New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

national politics have featured a pervasive

party system A party system is a concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic country. The idea is that political parties have basic similarities: they control the government, have a stab ...

since the early 20th century. Usually, all members of Parliament's unicameral

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 ...

belong to a political party.

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

MPs do not occur often. While two

major parties A major party is a political party that holds substantial influence in a country's politics, standing in contrast to a minor party. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Major parties hold a significant percentage of the vote in electi ...

(namely Labour and

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 ...

) have dominated the New Zealand national political landscape since the 1930s, the introduction of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

in 1996 led to a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...

, such that smaller parties have substantial representation in Parliament and can now reasonably expect to gain seats in government. , five parties have MPs in the 53rd Parliament.

History

New Zealand's party system did not arise until the late nineteenth century. Prior to this, members of Parliament stood as independent candidates, and while some MPs joined factions, these typically were formed around prominent individuals such as

Julius Vogel Sir Julius Vogel (24 February 1835 – 12 March 1899) was the eighth premier of New Zealand. His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works. He was the first Jewish prime mi ...

, and did so after election not before. 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 ...

, which was formed in 1891, was New Zealand's first 'modern' political party. It was the country's sole political party until the formation of the more conservative Reform Party in 1909. The Labour Party was founded in 1916, and by 1919 these three parties dominated New Zealand politics. The Liberal Party was succeeded by the United Party in 1928. The United and Reform parties found themselves working together more often, and they formed a coalition in 1931. After Labour won office in 1935, United and Reform formally amalgamated in 1936 to form the National Party. 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 thei ...

(FPP) plurality voting system (in use before the 1990s) entrenched a

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually refe ...

, since the two major parties usually won far more seats than their share of the overall vote. Over the years, a number of third parties or so-called minor parties developed, notably the Social Credit Party, the

New Zealand Party The New Zealand Party operated as a political party in New Zealand from 1983 to 1993. Established by millionaire property tycoon Bob Jones, the party promoted economic liberalisation—it was the first political party to promote free market ref ...

, the

Values Party The Values Party was a New Zealand political party. It is considered the world's first national-level environmentalist party, pre-dating the use of "Green" as a political label. It was established in May 1972 at Victoria University of Wellingto ...

, and the

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 ...

. However, the FPP electoral system meant that regardless of how many votes a party gained nationwide, it could not win a seat without a plurality in a particular

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, ...

. For example, the Social Credit Party won over 11% of the votes cast in the 1954 election but did not have a plurality in any electorate so won no seats. Similarly, in the 1984 election, the New Zealand Party received over 12% of the votes cast but also won no seats. Under such conditions, minor parties mostly performed poorly in terms of making an impact in Parliament. In 1993, the

Electoral Act 1993 The Electoral Act 1993 is an Act of the New Zealand Parliament for regulating elections in New Zealand. It "establishes the electoral agencies, electoral system, election processes (including that for disputing results), how MPs are replaced betw ...

was passed, introducing the mixed-member proportional (MMP)

electoral system An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections ma ...

for the 1996 election. Now, any party that won at least 5% of the party vote entered Parliament, as well as the previous electorate pathway. This made it much easier for smaller parties to enter Parliament, but more difficult to gain elected as a non-party independent. Since then New Zealand has been a

, with at least five parties elected in every election since.

Registration of parties

Political parties in New Zealand can be either registered or unregistered. Registered parties must have five-hundred paying members, each eligible to vote in general elections, and party membership rules. If a party registers, it may submit a party list, enabling it to receive party votes in New Zealand's MMP electoral system. Unregistered parties can only nominate candidates for individual electorates. , registered political parties are also able to spend up to $1,169,000 during the campaign for the party vote and $27,500 per electorate seat. Unregistered entities are able to spent up to $330,000 on general election advertising.

Current parties

Parties represented in Parliament

There are five

parliamentary parties This is a list of political groups by country. A political group also known as a political alliance, coalition or bloc, is cooperation by members of different political parties on a common agenda of some kind. This usually involves formal agreem ...

in the

53rd New Zealand Parliament The 53rd New Zealand Parliament is the current session of Parliament in New Zealand. It opened on 25 November 2020 following the 17 October 2020 general election, and will expire on or before 20 November 2023 to trigger the next election. It ...

. The default order of this list corresponds to the number of MPs they currently have.

Registered parties outside Parliament

Parties listed in alphabetical order:

Unregistered parties

An accurate list of active unregistered parties can be difficult to determine. Any person may announce a political party, but these parties may or may not gain followers, receive any media coverage or go on to contest an election. It can also be difficult to determine when parties have ceased operating or moved away from politics. The list below lists active and notable parties.

Historical parties

Parties that held seats

Parties that never held seats

Because New Zealand does not require political parties to be registered, any person can announce a political party, though may not receive media coverage or go on to contest an election. It can also be difficult to determine when such parties have ceased operating or moved away from politics. The list below is limited to notable parties understood to no longer be operating. Parties listed by date of founding:

References

External links

NZ Political Parties

Elections New Zealand
(more information on the election systems) {{Oceania topic, List of political parties in Political parties

Political parties