41-599: 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 Wellington . Its first leader was Tony Brunt , and Geoff Neill, the party's candidate in the Dunedin North electorate, became the Deputy Leader. Several party manifestos sketched
82-513: A Values banner. Jon Mayson , a party co-leader in the 1980s, was elected a member of the Bay of Plenty Harbour Board on a Values Party ticket. Under the leadership of polytechnic economics lecturer Tony Kunowski and deputy leader Margaret Crozier , the Values Party contested the 1978 general election with a considerable following, but again failed to win seats in parliament. Most probably this
123-429: A majority of seats in parliament, it did not actually win a majority of the vote. Labour received the highest number of votes, winning slightly more than forty percent. National, by contrast, won slightly less than forty percent. Social Credit, despite winning only one seat, actually received around sixteen percent of the vote. The election night result had National with more seats, but many seats had small majorities and it
164-671: A new set of social and environmental values. Brunt met with his ex- New Zealand Herald colleague Norman Smith who immediately became the party's "1st hand man" and organiser. "The media experience of Brunt and Smith stood them in good stead when it came to publicising the new party, and a former colleague on the New Zealand Herald , Alison Webber founded the Auckland branch." The Values Party contested six general elections in 1972, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1984 and 1987. Despite strong showings in 1975 and 1978 it did not gain seats under
205-940: 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
246-427: 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
287-463: 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: 1978 New Zealand general election Robert Muldoon National Robert Muldoon National The 1978 New Zealand general election
328-454: 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 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
369-576: A powerful opponent, however, and was regarded as a strong campaigner. Not long before the 1978 election, a by-election in Rangitikei caused considerable comment when it introduced a third party to Parliament: Bruce Beetham , leader of the Social Credit Party . Although other parties dismissed Social Credit's success as a fluke, Beetham predicted a great future for the party. Five National MPs and three Labour MPs intended to retire at
410-583: A progressive, semi- utopian blueprint for New Zealand's future as an egalitarian, ecologically sustainable society. The party appealed especially to those elements of the New Left who felt alienated by the small Marxist–Leninist parties of the day, and by the centre-left politics of the New Zealand Labour Party . From its beginning, the Values Party emphasised proposing alternative policies, rather than taking only an oppositionist stance to
451-557: A resounding victory in the 1975 elections , taking fifty-five of the eighty-seven seats and ousting the Labour Party from government. Labour had been led by Bill Rowling , who had assumed the post of Prime Minister on the death in office of the popular Norman Kirk . Labour won the remaining thirty-two seats in that election, with no other parties gaining entry to Parliament. Labour's Rowling had been criticised by many for inadequately countering Muldoon's confrontational style, and
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#1732773340195492-438: The 54th Parliament . New Zealand's party system did not arise until 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
533-668: 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
574-648: The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand , which entered parliament in 1996 and formed part of the Government in 2017. Many former members of the Values Party became active in the Green Party – notably Jeanette Fitzsimons , Rod Donald and Mike Ward . New Zealand political party New Zealand politics have featured a strong party system since the early 20th century. Usually, all members of Parliament's unicameral House of Representatives belong to
615-589: 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
656-479: The first-past-the-post electoral system in use at that time. It did however manage to get some candidates elected to local government. The first, Helen Smith of Titahi Bay , joined the Porirua City Council in 1973. The following year party leader Tony Brunt was elected as a Wellington City Councillor and was re-elected in 1977. Mike Ward was a Nelson City Councillor from 1983 to 1989 under
697-469: The 1981 party conference, citing disagreements and instability in the party. At the April 1981 conference, delegates elected a three-way leadership with a " troika " of co-leaders. Janet Roborgh , Jon Mayson and Alan Wilkinson. The leadership reduced to two at the 1984 conference with Mayson and Wilkinson standing down and Mike Ward being elected alongside Roborgh. Roborgh resigned at the 1988 conference and
738-540: The German Greens – to formulate their own environmental policies. The initial idea for a new New Zealand political party came in 1972 when Tony Brunt , then a political student at Victoria University , was reflecting on his own research into the Club of Rome's The Limits to Growth and Charles Reich 's The Greening of America (among other publications). Brunt saw the potential for a new constituency driven by
779-502: The South Island, two electorates were newly created ( Otago and Yaldhurst ) and four electorates were re-created ( Ashburton , Fendalton , Selwyn , and Waitaki ). The changes came into effect for the 1978 election. The election was held on 25 November. There were 2,489,510 people officially registered to vote in the elections, making the election the first one in which there were more than two million registered voters. However,
820-464: 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
861-842: The card was not handed in. Together with a northward shift of New Zealand's population, that resulted in five new electorates having to be created in the upper part of the North Island . The electoral redistribution was very disruptive, and 22 electorates were abolished (see list below), and 27 electorates were newly created or re-established. In the North Island, fifteen electorates were newly created ( Albany , East Cape , Eastern Hutt , Helensville , Horowhenua , Hunua , Kaimai , Matamata , Ōhāriu , Papakura , Papatoetoe , Pencarrow , Rangiriri , Tarawera , and Te Atatū ) and six electorates were re-created ( Bay of Islands , Kaipara , Taranaki , Waipa , Waitakere , and Waitotara ). In
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#1732773340195902-432: The electoral roll in 1978 was significantly out of date and contained numerous duplicate entries. The cause of this confusion was a major redistribution of electoral boundaries, which had been implemented the year before. The actual number of potential voters is estimated to have been about 2,100,000, and actual turnout is estimated to have been about 80% (as compared to the official turnout of only 68.70%), slightly lower than
