✶ 1853 → 2023 · 54 parliaments
From the first
to vote.
New Zealand elected its first House of Representatives in 1853 — 37 members chosen by men who owned property. Forty years later it became the first self-governing country where all women could vote. A century after that, voters threw out first-past-the-post.
54 parliaments · 1853–2023
Who held the House.
Each column is one parliament at its election, divided by share of seats. Before the 1890s there were no organised parties. Hover, focus or tap a column.
2023 · 54th Parliament · 123 seats
- Independents / no party
- Liberal
- Conservative (opposition grouping)
- Reform
- United
- Labour
- National
- Social Credit
- Alliance
- NZ First
- ACT
- Green
- United Future
- Progressive
- Māori Party / Te Pāti Māori
- Other
Turnout · votes cast as a share of those enrolled
Seats and turnout: Wikipedia's "List of parliaments of New Zealand", not yet checked against the Electoral Commission's 1853–2023 table (blocked to automated reading). Sources differ on some years, e.g. 2020 (82.50% or 82.24%).
Rules of the game
Who could vote,
and how.
- 1853
First general election
Under the UK's New Zealand Constitution Act 1852: 37 seats, a property franchise for men. Polling ran from July to October.
- 1867
Māori seats
The Māori Representation Act created four Māori seats with a vote for all Māori men; the first Māori elections were held in 1868.
Unverified against the primary source
- 1879
Manhood suffrage
The property qualification was dropped for European men; a residence qualification remained.
Unverified against the primary source
- 1893
Women vote
The Electoral Act 1893 gave all women, Māori and Pākehā, the vote in national elections — the first self-governing country to do so. Women could stand for Parliament from 1919.
Unverified against the primary source
- 1951
One chamber
The appointed Legislative Council was abolished from 1 January 1951; Parliament has had a single House since.
Unverified against the primary source
- 1967
Three years stays
A referendum kept the three-year term (68.1%); a second in 1990 did the same (69.3%).
- 1974
Voting at 18
The voting age was lowered to 20 in 1969 and to 18 in 1974.
Unverified against the primary source
- 1986
Constitution Act
Consolidated the core rules of government; Parliament's term is capped at three years (s17).
- 1993
MMP chosen
After an indicative vote in 1992 (84.7% for change), a binding referendum chose mixed-member proportional representation (53.9%). The Electoral Act 1993 put it into law.
- 1996
First MMP election
120 seats; no party has won an outright majority since, except Labour in 2020.
- 2011
MMP kept
57.8% voted to keep MMP in a referendum held with the general election.
- 2020
Two referendums
End-of-life choice passed (65.9%, binding); legalising cannabis was rejected (51.2% against).
- 2025
Electoral Amendment Act
From 2026: enrolment closes 13 days before polling day, no prisoner may vote, advance voting is fixed at 12 days, and the donation disclosure threshold rises to $6,000.
Unverified against the primary source
Premiers & prime ministers · 1856 →
56 terms in
office.
Until 1890 premiers rose and fell with shifting factions; some served days. The office was renamed "prime minister" in the early 1900s. Since 1935 it has passed only between Labour and National.
