissension began to appear before the 1987 election.
In Labour won another considerable election victory against the National Party, while ruptures over the direction of policy remained concealed. Despite taking votes from affluent areas, Labour suffered negative swings in more traditional seats, while the
blue-ribbon seat of
Remuera nearly fell into the Labour column. The government's second term (1987–1990), with an increased Labour majority won on the back of Lange's
anti-nuclear stance, saw emerging divisions over economic policy arising within Cabinet. Ministers debated the extent and pace of further reforms, and there was disillusion among party members and supporters loyal to Labour's left-wing tradition.
The
Council of Trade Unions criticised the Labour Party. One vocal member of Parliament critical of government policy, former Party President
Jim Anderton, departed to establish the
NewLabour Party, which later became a part of the left-wing
Alliance Party.
At the same time Roger Douglas and Lange fought intermittent battles inside Cabinet, with Douglas wanting to expand his economic programme dramatically. Lange strongly opposed a
flat-tax
A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progressive ...
proposal from Douglas and moved to sack him, resulting in political clashes throughout 1988 and the departure of Douglas from the Cabinet in December 1988. After the Labour Caucus re-elected Douglas to Cabinet on 3 August 1989, Lange resigned from office himself (8 August 1989), interpreting Douglas's reappointment as a vote of no confidence in his leadership.
Geoffrey Palmer became the new Labour prime minister.
However, Palmer failed to rebuild the shattered remnants of Lange's government and in September 1990,
Mike Moore Michael Moore is an American filmmaker and author.
Michael Moore may also refer to:
Academia
* Michael G. Moore (fl. 1970s–2020s), professor of education
* Michael S. Moore (academic) (fl. 1960s–2020s), American law professor
* Michael Moore ...
replaced him. Despite Moore's ascension somewhat salvaging poll-ratings, Labour suffered its worst defeat since it first took office in 1935 (losing twenty-eight seats) – voters flung the Party into the political wilderness with an election landslide loss.
National swept to power, seemingly repudiating the Lange/Douglas program, but then engaged in even more radical policies than Labour had contemplated. Political disillusionment caused by both governments was to be instrumental in the later adoption of
mixed-member proportional representation
Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...
(MMP) in 1993 (implemented in 1996).
Moore himself, despite recovering sixteen seats at the 1993 election, was replaced by
Helen Clark in December 1993. Clark led the party in opposition to the National government for six years under the administrations of
Bolger (1993–1997) and
Shipley (1997–1999). During this period in opposition, the party made a measured repudiation of Rogernomics, although it has never returned to its original leftist roots (Labour's contemporary position is left-of-centre).
When the , the first conducted under the MMP electoral system, gave the
balance of power to the 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 ...
party, many believed that Labour would return to power, but in the end New Zealand First formed a coalition arrangement with the National Party. Despite initially appearing coherent, the coalition became increasingly unstable and eventually collapsed, leaving the National Party to govern as a
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
from 1998 to 1999.
Fifth Government (1999–2008)
After the , a coalition government of Labour and the Alliance took power, with Helen Clark becoming New Zealand's second female prime minister. This government, while undertaking a number of reforms, was not particularly radical when compared to previous Labour governments, and maintained a high level of popularity. The Alliance, however, fell in popularity and split internally. Clark cited the Alliance split as one of the reasons for calling the several months early; Labour won comfortably.
Policies of the Fifth Labour Government included the
KiwiSaver scheme, the
Working for Families
In 2004, the New Zealand Labour government introduced the Working for Families package as part of the 2004 budget. The package, which effectively commenced operating on 1 April 2005, had three primary aims: to make work pay; to ensure income adeq ...
package, increasing the
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
5% a year, interest-free student loans, the establishment of
District Health Boards, the introduction of a number of
tax credits, overhauling the secondary-school qualifications system by introducing the
NCEA, and the introduction of fourteen weeks' parental leave. Labour also supported the
Civil Union Act 2004, which legalised
civil unions
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
for same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
The foreign policy of the Fifth Labour Government strongly reflected
liberal internationalist
Liberal internationalism is a foreign policy doctrine that argues two main points: first, that international organizations should achieve multilateral agreements between states that uphold rules-based norms and promote liberal democracy, and, s ...
doctrine, with a particular emphasis on promoting democracy and human rights, advocating for antimilitarism and
disarmament, and encouragement of free trade. In 2003, the government opposed New Zealand military action in the
Iraq War.