943-582: The end of the 38th Parliament. Sir Stanley Whitehead MP for Nelson had announced he would retire at the end of the term in 1978, due to ill-health, but he died on 9 January 1976 triggering a by-election instead. In 1975 several reforms had been made to the electoral system. These included combining the re-enrolment process with the taking of the 1976 census and replacing existing Justice Department registrars with electorate officers appointed from Post Office Staff. They would work in conjunction with Statistics Department and Electoral Office staff, and at
984-631: 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
1025-629: 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 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
1066-541: The previous election, and many had not bothered to fill out their forms. Census staff had not been given the authority to insist on the card being completed. To avoid disenfranchising a significant portion of the electorate, the Chief Electoral Officer decided just to carry forward many old voter registrations in the hope that duplications and outdated enrolments would be purged later. However, not enough staff were provided to complete that in time, and by
1107-400: 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
1148-426: The ruling parties. Values Party policies included campaigns against nuclear power and armaments, advocating zero-population and -economic growth, abortion, drug and homosexual law-reform. Although the Values Party never sat in parliament, it drew considerable attention to these topics. Many political scientists credit the Values Party with making the environment a political issue, and with prompting other parties – even
1189-410: The same time, a switch would be made from a manual to a computerised system. A report completed in 1979 found that there had been poor liaison between the various departments involved, staff shortages and problems with the computer system. However, the main problem arose from the decision to combine re-enrolment with the 1976 census. Many voters had been confused by the need to re-enrol only a year after
1230-521: The time that the rolls closed, 35,000 forms remained unprocessed. It has been estimated that as many as 460,000 enrolments may have been outdated or duplicates. Many voters (even candidates) found themselves enrolled in the wrong electorate or off the roll completely, and others were enrolled in multiple electorates or several times in the same electorate. That means that accurate figures for electoral turnout are impossible to determine, and other figures may not be reliable. The 1977 electoral redistribution
1271-495: The turnout for the previous election. The 1978 election saw the National Party win fifty-one seats in parliament, a majority of several seats. This allowed it to retain power. The Labour Party won forty seats. The Social Credit Party retained the Rangitikei seat, which it had won in a by-election shortly before the election. No other parties won seats, and there were no successful independent candidates. While National won
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1312-506: 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
1353-415: Was a nationwide vote to elect the 39th New Zealand Parliament . It saw the governing National Party , led by Robert Muldoon , retain office, but the opposition Labour Party won the largest share of the vote. Reorganisation of the enrolment system caused major problems with the electoral rolls, which left a legacy of unreliable information about voting levels in this election. The National Party had won
1394-698: Was conceivable that if special votes overturned enough electorates Labour could form a government. Ultimately this did not eventuate however. While the Hunua electorate was initially won by Malcolm Douglas (Labour), the result was overturned by the High Court and Winston Peters (National) became the MP for Hunua. The tables below shows the results of the 1978 general election: Key National Labour Social Credit Table footnotes: [REDACTED] For details about
1435-693: Was mainly because voters at that time were more concerned about rapidly rising unemployment than anything else. The idea of an ecological "zero growth" society envisaged by Values Party members had met with the economic reality of near-zero GDP growth, high price-inflation, and an investment strike by business. Although gaining fewer votes than the New Zealand Labour Party, Robert Muldoon 's National Party , which promised to create many more jobs by borrowing foreign funds to build large infrastructural projects (the so-called " Think Big " strategy, developing oil, gas, coal and electricity resources),
1476-619: Was ousted as party leader following the 1978 election leading him to pursue a career as a banker. He later joined the Labour Party and was elected to the Canterbury Regional Council on the Labour ticket. In May 1979 Margaret Crozier became the leader with Cathy Wilson as deputy leader; it was the first time women had led a political party in New Zealand. In November 1980 Crozier stated she would resign as leader at
1517-479: Was replaced by Rosalie Steward, previously Values candidate for West Coast . By 1987 Values were using the description of the "Green Party of Aotearoa" and were increasingly advocating for proportional representation . In July 1989 the ruling council of the party agreed in principle to wind up the party and balloted its 200 remaining members for approval. However in May 1990, remnants of the Values Party merged with several other environmentalist organisations to form
1558-467: Was returned to government at the 1978 election . In the late 1970s the German Green Party wrote to the Values Party stating "we like your manifesto, can we use your policy?" After the demoralising 1978 election result, the Values Party faced internal conflict between the "red" greens and the "fundamentalist" greens, and it fragmented amidst quarrels about organisational principles. Kunowski
1599-546: 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
1640-560: Was the most overtly political since the Representation Commission had been established by an amendment to the Representation Act in 1886, initiated by Muldoon's National Government . That a large number of people failed to fill out an electoral re-registration card had little practical effect for the electoral redistribution for people on the general roll, but it transferred Māori to the general roll if
1681-449: Was widely perceived as "weak". Following Labour's defeat, there had been speculation about replacing Rowling as leader of the party, but Rowling retained his position. Gradually, as some people wearied of Muldoon's style, Rowling's more reserved manner was held up as an asset rather than a weakness, and Labour began to gain a certain amount of traction again. Economic troubles hurt the government, and its reputation had fallen. Muldoon remained