- National 50 yrs
- Labour 41 yrs
- Liberal 21 yrs
- Reform 16 yrs
- United 7 yrs
- Christopher Luxon National · 2023–present
- Chris Hipkins Labour · 2023–2023
- Jacinda Ardern Labour · 2017–2023
- Bill English National · 2016–2017
- John Key National · 2008–2016
- Helen Clark Labour · 1999–2008
- Jenny Shipley National · 1997–1999
- Jim Bolger National · 1990–1997
- Mike Moore Labour · 1990–1990
- Geoffrey Palmer Labour · 1989–1990
- David Lange Labour · 1984–1989
- Robert Muldoon National · 1975–1984
- Bill Rowling Labour · 1974–1975
- Hugh Watt Labour · 1974–1974
- Norman Kirk Labour · 1972–1974
- Jack Marshall National · 1972–1972
- Keith Holyoake National · 1960–1972
- Walter Nash Labour · 1957–1960
- Keith Holyoake National · 1957–1957
- Sidney Holland National · 1949–1957
- Peter Fraser Labour · 1940–1949
- Michael Joseph Savage Labour · 1935–1940
- George Forbes United · 1930–1935
- Joseph Ward United · 1928–1930
- Gordon Coates Reform · 1925–1928
- Francis Bell Reform · 1925–1925
- William Massey Reform · 1912–1925
- Thomas Mackenzie Liberal · 1912–1912
- Joseph Ward Liberal · 1906–1912
- William Hall-Jones Liberal · 1906–1906
- Richard Seddon Liberal · 1893–1906
- John Ballance Liberal · 1891–1893
- Harry Atkinson No party · 1887–1891
- Robert Stout No party · 1884–1887
- Harry Atkinson No party · 1884–1884
- Robert Stout No party · 1884–1884
- Harry Atkinson No party · 1883–1884
- Frederick Whitaker No party · 1882–1883
- John Hall No party · 1879–1882
- George Grey No party · 1877–1879
- Harry Atkinson No party · 1876–1877
- Julius Vogel No party · 1876–1876
- Daniel Pollen No party · 1875–1876
- Julius Vogel No party · 1873–1875
- William Fox No party · 1873–1873
- George Waterhouse No party · 1872–1873
- Edward Stafford No party · 1872–1872
- William Fox No party · 1869–1872
- Edward Stafford No party · 1865–1869
- Frederick Weld No party · 1864–1865
- Frederick Whitaker No party · 1863–1864
- Alfred Domett No party · 1862–1863
- William Fox No party · 1861–1862
- Edward Stafford No party · 1856–1861
- William Fox No party · 1856–1856
- Henry Sewell No party · 1856–1856
Since 1996
Ten MMP
governments.
Under MMP a single party has won a majority only once (Labour, 2020). Every other government has been a coalition, a minority government relying on confidence-and-supply partners, or both.
| Election | Prime Minister | Form | Governing parties | Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Jim Bolger | Coalition | NationalNZ First | — |
| 1999 | Helen Clark | Minority coalition | LabourAlliance | Green |
| 2002 | Helen Clark | Minority coalition | LabourProgressive | United Future |
| 2005 | Helen Clark | Minority coalition | LabourProgressive | NZ FirstUnited Future |
| 2008 | John Key | Minority | National | ACTUnited FutureMāori Party / Te Pāti Māori |
| 2011 | John Key | Minority | National | ACTUnited FutureMāori Party / Te Pāti Māori |
| 2014 | John Key | Minority | National | ACTUnited FutureMāori Party / Te Pāti Māori |
| 2017 | Jacinda Ardern | Minority coalition | LabourNZ First | Green |
| 2020 | Jacinda Ardern | Single-party majority | Labour | Green |
| 2023 | Christopher Luxon | Coalition | NationalACTNZ First | — |
"Support" = confidence and supply (2020: a cooperation agreement with the Greens). Summarised from Wikipedia's Governments of New Zealand ↗; unverified against Cabinet Office records.
Asking the voters
National
referendums.
Parliament can put any question to the people. Some results bind it by law; citizens-initiated and indicative referendums do not. The voting system itself was chosen this way.
| Date | Question | Result | Binding? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 September 1967 | Extend Parliament's term to four years? | No — 68.1% kept three years | Yes |
| 27 October 1990 | Extend Parliament's term to four years? | No — 69.3% kept three years | Yes |
| 19 September 1992 | Change the voting system? Which system? | 84.7% for change; 70.5% preferred MMP | No — indicative |
| 6 November 1993 | First-past-the-post or MMP? | MMP, 53.9% | Yes |
| 26 November 2011 | Keep MMP? | Yes, 57.8% | No — indicative |
| 17 October 2020 | Should the End of Life Choice Act 2019 come into force? | Yes, 65.9% | Yes |
| 17 October 2020 | Legalise recreational cannabis? | No, 51.2% | No — indicative |
Results from Wikipedia's Referendums in New Zealand; unverified against the Electoral Commission. A bill for a four-year term (with a referendum) passed its first reading in 2025 but was deferred in February 2026, so there is no term referendum at this election.