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✶ Confidence of the House · Since 1996, every government but one has needed partners

62 of 123.

Under MMP one party almost never wins half the seats, so governments are negotiated after the vote. A party can join the Cabinet, or agree only to back the government on confidence and supply. Build a majority.

0 seats behind your government · 61 needed of 120

Government

    Confidence & supply

      Unaligned

        Opposition

          Tap a party to cycle it government → confidence & supply → opposition → unaligned, drag it between columns, or focus it and use ← →.

          Party colours are our own; logos are not reproduced. Blocs follow the 54th Parliament: National, ACT and NZ First in government; Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori in opposition.

          How it works

          From election night
          to a government.

          Confidence

          Who is asked to govern

          The Governor-General appoints as Prime Minister whoever can command the confidence of the House: in practice, the leader the parties have agreed to support. Until then the outgoing government carries on as a caretaker.

          Coalition

          Sharing the Cabinet

          Coalition partners take ministries and agree a programme. In 2023 National signed separate agreements with ACT and with NZ First on 24 November, three days before the government was sworn in. The agreements rotated the deputy prime ministership: Winston Peters first, then David Seymour.

          Source: Wikipedia, Sixth National Government; the agreement texts were not read.

          Confidence & supply

          Support without sitting at the table

          A confidence-and-supply partner promises to vote for the government on confidence motions and the Budget, and is free on everything else. Its leaders may hold ministerial posts outside Cabinet. From 2008 to 2017 National governed this way with ACT, United Future and the Māori Party.

          Majority of whom?

          Overhang moves the line

          A majority is more than half of the whole House. With overhang the House is bigger than 120: after Port Waikato it was 123, so 62 seats were needed rather than 61. A minority government can also survive on abstentions.

          Precedent

          Ten MMP
          governments.

          Election Prime Minister Form In government Support
          1996 Jim Bolger Coalition National NZ First —
          1999 Helen Clark Minority coalition Labour Alliance Green
          2002 Helen Clark Minority coalition Labour Progressive United Future
          2005 Helen Clark Minority coalition Labour Progressive NZ First United Future
          2008 John Key Minority National ACT United Future Māori Party / Te Pāti Māori
          2011 John Key Minority National ACT United Future Māori Party / Te Pāti Māori
          2014 John Key Minority National ACT United Future Māori Party / Te Pāti Māori
          2017 Jacinda Ardern Minority coalition Labour NZ First Green
          2020 Jacinda Ardern Single-party majority Labour Green
          2023 Christopher Luxon Coalition National ACT NZ First —

          Government formed after each election (Wikipedia, "Governments of New Zealand"). "Support" covers confidence-and-supply and, for the Greens in 2020, a cooperation agreement. Mid-term changes (the 1998 break-up of the National–NZ First coalition, for example) are not shown.

          Every election since 1853 →