The 1993 New Zealand general election was held on 6 November 1993 to determine the composition of the 44th New Zealand Parliament. Voters elected 99 members to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, up from 97 members at the 1990 election. The election was the last general election to use the

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

electoral system, with all members elected from single-member electorates. The election saw the governing National Party, led by

Jim Bolger James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was born to an Irish immigrant family in Ōpunake, Taran ...

, win a second term in office, despite a major swing away from National in both seats and votes. The opposition Labour Party, despite a slight drop in their support, managed to make gains in terms of seats. The new

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 ...

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 gained significant shares of the vote, but won few seats.

Background

Before the election, the National Party governed with 64 seats, while the opposition Labour Party held only 29. The 1990 election had been a major victory for the National Party, with the unpopular Fourth Labour Government being decisively defeated. The Labour Party had become unpopular for its ongoing economic reforms, which were based around

liberalisation Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used m ...

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

, and the removal of

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and poli ...

s and

subsidies A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

. The National Party divided as to the merits of the reforms, with conservatives generally opposed and libertarians generally in favour. The party had fought the 1990 election saying that the Labour government's program was too radical, and was being carried out without any thought of the social consequences –

spoke about "the Decent Society", promising a return to a more moderate and balanced platform. Once in government, however, the key

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

role was taken not by a moderate but by

Ruth Richardson Ruth Margaret Richardson (born 13 December 1950) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who served as Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993. Her 1991 budget, which she dubbed the "Mother of all Budgets", formed the catalyst ...

, who wished to expand, not end, the economic reforms. Many of the voters who had felt betrayed by Labour's reforms now felt betrayed by the National Party as well. By September 1991, support for National had plummeted to a hitherto unprecedented polling low of 22%. The

, the largest "third party", was a broad coalition of five smaller groups – the

NewLabour Party The NewLabour Party was a centre-left political party in New Zealand that operated from 1989 to 2000. It was founded by Jim Anderton, an member of parliament (MP) and former president of the New Zealand Labour Party. NewLabour was established b ...

(a Labour splinter), the Democrats (a

social credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

party), the Greens (an

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

party), Mana Motuhake (a

Māori 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 ...

party), and the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

(a National splinter). The Alliance held three seats in Parliament – one belonged to

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 ...

, who had been re-elected under a NewLabour banner in the seat he had formerly held for Labour, while the other two belonged to the National MPs who formed the Liberal Party. In its first electoral test, the 1992 by-election in Tamaki, the Alliance had performed well, taking second place. Another smaller group was

, a party established by former National MP

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, ...

. Peters had broken with his party after a number of policy disputes with its leadership, and resigned from parliament to contest his seat as an independent. After being overwhelmingly re-elected, Peters established New Zealand First to promote his views. Peters was the party's sole MP. Another consequence of dissatisfaction with both major parties was the referendum conducted alongside the 1993 election. The culmination of the larger decade-long

New Zealand electoral reform Electoral reform in New Zealand has, in recent years, become a political issue as major changes have been made to both parliamentary and local government electoral systems. National elections in New Zealand were first held in 1853 using the basic ...

process, the referendum was held following the September 1992 indicative referendum, which saw 85% of voters voting for change from the existing First Past The Post (FPP) system, and 70% choosing the

Mixed Member Proportional 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) as its preferred replacement: a proportional system which would make it easier for smaller parties to win seats. It asked voters to choose whether to keep the existing FPP system or change to MMP, with 53.9% of voters opting to change to MMP. While

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

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 ...

usually stood candidates in every seat, National was one candidate short as their

Southern Maori Southern Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Eastern Maori, Western Maori and Eastern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, an ...

candidate apparently did not apply in time.

MPs retiring in 1993

Four MPs, including three National MPs and one Labour MP, intended to retire at the end of the 43rd Parliament.

The election

The election was held on 6 November. 2,321,664 people were registered to vote, and 85.2% turned out. This turnout was almost exactly the same as for the previous election, although slightly less than what would be seen for the following one.

Summary of results

Preliminary results based on election night counts saw the country facing its first

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisla ...

since 1931, with no party gaining the 50 seats required for a majority. The National Party won 49 seats, a drop of 15 from before the election, and Labour had won 46 seats, with the balance of power held with the Alliance and New Zealand First, which won two seats each. This led to

saying on public television, "Bugger the pollsters", as polls had predicted a comfortable National victory. Bolger reacted to the election results by giving a conciliatory speech, while Labour leader

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 ...

delivered a speech later described by political scientist Jack Vowles as "damaging" and "more appropriate for a decisive Labour win than a narrow defeat." On election night result with the two major parties tied, the Governor-General Dame