In early 2004 Labour came under attack in the
foreshore and seabed controversy
The New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy is a debate in the politics of New Zealand. It concerns the ownership of the country's foreshore and seabed, with many Māori groups claiming that Māori have a rightful claim to title. These c ...
. Significant internal tensions within the party eventually culminated in the resignation of junior minister
Tariana Turia and her establishment of the new
Māori Party.
Following the , Labour formed a coalition with the
Progressive Party (breakaway party of the old Alliance), and entered into complex
confidence and supply agreements with the centrist
United Future and
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 ...
parties, which gave each party's leader a ministerial portfolio, while the support parties remained outside the Cabinet. A limited support agreement also linked Labour with the
Green Party, giving certain policy concessions to the Greens in return for abstention on
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 par ...
votes. Labour lost power when the National Party soundly defeated it in the .
In opposition (2008–2017)
Following the loss to the National Party in the November 2008 election, Helen Clark stood down as leader of the party
–
Phil Goff succeeded her (serving from 2008–2011).
Labour had a relatively high turnover of four leaders during its most recent term in opposition; journalist
Nicky Hager has attributed this to Labour's reaction to changes within public media and the political environment. Goff led Labour into a second electoral defeat in and was succeeded by
David Shearer, who led the Labour parliamentary from 2011 to 2013.
Shearer resigned after losing the confidence of caucus.
David Cunliffe (2013–2014) assumed the leadership after the
2013 leadership election in which, under new rules, members and unions held 60% of the vote.
Most of the Labour caucus disliked Cunliffe, but he had strong support from the party membership. In the leadership contest he won first-preference votes from only one-third of Labour MPs.
Cunliffe's tenure as leader quickly became mired in internal disputes and falling poll-ratings. Labour went on to suffer its worst electoral reversal since 1922 at the election, Cunliffe opted to resign after initially wishing to re-contest the leadership. His replacement,
Andrew Little (2014–2017), then resigned in 2017 following new polling showing the party sinking to a record low result of 24%, with internal voices hoping that rising star
Jacinda Ardern would take over in his stead.
The caucus confirmed Ardern as the new Labour leader (2017–2023).
After Ardern's election to its parliamentary leadership Labour rose dramatically in opinion polls. By late August they had risen to 43% in one poll (having been 24% under Little's leadership), as well as managing to overtake National in opinion polls for the first time in over a decade.
Sixth Government (2017–2023)
During the , Labour gained 36.6% of the party vote and increased its presence in the House of Representatives to 46 seats, making it the second-largest party in Parliament.
On 19 October 2017, New Zealand First leader
Winston Peters announced that his party would form a coalition government with Labour, citing changing international and internal economic circumstances as the reasoning behind his decision, coupled with a belief that a Labour government was best-placed to handle the social and economic welfare of New Zealanders in a global environment that was undergoing rapid and "seismic" change.
This coalition, combined with
confidence and supply from the Green Party, saw Labour return to government for the first time since 2008. Ardern became prime minister, with Peters as her deputy. The Labour government pledged to eliminate child poverty, make tertiary education free, reduce immigration by 20,000 to 30,000,
decriminalise abortion, and make all rivers swimmable within 10 years.
In mid-July 2020, the
Serious Fraud Office announced that it was investigating donations made to the Labour Party by two Chinese businessmen during the 2017 general election. Labour Party President
Claire Szabó
Claire Szabó is a New Zealand chief executive officer and was president of the New Zealand Labour Party from 2019 to 2022.
Biography
Her father came to New Zealand as a refugee from Hungary in 1956 following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Hun ...
announced that the party would co-operate with the investigation.
In the , Labour gained 50% of the
party vote
Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...
and increased its presence in the House of Representatives to 65 seats, marking the first time that a party has won enough seats to govern alone since the introduction of the MMP system in 1996. Described as a "landslide" victory
in which the party won the party vote in "virtually every single electorate", Labour is believed to have gained support from
swing vote
A swing vote is a vote that is seen as potentially going to any of a number of candidates in an election, or, in a two-party system, may go to either of the two dominant political parties. Such votes are usually sought after in election campaign ...
rs, many of whom had previously voted for National under
John Key. Despite this landslide victory Labour faced criticism from economists due to the government's lack of action on
New Zealand's housing affordability crisis, despite it being a key feature of Labour's 2017 election campaign.
On 19 January 2023, Ardern announced her resignation as party leader and therefore prime minister. In the resultant
leadership election Chris Hipkins was the only candidate and was confirmed as the new Labour leader on 22 January. The 2023 New Zealand general election, held on 14 October 2023, saw the Labour government lose its majority to the opposition National Party.
