The 2013 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held on 15 September 2013 to choose the fourteenth

Leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

of the

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...

. The election was won by

David Cunliffe David Richard Cunliffe (born 30 April 1963) is a New Zealand management consultant and former politician who was Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from September 2013 to September 2014. He was Member of Parli ...

. It followed the resignation of leader

David Shearer David James Shearer (born 28 July 1957) is a New Zealand United Nations worker and politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Labour Party from 2009 to 2016, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2011 to 2013. Shear ...

on 22 August 2013. Nominations closed on 26 August 2013. It was the first leadership election the Party conducted using new party rules agreed in 2012 that allow party members to vote. The Labour Party election rules state that the vote is split among the party's caucus, party members and party affiliates (unions) in a 40/40/20 split. It was also the first time a Labour leadership contest had been contested by more than two participants since

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Background

On 22 August 2013 Shearer announced his resignation as party leader, explaining, "My sense is I no longer have the full confidence of many of my caucus colleagues".

Candidates

Deputy leader Grant Robertson declared he would contest the leadership on 25 August. Former union leader Andrew Little announced he would not contest the leadership vote on the same day. Robertson was nominated by Megan Woods and Jacinda Ardern. List MP Shane Jones declared he would contest the leadership on 26 August. At a news conference later that day, MP for New Lynn David Cunliffe, declared he would contest the leadership as well. Cunliffe previously stood for the leadership at the 2011 leadership election, and lost to David Shearer and Grant Robertson.

Opinion polls

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

Colmar Brunton poll published on 25 August found

led the potential contenders with 29% of the popular vote and 32% of Labour Party members, followed by Jacinda Ardern on 15%, Shane Jones on 11%, Grant Robertson on 10% and Andrew Little on 9%. A Research Now poll released by ''

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'' on 6 September among the public returned 39.6% support for Cunliffe, 31.6% for Jones and 28.8% for Robertson. On 8 September

published a poll which asked which candidate respondents thought would be most likely to lead the Labour Party at the 2014 election. David Cunliffe was on 39%, Shane Jones on 18% and Grant Robertson on 15%.

Campaign

The first televised debate was held between the candidates on Māori Television on 26 August. A series of 12 candidates meetings will be held throughout the country for Labour Party members. Controversially, all candidates made use of their ability to fly around the country out of the Parliamentary Service's budget.

Result

Overall

Source:

Unions

Members of the Service & Food Workers Union directly voted in the election, while union delegates voted in the other five unions.

References

{{New Zealand Labour Party Labour Party

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New Zealand Labour Party leadership election