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Jim Anderton's Progressive Party

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40-664: Jim Anderton's Progressive Party (formed on 27 July 2002 as the Progressive Party and renamed after its founder in 2005) was a New Zealand political party to the political left of its ally, the Labour Party . The party was established when Jim Anderton and his supporters left the Alliance party. The Progressive Party held at least one seat in Parliament from 2002 to 2011 because of Anderton's victories in

80-465: A coalition government under proportional representation . The introduction of the mixed-member proportional system in 1996 led to a multi-party system , such that smaller parties have substantial representation in Parliament and can now reasonably expect to gain seats in government. As of 2024 , six parties have members in the 54th Parliament . New Zealand's party system did not arise until

120-777: A candidate for the Maungakiekie ward of the Auckland City Council . Standing as an Alliance candidate (the NLP was a component party of the Alliance) he was unsuccessful. In December 1992, following the Wellington Central by-election , Robson was designated NLP spokesperson for defence to replace Keith Locke whom Anderton considered too left-wing. Later he was the Alliance candidate for Onehunga in

160-525: A member of Anderton's faction of the Alliance. The Alliance itself failed to win any seats. It received only 1.27% of the vote, and Laila Harré lost to Lynne Pillay in the Waitakere electorate, meaning the Alliance won no electorate seats. The Progressives took up the Alliance's old position as Labour's junior coalition partner. However, as the Progressives brought fewer seats to the coalition than

200-465: A member of the Labour Party , holding several positions within the party organisation. In 1981 he became chairman of Labour's Otara electorate committee and was campaign manager to Colin Moyle in the seat at the 1984 election before resigning as chairman and from the party itself in 1989, taking almost 300 members with him. He was deeply opposed to the neo-liberal economic policies of Roger Douglas ,

240-940: A party name is not necessarily an indication that the party exists beyond that single candidate. In the 2023 general election , single candidates stood under the party names of Economic Euthenics, Future Youth, the Human Rights Party, the New World Order McCann Party , the New Zealand Sovereignty Party , the Northland Party, and the Republic of New Zealand Party . Two candidates stood under each of Not A Party (NAP), Protect & Prosper New Zealand Party, and Workers Now. Because New Zealand does not require political parties to be registered, any person can announce

280-427: 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. When a candidate stands for parliament in an electorate, they may describe themselves as 'independent' or give a party name. A candidate listing

320-417: 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: Matt Robson Matthew Peter Robson (born 5 January 1950) is a New Zealand politician. He

360-410: A strong party system since the early 20th century. Usually, all members of Parliament's unicameral House of Representatives belong to a political party. The centre-left New Zealand Labour Party and the centre-right New Zealand National Party are New Zealand's two major parties , having jointly contested each election since 1938 ; they are the only two New Zealand political parties to have won

400-442: The 1993 election . In 1994 when Anderton briefly resigned as Alliance leader, and co-deputy leader Sandra Lee was temporarily elevated to the leadership, Robson was elected her temporary replacement co-deputy leader beating Democrats leader John Wright for the position. He also became acting president of NewLabour during Anderton's absence between May and August 1995. Robson was elected to Parliament as an Alliance list MP in

440-464: The 1996 election , and again in the 1999 election , having stood in Maungakiekie , and coming in third place at both elections. In the Labour-Alliance coalition government (1999–2002), Robson was Minister of Corrections , Minister for Courts , Minister for Land Information , and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs (with responsibility for foreign aid ). Towards the end of 1999, however,

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480-419: The 1999 election , the Alliance went into coalition with Labour, forming a government with Anderton as deputy prime minister . Towards the end of the parliamentary term, tensions between different factions of the party increased. In particular, the party's parliamentary leader, Anderton, and the party's organisational leader and president, Matt McCarten , became involved in a significant dispute. The causes of

520-613: The Alliance . 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 . 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

560-659: The National Party . The first-past-the-post (FPP) plurality voting system (in use before the 1990s) entrenched a two-party system , 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 Values Party , and

