The 2018 New Zealand National Party leadership election was held on 27 February 2018 to determine the 12th Leader of the National Party. On 13 February 2018, Bill English announced his resignation as leader of the National Party, effective on 27 February 2018. He left Parliament on 13 March 2018. On 20 February, Deputy Leader Paula Bennett announced that a concurrent deputy leadership election would take place, in which she would stand. After a secret caucus ballot

Simon Bridges Simon Joseph Bridges (born 12 October 1976) is a former New Zealand politician and lawyer. He served as Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2018 and 2020, and as the Member of Parliament for Tauranga from the to ...

was declared the new leader of the National Party and Paula Bennett was re-elected as deputy.

Background

The Fifth National Government of New Zealand came to an end after the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

saw the National Party win 44% of the vote and

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

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 ...

form the minority

Sixth Labour Government The Sixth Labour Government has governed New Zealand since 26 October 2017. It is headed by Jacinda Ardern, the Labour Party leader and prime minister. Following the 2017 general election held on 23 September, the New Zealand First party h ...

with confidence and supply from 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 ...

. On 13 February 2018 Bill English, the leader of the National Party and Prime Minister from 2016 to 2017, announced his resignation as party leader effective on 27 February, and as a Member of Parliament effective on 13 March. Deputy leader Paula Bennett asked National senior

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

Jami-Lee Ross for her role to also be put up for election, but she would run to keep the position. No other candidate declared an intention to run for the deputy leadership before 27 February.

Candidates

Declared candidates

At the time of the election, the following individuals were candidates:

Withdrew before vote

Declined

The following individuals were speculated as being possible leadership candidates, but ruled out a bid: * Maggie Barry, MP for North Shore since 2011 * Paula Bennett, MP for Upper Harbour since 2014, Deputy Leader of the National Party * Jonathan Coleman, MP for Northcote since 2005 * Nathan Guy, MP for Ōtaki since 2005 * Nikki Kaye, MP for Auckland Central since 2008 * Todd McClay, MP for

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

since 2008 *

Todd Muller Todd Michael Muller (; born 23 December 1968) is a New Zealand politician who served as the Leader of the New Zealand National Party and the Leader of the Opposition from 22 May to 14 July 2020. Muller entered Parliament at the 2014 general el ...

, MP for Bay of Plenty since 2014

Public opinion polling

Result

The election was conducted as a

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

of the National Party parliamentary caucus. An exhaustive ballot method was used, so that the support of 29 of the 56 MPs were required to elect the leader. Bridges was elected party leader after two rounds of voting. Bennett and Collins ran for the deputy leadership, and Bennett was re-elected to the position.

Outcomes

On 6 March Joyce announced his retirement from politics following speculation he would lose the finance portfolio. Joyce wouldn't confirm or deny this but said Bridges offered him a "high-ranking" portfolio. On 11 March Bridges announced his shadow cabinet which saw Adams, Collins and Mitchell receive promotions; ranked 3rd, 4th and 7th respectively. Two weeks later, former leadership contender Jonathan Coleman resigned from Parliament; Adams announced her own upcoming retirement in early 2019. Bridges held the leadership for two years, before being successfully challenged for the role by

References

{{NZ National Party 2018 elections in New Zealand

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

February 2018 events in New Zealand New Zealand National Party leadership election