Catherine Tizard Dame Catherine Anne Tizard (née Maclean; 4 April 1931 – 31 October 2021) was a New Zealand politician who served as mayor of Auckland City from 1983 to 1990, and the 16th governor-general of New Zealand from 1990 to 1996. She was the first ...

asked her predecessor Sir

David Beattie Sir David Stuart Beattie, (29 February 1924 – 4 February 2001) was an Australian-born New Zealand judge who served as the 14th Governor-General of New Zealand, from 1980 to 1985. During the 1984 constitutional crisis, Beattie was nearly fo ...

to form a committee, along with three retired appeal court judges, to decide whom to appoint as prime minister. However National won one more seat and was returned to power when the official count saw the seat of Waitaki swing from Labour to National, giving National 50 seats and Labour 45 seats. Labour's Sir Peter Tapsell agreed to become

speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

(so that National would not lose a vote in the house). Hence National had a majority of one seat. The 1993–1996 parliamentary term would see a number of defections from both major parties, meaning that National would eventually be forced to make alliances to retain power.

Detailed results

Party totals

, colspan=7, NZ Parliament Make-Up 1993

, - ! colspan=2 rowspan=2 width=200 , party ! rowspan=2 , votes ! colspan=2 , % of votes ! colspan=2 , seats , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9; text-align:center" ! % ! change ! total ! change , - , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:right;" , 673,892 , style="text-align:right;" , 35.05 , style="text-align:right;" , -12.78 , style="text-align:right;" , 50 , style="text-align:right;" , -17 , - , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:right;" , 666,759 , style="text-align:right;" , 34.68 , style="text-align:right;" , -0.46 , style="text-align:right;" , 45 , style="text-align:right;" , +16 , - , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:right;" , 350,064 , style="text-align:right;" , 18.21 , style="text-align:right;" , +3.93^a , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , style="text-align:right;" , +1^b , - , , style="text-align:left;" , NZ First , style="text-align:right;" , 161,481 , style="text-align:right;" , 8.40 , style="text-align:right;" , +8.4 , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , style="text-align:right;" , +2 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Christian Heritage , style="text-align:right;" , 38,749 , style="text-align:right;" , 2.02 , style="text-align:right;" , +1.49 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;" , – , - , , style="text-align:left;" , McGillicuddy Serious , style="text-align:right;" , 11,706 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.61 , style="text-align:right;" , +0.06 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;" , – , - , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Natural Law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 6,056 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.31 , style="text-align:right;" , +0.31 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;" , – , - , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Mana Māori According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 3,342 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.17 , style="text-align:right;" , +0.17 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;" , – , - , , style="text-align:left;" , minor parties and independents , style="text-align:right;" , 10,747 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.56 , style="text-align:right;" , +0.34 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;" , – , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9; text-align:right" , colspan=2 style="text-align:center;" , total votes , 1,922,796 , 100.00 , , 99 , +2 , - , colspan=2, , , colspan=6, , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , total registered electors , style="text-align:right;" , 2,321,664 , colspan=4, , - , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" colspan=2 , turnout , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" colspan=5 , 82.82% ^a Increase over Alliance's constituent member parties' ( Greens, NewLabour, Democrats and Mana Motuhake) combined vote share in .
^b Increase of one over Alliance's constituent party, NewLabour's result in .

Votes summary

Electorate results

The table below shows the results of the 1993 general election by electorate: Key , - , colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" , General electorates , - , - ,

Hauraki Hauraki is a suburb located on the southern North Shore of Auckland, the largest metropolitan city in New Zealand. It is under the local governance of the Auckland Council. History The traditional name for the western coastline in Hauraki wa ...

, colspan=2 style="text-align:center; background-color:#ececec;" , New electorate , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , Warren Kyd , style="text-align:right;" , 1,870 , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" ,

Jeanette Fitzsimons Jeanette Mary Fitzsimons (née Gaston; 17 January 1945 – 5 March 2020) was a New Zealand politician and environmentalist. She was the co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand from 1995 to 2009, and was a Member of Parliament from ...

, - , - , colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" ,

Māori electorates In New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats, are a special category of electorate that give reserved positions to representatives of Māori in the New Zealand Parliament. Every area in New Zealand is ...

, - Table footnotes:

Summary of changes

Based on the

1991 New Zealand census The New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings ( mi, Te Tatauranga o ngā Tāngata Huri Noa i Aotearoa me ō rātou Whare Noho) is a national population and housing census conducted by government department Statistics New Zealand every five y ...