Based on final results, Labour's share of the popular vote declined to 26.91% while its share of Parliamentary seats dropped to 34.
Ideology
The New Zealand Labour Party's founding 1916 policy objectives called for "the socialisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange", including
state ownership
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownershi ...
of major parts of the economy, and increased rights for workers.
While the socialist objective attracted support from some members, it also became a target for opponents who portrayed Labour as an extremist party. In the aftermath of World War II, Labour prioritised national unity over societal divisions, but after their defeat in , many party members perceived the socialist objective as outdated and a hindrance to electoral success, leading to its abolition in 1951.
The party transformed into a moderate
social-democratic
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
party, focusing on
reform within the
capitalist framework while maintaining ties with
trade unions.
By the late 1980s, the Labour Party had undergone significant ideological changes, leading to policies that frequently conflicted with the goals and interests of the union movement.
The Labour Government of the 1980s deviated sharply from a social-democratic path; in a
series of economic reforms, the government removed a swathe of regulations and subsidies,
privatised state assets, and introduced
corporate practices to state services.
The party's constitution and platform programme maintains its founding principle as
democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...
,
while observers describe Labour's policies as social-democratic and pragmatic in practice.
From the 1990s onwards, Labour has again aimed to use the power of the state to try to achieve a "fairer and more equal society", based on a
mixed economy in which both the state and private enterprise play a part.
Subsequently, the party has also been described as embracing certain
social-liberal policies.
Principles
According to its current constitution, the party accepts democratic socialist principles, including:
* The management of New Zealand's
natural resources for the benefit of all, including future generations.
* Equal access to all social, economic, cultural, political, and legal spheres, regardless of wealth or social position.
* Co-operation as the main governing factor in economic relations, to ensure a
just distribution of wealth.
* Universal rights to dignity, self-respect, and the opportunity to work.
* The right to wealth and property, subject to the provisos of regarding people as always more important than property and the
obligations of the state to ensure a just distribution of wealth.
* Honouring / the
Treaty of Waitangi as the founding document of New Zealand.
* The promotion of peace and
social justice throughout the world by international co-operation.
* Equality in human rights regardless of race, sex,
marital status,
sexual orientation,
gender identity, age, religious faith, political belief or disability.
Voter base
Historically, the party drew upon a stable sectional voter
base comprising the urban
working class, predominantly
manual labourers and trade unionists. From the 1930s onwards, Labour has increasingly positioned itself as a broad-based party by responding and adapting to different social and economic problems and changing demographics (appealing to an expanding migrant population and a diversified ethnic, social make-up).
Beginning in the 1980s, there was a shift away from class-issues and towards the promotion of individual freedoms, particularly for members of disadvantaged groups such as women and Māori. The modern party's core support base lies among young people, urban workers, civil servants, and minorities (particularly the Māori and
Pasifika Pasifika may refer to:
*Pacific Islander people, indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands
**Pasifika New Zealanders, Pacific peoples living in New Zealand
*Pacific islands, including Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia
*The Pasifika Festival, an an ...
communities).
Organisation
Party structure
General and special branches
Party membership is tied into geographically-based branches in each
parliamentary electorate. General branches must consist of at least 10 members aged 15 or over.
Members may also form special branches where they have a special community of interest (such as university students and academics, young people, women, Māori people, Pasifika, multicultural groups, people with disabilities, the
LGBT community
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a comm ...
, and industrial workers).
Influential branches include
Princes Street Labour
Princes Street Labour is a branch of the New Zealand Labour Party in Auckland.
It is part of the Auckland Central Labour Electorate Committee. It is a "special branch" under the Labour Party constitution, which means that members may live outsi ...
(this Auckland university branch is described as the "ideological powerhouse of the party", and has contributed many prominent Labour politicians) and
Vic Labour
VicLabour ( mi, Te Rangatahi Reipa o Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui), formerly The Victoria University Labour Club, is a branch of the New Zealand Labour Party. The branch is primarily made up of students from Victoria University and Massey University ...
(the
Victoria University of Wellington branch).
Membership figures are rarely released to the public. Full (non-affiliate) membership is known to have peaked at 55,000 in 1976. During the 1980s and 1990s, party membership plummeted to levels not seen since before the First Labour Government. This decline might be attributed to disillusionment on the part of some members with the economic policies of the Fourth Labour Government ("
Rogernomics"). Membership figures began to recover under Helen Clark's leadership, with 14,000 members recorded in 2002.