600-618: The New Zealand First and United Future parties that they would support either National or Labour based on whichever received the most votes may have eroded the Progressives' potential share of the vote alongside other minor parties. As Labour was returned to power, however, Anderton was able to retain his place in government. In the 2008 election the Progressive Party gained 0.91% of the vote. Anderton retained his electorate seat and remained in Parliament representing

640-418: The popular vote in four consecutive elections twice. Labour won the popular vote from the 1938 election through to 1946 and again from 1978 through to 1987 – although during the latter period National twice disproportionately gained a majority of seats . Likewise, National won the popular vote from 1960 through to 1969 , and then again from 2008 through to 2017 , but in the final year could not form

680-472: The Alliance began to collapse, with a rift opening between the party organisation and its parliamentary leadership. In this dispute, Robson sided with the parliamentary leader, Anderton. When Anderton finally left the Alliance and established the Progressive Coalition (later renamed as the Progressive Party ), Robson followed him and became the new party's deputy leader. In the 2002 election ,

720-454: The Alliance had, the new party's influence was not as great. Anderton retained his position as Minister of Economic Development but lost the role of deputy prime minister to Labour's Michael Cullen , the Minister of Finance and deputy leader of Labour. Robson, who had been Minister of Corrections, Minister for Courts, Minister for Land Information, and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs in

760-407: The Alliance's parliamentary wing, even if he had left the party itself – doing so would have required his resignation from parliament, a step he was unwilling to take. Anderton had supported this law as a result of the great instability caused by rampant party-switching in the previous Parliament. As such, Anderton and his supporters remained technically a part of the Alliance's parliamentary wing until

800-458: The Alliance's ties to Labour were "extremist" and would nullify the party's ability to influence government policy. The conflict gradually became more and more severe until Anderton eventually demanded the resignation of the party's governing council. The party organisation expelled Anderton and his supporters, with Anderton announcing his intentions of establishing a new party. However, because of an electoral law , Anderton did not officially leave

840-561: The Labour Party's Minister of Finance , and when Jim Anderton , a Labour MP, quit the party, Robson followed him. Robson was heavily involved in the establishment of Anderton's NewLabour Party (NLP), which later became the core of the Alliance. He was NLP spokesperson for industrial relations and immigration. He contested the Otara electorate for NewLabour in the 1990 election . At the 1992 local-body elections he put himself forward as

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880-547: The Progressives only won 1.7% of the vote. However, Anderton easily held onto his seat, allowing Robson (standing in Manukau East , where he came fifth), as the 2nd-ranked person on the Progressive list, to return to Parliament. However, the Progressives' strength was considerably weaker compared to that of the Alliance in 1999, so Robson lost his cabinet posts. Robson has a relatively high public profile, compared to

920-405: The bill or risk alienating its trade union supporters, who vociferously advocated it. The legislation was passed into law with Labour's support and took effect in 2007. Robson also introduced legislation to raise the minimum alcohol purchasing age to 20, and in Parliament espoused policies to combat drug and alcohol abuse. In the 2005 election , the Progressive vote collapsed further, and this time

960-464: The campaign for the party vote and $ 27,500 per electorate seat. Unregistered entities are able to spend up to $ 330,000 on general election advertising. There are six parliamentary parties in the 54th New Zealand Parliament . The default order of this list corresponds to the number of MPs they currently have. Parties listed in alphabetical order: An accurate list of active unregistered parties can be difficult to determine. Any person may announce

1000-477: The corporate tax rate to 30%. It also advocated an abolition of the Goods and Services Tax in favour of a broad-based financial transactions tax , and monetary policy reform. Its campaign slogan was "Get things done". The Progressive Party was established by a faction of the Alliance, a left-wing party that does not presently hold seats in Parliament but was once the third-largest party there. Having won ten seats in

1040-534: The election, when they officially established their new party. The Democrats , a component of the Alliance, broke away to join the new group which was to be the "Progressive Coalition", but shortly before the 2002 election , the official name was changed to "Jim Anderton's Progressive Coalition", a measure Anderton says was intended to ensure that the new party was recognised. Later, after the Democrats had departed to re-establish themselves as an independent entity,

