The original New Zealand Labour Party was a short-lived

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

political party in New Zealand. It is a predecessor of the modern Labour Party. NZLP Conference 1912

The original Labour Party was founded in 1910. It was based on the remnants of 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 ...

, the first real working-class party in New Zealand, formed in 1904–05. While the IPLL had managed to elect one MP (

David McLaren David McLaren may refer to: * David McLaren (colonial manager) (1785–1850), colonial manager (CEO) of the colony of South Australia (1837–1841) * David McLaren (politician) David McLaren (1872 – 3 November 1939) was a Mayor of Wellington ...

) to Parliament, it quickly began to collapse into disarray—internal disputes about the party's political alignment were a significant factor, as was poor organisation and coordination. The Labour Party was an attempt to relaunch the IPLL. In the 1911 election, the Labour Party retained representation in Parliament through

John Robertson John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to: Politicians United Kingdom politicians * J. M. Robertson (John Mackinnon Robertson, 1856–1933), British journalist and Liberal MP for Tyneside 1906–1918 *John Robertson (Bothwell MP) (1867–1926) ...

, John Payne and chair

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 ...

. It did not, however, represent the totality of the left-wing vote — the

Socialist Party 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 various independent candidates had also attracted a certain amount of support. In 1912, a " Unity Conference" was called, aiming to unite the diverse leftist factions. The Socialists refused to attend, but a number of independent activists agreed to take part in discussions. In the end, a new party, called the United Labour Party, was formed, consisting of the Labour Party and various independents such as

Bill Veitch William Andrew Veitch (25 May 1870 – 1 January 1961) was a New Zealand politician. He began his career in the labour movement, but became a strong opponent of more militant socialism, and rejected the radical views held by many of his colleag ...

. Later, the majority of the United Labour Party would merge with the Socialists to form the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

. This party would then merge with those elements of the United Labour Party which had remained independent, thereby forming the Labour Party which exists today.

References

{{Authority control 1910 establishments in New Zealand 1912 disestablishments in New Zealand Defunct political parties in New Zealand Defunct socialist parties Democratic socialist parties in Oceania Labour parties Political parties disestablished in 1912 Political parties established in 1910 Socialist parties in New Zealand