Conference, councils and committees
Delegates from all branches in the electorate, together with delegates from affiliated unions, make up the Labour Electorate Committee (LEC). The LEC is responsible for party organisation in the electorate.
The party is divided into six regional areas, which each year convene a Regional Conference.
Policy and other matters are debated and passed onto the Annual Conference.
The Annual Conference (called Congress in election years) is the supreme governing body of the Labour Party when it is in session. All constituent bodies of the party are entitled to send delegates to Annual Conference.
The New Zealand Council is the Labour Party's governing
executive.
It ensures that the party is governed effectively according to its constitution. The NZ Council consists of the president, two senior vice presidents (one of which must be
Māori), three vice presidents (representing women, affiliates, and Pacific Islanders), seven regional representatives, one Policy Council representative, three Caucus representatives, and the general secretary.
The Policy Council, responsible for the development of the policy platform and
election manifesto,
is elected for a three-year term following each
general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. The party structure also provides for
Special Interest Group Councils: representing the affiliates, women's issues, Māori issues, Pacific Islands,
primary industries
The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining.
The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in ...
, local government, and youth.
Caucus and parliamentary leadership
The elected members representing the Labour Party in the House of Representatives meet as the Parliamentary Labour Party, also called the
Caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures.
The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...
. The current parliamentary leader is
Chris Hipkins (since 22 January 2023). A leadership election is triggered upon the vacancy of the position of leader or a
motion of no confidence. Candidates are nominated from within the Caucus. Under Labour Party rules, party members have 40% of the votes, MPs have another 40% of the votes, and affiliated unions have 20% of the votes.
Some observers have criticised the influence of the unions in leadership elections.
Affiliated trade unions
In the first decades of the 20th century,
manufacturing industries grew strongly in New Zealand's main cities and union membership also increased. The Labour Party was formed in this period as the political wing of the labour movement and was financed by trade unions. Since then, the unions have retained close institutional links with the party. There are currently six unions that are directly affiliated to the party and pay affiliation fees, as well as receiving a percentage of the vote in party leadership elections.
These unions are the following:
* ''
E tū
E tū is a New Zealand trade union created in October 2015 through the merger of the Service & Food Workers Union, the Flight Attendants and Related Services Union, and the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union
The Engineering, Print ...
'' – created through the merger of the
Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union and the
Service & Food Workers Union
The Service & Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota (SFWU) was a trade union in New Zealand. It was affiliated with the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and the New Zealand Labour Party.
The SFWU was organised into five industry sectors:
*Age Ca ...
in 2015.
*
Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ)
*
New Zealand Dairy Workers Union (DWU)
*
New Zealand Meat & Related Trades Workers Union (MWU)
*
Rail and Maritime Transport Union
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
*Rails (film), ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini ...
(RMTU)
*
Central Amalgamated Workers' Union (CAWU)
In addition, the president of the
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions continues to speak at the Labour Party Annual Conference.
Young Labour
Young Labour is the party's
youth wing. It exists to organise young party members (and young members of affiliated unions) aged under 30, and encourage wider involvement of young New Zealanders in centre-left politics. Young Labour is the most active sector in the Labour Party and plays a significant role in policy development and campaign efforts. It is endearingly called the "conscience of the party".
In March 2018, it was reported that four people under 16 were allegedly sexually assaulted at a Young Labour summer camp in February. The camp was said to have "mountains of alcohol", and people under the legal drinking age of 18 were said to have consumed alcohol. Although Young Labour and the Labour Party were aware of the allegations, party leadership failed to tell the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. The party offered counselling and support after the allegations were publicly reported. An independent review into the party's conduct and sexual assault complaint policy was announced by Party President
Nigel Haworth, and was completed late August. The party has declined to release the report to the public.
Local government
Labour Party members including current and former Members of Parliament have contested various local government positions throughout New Zealand during local body elections. While several have stood as Labour Party candidates, others have contested the elections as
independent politicians.
Auckland
Labour has contested the Auckland local body elections alongside
City Vision
City Vision is a centre-left coalition of two political parties, the New Zealand Labour Party and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, and community independents who contest Auckland Council (and previously Auckland City and Auckland Regi ...
