The New Zealand National Party leadership election was an election for the National leadership position in 2001.

Background

In October 2001, after months of speculation,

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 ...

resigned as leader of the National Party after being told she no longer had the support of the party

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 ...

. Bill English was elected as her replacement unopposed (with

Roger Sowry Roger Morrison Sowry (born 2 December 1958) is a former Politics of New Zealand, New Zealand politician. He is a member of the New Zealand National Party, National Party, and was the deputy leader from 2001 to 2003. Early life Sowry was born in ...

as his deputy), and consequently became

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 ...

. However, he did not openly organise against Shipley, and according to ''

The Southland Times ''The Southland Times'' is the regional daily paper for Southland, including Invercargill, and neighbouring parts of Otago, in New Zealand. It is now owned by media business Stuff Ltd, formerly the New Zealand division of Fairfax Media. History ...

'' "there was almost an element of 'aw, shucks, I'll do it then' about Mr English's ascension". Aged 39 when he was elected, English became the second-youngest leader in the National Party's history, after

Jim McLay Sir James Kenneth McLay (born 21 February 1945) is a New Zealand diplomat and former politician. He served as the ninth deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 15 March to 26 July 1984. McLay was also Leader of the National Party and Leader ...

(who was 38 when elected in 1984). He also became only the third Southlander to lead a major New Zealand political party, after

Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ...

and

Adam Hamilton Adam Hamilton (20 August 1880 – 29 April 1952) was a New Zealand politician. He was the first non-interim Leader of the National Party during its early years in Opposition. Early life Hamilton was born in Forest Hill, near Winton, South ...

.Graeme Hunt, "Death in the afternoon – how the might fall", ''National Business Review'', 12 October 2001. Retrieved from

Factiva Factiva is a business information and research tool owned by Dow Jones & Company. Factiva aggregates content from both licensed and free sources. Providing organizations with search, alerting, dissemination, and other information management ...

, 13 December 2016.

References

{{NZ National Party 2001 elections in New Zealand

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

October 2001 events in New Zealand New Zealand National Party leadership election