, an electoral redistribution was carried out; the last one had been carried out in 1987 based on the previous census in 1986. This resulted in the abolition of nine electorates, and the creation of eleven new electorates. Through an amendment in the Electoral Act in 1965, the number of electorates in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

was fixed at 25, so the new electorates increased the number of the North Island electorates by two. In the South Island, one electorate was abolished (), and one electorate was recreated (). In the North Island, five electorates were newly created (, , , , and ), five electorates were recreated (,

, , , and ), and eight electorates were abolished (, , , , , , , and ). In many cases an MP from an abolished seat stood for, and was elected to a new one that broadly covered their previous electorate. New electorates. *Eastern Bay of Plenty – most of the abolished East Cape seat, plus part of Tarawera. Won by former East Cape MP

Tony Ryall Anthony Boyd Williams Ryall (born 19 November 1964) is a former New Zealand politician. He represented the National Party in the New Zealand Parliament from 1990 to 2014. Between 2008 and 2014 he served as a cabinet minister, holding the post ...

. *Far North – most of the abolished Bay of Islands seat. Won by former Bay of Islands MP John Carter. *Franklin – part of the abolished Maramarua seat and part of Papakura. Won by former Maramarua MP

Bill Birch Sir William Francis Birch (born 9 April 1934), usually known as Bill Birch, is a New Zealand retired politician. He served as Minister of Finance from 1993 to 1999 in the fourth National Government. Early life Birch was born in Hastings on 9 ...

. *Hauraki – parts of the abolished Clevedon, Maramarua, and Coromandel seats. Won by former Clevedon MP Warren Kyd. *Henderson – parts taken from the West Auckland, Te Atatu, and Titirangi electorates. Won by former West Auckland MP Jack Elder (Labour). *Howick – the eastern part of the Otara seat. Won by former Otara MP Trevor Rogers (National). *Matakana – part of the abolished Coromandel seat. Won by former Coromandel MP Graeme Lee. *Onslow – the core of the abolished Ohariu seat. Won by former Ohariu MP

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 ...

(Labour). *Rakaia – the abolished Ashburton seat, plus part of the Selwyn seat. Won by former Ashburton MP

Jenny Shipley Dame Jennifer Mary Shipley (née Robson; born 4 February 1952) is a New Zealand former politician who served as the 36th prime minister of New Zealand from 1997 to 1999. She was the first female prime minister of New Zealand, and the first woma ...

(National). *Waitakere – chiefly, the abolished seat of West Auckland. Won by former Te Atatu MP

Brian Neeson Brian Kevin Neeson (born 30 September 1945) is a New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1990 to 2002, representing the National Party, and a member of the Waitematā District Health Board from 2004 to 2010. Early life Neeson was born in Dur ...

(National). *Wellington-Karori – the abolished Wellington Central seat, plus part of the abolished Ohariu seat. Won by new National MP

Pauline Gardiner Pauline Mona Gardiner (née Wayman, born 27 September 1947) is a former New Zealand Member of Parliament, first for New Zealand National Party and then for United New Zealand. She was married to soldier, writer and public servant Wira Gardiner ...

. The seats of Gisborne, Hamilton East, Hamilton West, Hastings, Horowhenua, Invercargill, Lyttelton, Manawatu, Miramar, New Plymouth, Onehunga, Otara, Roskill, Te Atatu, Timaru, Titirangi, Tongariro, Wanganui and West Coast were won from the National Party by Labour challengers. Seventeen of these seats (Gisborne, Hamilton East, Hamilton West, Hastings, Horowhenua, Lyttelton, Manawatu, Miramar, New Plymouth, Onehunga, Otara, Roskill, Te Atatu, Titirangi, Tongariro, Wanganui & the West Coast) had been won by National from Labour in 1990, so were ''one-term'' National seats. *The seat of Auckland Central was won from the Labour Party by an Alliance challenger. The challenger was Sandra Lee and the defeated incumbent was

Richard Prebble Richard William Prebble (born 7 February 1948) is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 19 ...

. *The seat of Northern Maori was won from the Labour Party by a New Zealand First challenger. The challenger was

Tau Henare Raymond Tau Henare (born 29 September 1960) is a former New Zealand Māori parliamentarian. In representing three different political parties in parliament—New Zealand First, Mauri Pacific and the National Party—Henare served as a Member o ...

and the defeated incumbent was Bruce Gregory. *The seat of Awarua passed from an incumbent National MP to a new National MP. *The seat of Pencarrow passed from an incumbent Labour MP to a new Labour MP.

Post-election events

A number of local by-elections were required due to the resignation of incumbent local body politicians following their election to Parliament: * A

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to the

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1871 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elected b ...

was caused after Hauraki Gulf Islands Ward councillor Sandra Lee resigned her seat after she was elected MP for , necessitating a by-election to fill the council vacancy. The by-election was won by Gordon Hodson.

Notes

References

* * * {{New Zealand elections November 1993 events in New Zealand