, a left-leaning
electoral ticket
{{voting
A ticket refers to a single election choice which fills more than one political office or seat. For example, in Guyana, the candidates for President of Guyana, President and National Assembly of Guyana, Parliament run on the same "ticket ...
representing the local Labour,
Green parties and other progressives. Following the
2022 Auckland local elections
The 2022 Auckland local elections took place between September and October 2022 by postal vote as part of nation-wide local elections. The elections were the fifth since the merger of seven councils into the Auckland Council, which is composed o ...
, the
Auckland Council
Auckland Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is ...
had four councillors serving under the Labour ticket and one serving under the affiliated
City Vision
City Vision is a centre-left coalition of two political parties, the New Zealand Labour Party and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, and community independents who contest Auckland Council (and previously Auckland City and Auckland Regi ...
ticket. In addition, 26 Labour Party candidates were elected to local community boards across Auckland while four Labour candidates were elected to local licensing trusts in the
Auckland Region
Auckland () is one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland Metropolitan Area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf. Containing ...
. Meanwhile, seven City Vision local board members and three City Vision liquor licensing trust members were also elected.
Former Labour MP and cabinet minister
Phil Goff served as
mayor of Auckland for two terms between 2016 and 2022.
Christchurch
In
Christchurch, former Labour MP and cabinet minister
Lianne Dalziel served for three terms as
mayor between 2013 and 2022. She ran as an independent
Within the
Christchurch City Council, Labour maintains an umbrella, including community independents called
The People's Choice (formerly Christchurch 2021). During the 2019 Christchurch local elections, People's Choice candidates held 10 community board seats, seven council seats, and several community board chairmanships.
Dunedin
On 26 February 2016,
Dunedin city councillor and former Labour MP
David Benson-Pope announced that he would be contesting the
Dunedin local elections in October under the "Local Labour" ticket. While still a Labour Party member, Benson Pope had stood in the
2013 local elections as an independent candidate. This report coincided with the dissolution of the city's main local body ticket, the centre-left
Greater Dunedin
Greater Dunedin was a local body ticket in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ticket was formed in 2007 and contested the 2010 Dunedin local elections and 2013 local elections. In February 2016, Mayor Dave Cull dissolved the Greater Dunedin group and an ...
group.
On 20 April, it was reported that the Labour Party had dropped its plan to field a bloc of candidates in the 2016 Dunedin elections. However, the party has not ruled out endorsing other candidates.
During the
2019 local elections, Steve Walker and
Marian Hobbs were elected to the
Dunedin City Council and
Otago Regional Council respectively on Labour Party tickets. Hobbs subsequently resigned from the Otago Regional Council in November 2021.
During the
2022 Dunedin local elections
The 2022 Dunedin local elections were held via postal voting between September and October 2022 as part of the wider 2022 New Zealand local elections. Elections in Dunedin covered one territorial authority, the Dunedin City Council, and six co ...
, Steve Walker and Joy Davis stood as Labour candidates for the
Dunedin City Council. While Walker was re-elected, Davis failed to win a seat.
New Plymouth
In
New Plymouth
New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...
, former MP
Harry Duynhoven served as
mayor from 2010 to 2013, when he was defeated by
Andrew Judd.
Palmerston North
Beginning in 2016, the Labour Party began contesting the Palmerston North local elections, ending a long tradition of keeping national party political affiliations out of local government bodies. During the
2016 local elections, Lorna Johnson was elected on the Labour Party ticket to the
Palmerston North City Council. During the 2019 local elections, she was joined by Zulfiqar Butt, who also stood on the Labour ticket. During the
2022 local elections
This local electoral calendar for 2022 lists the subnational elections held in 2022. Referendums, Recall election, recall and retention elections, and national By-election, by-elections (special elections) are also included.
January
*9 January: ...
, Johnson was re-elected to the Palmerston North City Council but Butt was defeated.
Rotorua
Former electorate then Labour list MP
Steve Chadwick
Stephanie Anne "Steve" Chadwick (née Frizzell, born 15 December 1948) is a New Zealand politician. She served as mayor of Rotorua from 2013 to 2022. She previously held the positions of Minister of Conservation, Women's Affairs, and Associat ...
, was elected as
mayor of Rotorua in the 2013 elections. She stood as an independent. She served for three terms before resigning in 2022.
Wellington Region
During the
2022 Wellington local elections
The 2022 Wellington local elections were held on 8 October 2022 as part of the wider 2022 New Zealand local elections to elect members to sub-national councils and boards. The Wellington elections cover one regional council (the Greater Wellingt ...