1080-504: The electorate of Wigram . The party did not contest the 2011 general election , and was de-registered at its own request on 9 March 2012 . Economically, the party was left of centre, and placed particular attention on economic development. It had a particular focus on the creation of jobs, and said it was committed to achieving full employment . Among its other policy objectives were free education and free healthcare, four weeks of annual leave from work, an "anti-drugs" policy, and cutting

1120-501: 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

1160-631: The integrity of the party-based proportional representation . 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. As of 2020 , registered political parties are also able to spend up to $ 1,169,000 during

1200-411: The late 19th century. Before this, members of Parliament (MPs) stood as independent candidates, and while some MPs joined factions , these typically were formed around prominent individuals such as Julius Vogel , and did so after an election, not before. The Liberal Party , which was formed in 1891, was New Zealand's first 'modern' political party. It was the country's sole political party until

1240-533: The name "Progressive Party" was adopted. The new party placed Anderton's supporters from the Alliance first on its party list. In the elections, it competed against both the Alliance (then led by Laila Harré , a supporter of McCarten) and Labour. It managed to gain 1.7% of the vote, and Jim Anderton was successful in retaining his electorate seat in Wigram . As such, the party gained entry to parliament with two seats, including deputy leader Matt Robson , who had been

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1280-507: The party. In an unusual move, Anderton announced that he would remain in coalition with Labour in opposition. Jim Anderton announced his retirement from Parliament from the 2011 general election. The party did not contest the election and is now no longer in Parliament. On 9 March 2012 the party was de-registered at its own request. List of political parties in New Zealand New Zealand politics have featured

1320-400: 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. In the late 1990s a phenomenon originated in New Zealand's multi-party system in which MPs sitting in Parliament increasingly switched parties (or formed breakway parties), known as " waka-jumping ". This is now disallowed to maintain

1360-441: The previous government, lost his cabinet posts. Shortly before the 2005 election , the official name of the party was changed again, this time to "Jim Anderton's Progressive", to facilitate voter recognition on ballot papers. In those elections, the Progressives' vote tailed off slightly to 1.2 percent, but this decline was enough to keep Robson from returning to Parliament even though Anderton easily won his seat. The indication of

1400-433: The problems are debated by the various actors, but a significant factor appears to be a claim by McCarten's faction that the Alliance was giving too much away to the Labour Party. In addition, McCarten's faction claimed that Anderton's leadership style was "autocratic", and that the parliamentary wing was failing to heed the concerns of the party's membership. Anderton rejected the latter charge, and he claimed that criticism of

1440-475: The rare distinction of appearing twice, in positions 47 and 72, in the list of politicians, academics, activists promoting Russian propaganda published by the Ukraine Government. Despite having achieved high political office in New Zealand, Robson did not become a naturalised citizen until 2000. Under the terms of New Zealand's Electoral Act 1993, anyone permanently resident before August 1975 has

1480-505: The size of his party, and is known for his views on foreign affairs and justice. Along with the Green Party 's Keith Locke , Robson campaigned on behalf of detained asylum-seeker Ahmed Zaoui . In 2002, Robson introduced a Private Member's bill providing for four weeks of paid annual leave for all workers, a proposal that the Labour Party initially opposed. Robson's legislation, however, ultimately forced Labour to either vote in favour of

1520-506: 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 was passed, introducing the mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system for the 1996 election . Now, voters cast both a party vote and an electorate vote. Any party that won at least 5% of the party vote entered Parliament, as could still enter through

1560-587: Was deputy leader of the Progressive Party , and served in the Parliament from 1996 to 2005, first as a member of the Alliance , then as a Progressive. Robson was born in Brisbane , Australia. He attained an MA (Hons) in Political Studies and later studied law, and worked both as a lawyer and a teacher. He also spent three years in the Netherlands as a technical editor. Robson was originally

1600-453: Was not enough for Robson to remain in Parliament. He returned to practising law. In the 2008 election he was again a candidate in Maungakiekie , but did poorly, finishing fifth, with 2.22% of the vote. The Progressives received just under one percent of the party vote, not enough for Robson to be returned to Parliament. At the 2009 Mount Albert by-election Robson campaigned for Labour candidate David Shearer . On 14 July 2022, Robson had

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