, four Labour Party councillors were elected: Ben McNulty – Northern Ward, Rebecca Matthews – Onslow-Western Ward, Teri O'Neill – Eastern Ward, and Nureddin Abdurahman – Southern Ward. Labour MP
Paul Eagle unsuccessfully contested the
2022 Wellington City mayoral election
The 2022 Wellington City mayoral election, part of the Wellington local elections in October 2022, determined who would serve as Mayor of the City of Wellington for the next three-year term. It was won by Tory Whanau, a former Green Party parli ...
but came third place.
Daran Ponter
Daran Mark Ponter (born 20 February 1968) is a New Zealand local-body politician who on the 30th of October 2019 succeeded Chris Laidlaw as the chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council.
Biography Early life
Ponter was born in Kitwe in ...
of the Wellington City ward on the
Greater Wellington Regional Council was the only councillor to have been re-elected on a Labour ticket during the 2022 Wellington local election.
Campbell Barry
Campbell Nicholas Barry (born 1991) is a New Zealand local-body politician. He has served as Mayor of Lower Hutt since 2019.
Biography
Early life
Barry was educated at Wainuiomata High School. He went on to study at Victoria University of Welli ...
has been the
mayor of
Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area.
It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...
since 2019 and was re-elected on the Labour ticket along with Wainuiomata ward councilor Keri Brown during the 2022 Hutt City Council elections.
Whanganui
In Whanganui, Labour member
Hamish McDouall
Hamish McDouall is a New Zealand local government politician and a former mayor of Whanganui. He is a member of the New Zealand Labour Party.
Biography Early life and career
McDouall was born in Wanganui to Shirley (née Sanson) and Gerald Mc ...
served two terms as
mayor until he was defeated by Andrew Tripe during the 2022 local elections. McDouall had previously contested the
seat of Whanganui for the party. McDouall ran on an independent ticket.
Electoral results
Parliamentary
: Labour did not contest every electorate until
1946
Events January
* January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
* January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...
, when it stood candidates in all 80 electorates.
According to the National Executive reports, the number of official candidates in 1919 is uncertain (53 or possibly 46). The party ran 41 candidates in 1922; 56 in 1925; 55 in 1928; 53 in 1931; 70 in 1935; 78 in 1938; and 77 in 1943. Labour did not run against independent candidates who voted with Labour, such as
Harry Atmore
Harry Atmore (14 December 1870 – 20 August 1946) was a New Zealand Independent Member of Parliament for Nelson in the South Island.
Harry Atmore held the Nelson seat as an Independent for a total of thirty years from 1911 to 1914 and th ...
in Nelson and
David McDougall in Mataura, Southland. Labour did not run candidates against the two
Country Party candidates in 1935, but did in 1938, when both candidates were defeated.
Māori electorates
Leadership
The Labour Party has had 17 leaders, 11 of whom have served as
prime minister. To date,
Helen Clark served longest as leader of the Labour Party. While some dispute exists as to when
Harry Holland officially became leader, Clark had passed his longest possible leadership term by 26 October 2008.
List of leaders
The following is a complete list of Labour Party leaders in the House of Representatives:
Key:
''PM'':
Prime Minister
''LO'':
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
†:
Died in office
A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations.
The de ...
List of deputy leaders
The following is a complete list of Labour Party deputy leaders:
List of presidents
The following is a complete list of Labour Party presidents:
See also
*
City Vision
City Vision is a centre-left coalition of two political parties, the New Zealand Labour Party and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, and community independents who contest Auckland Council (and previously Auckland City and Auckland Regi ...
, a prominent Auckland Council political ticket composed of Labour and Green Party members
*
List of Labour parties
*
List of New Zealand Labour Party MPs
The following is a list of members of the New Zealand Labour Party who have served in the New Zealand House of Representatives. The New Zealand Labour Party was founded in 1916. Most members had been a part of the United Labour Party (New Zealand ...
*
Politics of New Zealand
*
Rainbow Labour
Rainbow Labour is the LGBTQIA+ sector of the New Zealand Labour Party.
History
Rainbow Labour began as a branch within Chris Carter (politician), Chris Carter's Auckland Waipareira electorate on 17 March 1997 following his narrow defeat in th ...
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
* (with Biographical appendix)
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Official website for City Vision– the Auckland Local Government Group that includes Labour candidates
{{authority control
1916 establishments in New Zealand
Former member parties of the Socialist International
Labour parties
New Zealand politics-related lists
Political parties established in 1916
Political parties in New Zealand, Labour
Progressive Alliance
Centre-left parties
Social democratic parties in New Zealand