1993 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election

Last updated

1993 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election
Labour L Logo.png
  1990 1 December 1993 1996  
  Helen Clark.jpg Mike Moore, 1992 (crop).jpg
Candidate Helen Clark Mike Moore
Popular vote2619
Percentage57.77%42.23%

Leader before election

Mike Moore

Leader after election

Helen Clark

The 1993 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held to determine the leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. The leadership was won by Mount Albert MP Helen Clark, who had been Deputy Leader of the party since 1989.

Contents

Background

After their heavy defeat in 1990, enough right-wingers (supporters of Rogernomics) held their seats for Mike Moore to remain as leader. Despite a major swing back towards Labour at the November 1993 election, the party did not regain office. [1] Despite the closeness of the margin it was Moore's second consecutive loss as leader, leading many to question his position.

Candidates

Helen Clark

Clark had been Deputy Leader since 1989, first under Geoffrey Palmer, then under Moore. Since 1990 she had been Shadow Minister of Health and Labour. [2] Clark had gained unrivalled influence over the wider Labour Party, but not the parliamentary caucus. In the run up to 1993, Clark and her allies (including former presidents Margaret Wilson and Ruth Dyson) who sat on the candidate selection panel had strategically installed likeminded candidates in nearly all winnable seats. Clark urged them to campaign alongside Moore but be primed to vote against him in the event of any post-election face-off. [3] Clark was particularly critical of Moore for delivering blurred messages during the 1993 campaign and accused him of failing to re-brand Labour as a centre-left party which had jettisoned Rogernomics. [4]

Mike Moore

Moore had served as Labour's leader since 1990. In 1993, by vigorously campaigning Moore managed to lead Labour to within two seats of snatching an unlikely victory over National only one term after their rout in 1990. However, Moore was disliked in large sections of the party, particularly among women. [3] He was, unlike Clark, also closely linked with Labour's Rogernomics policies of the 1980s which helped fuel the growth of the Alliance party made up largely of Labour dissidents who were largely credited with splitting the vote enough to lose Labour the cliffhanger 1993 election. [5] New party president Maryan Street asked Moore to step down voluntarily, but he refused forcing an open challenge. [4]

Result

A caucus vote was held on 1 December 1993 where a leadership ballot was moved by David Lange and (to the surprise of most) seconded by Moore. It was passed unanimously and chief whip Jonathan Hunt called for all those seeking the leadership to stand. Moore stood up, followed by Clark who won by seven votes. [4] Now leaving the Deputy-leadership open, David Caygill stood and was elected 23 to 21 over Michael Cullen. [6]

Leadership ballot

CandidateVotes%
Helen Clark 2657.77
Mike Moore 1942.23
Majority715.55
Turnout45

Deputy-leadership ballot

CandidateVotes%
David Caygill 2352.27
Michael Cullen 2147.72
Majority24.54
Turnout44

How each MP voted

A list of each MP's vote. [7]

MPLeader Vote
Margaret Austin Moore
Rick Barker Clark
John Blincoe Clark
Geoff Braybrooke Moore
Mark Burton Clark
Chris Carter Clark
David Caygill Clark
Helen Clark Clark
Michael Cullen Moore
Lianne Dalziel Clark
Peter Dunne Moore
Harry Duynhoven Moore
Ruth Dyson Clark
Jack Elder Moore
Taito Phillip Field Clark
Martin Gallagher Clark
Phil Goff Moore
George Hawkins Moore
Pete Hodgson Clark
Jonathan Hunt Clark
Judy Keall Moore
Graham Kelly Clark
Annette King Moore
David Lange Clark
Janet Mackey Clark
Steve Maharey Clark
Trevor Mallard Clark
Clive Matthewson Moore
Mike Moore Moore
Richard Northey Clark
Damien O'Connor Moore
Mark Peck Clark
Jill Pettis Clark
Ross Robertson Moore
Suzanne Sinclair Clark
Larry Sutherland Clark
Jim Sutton Moore
Paul Swain Clark
Peter Tapsell Moore
Elizabeth Tennet Moore
Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan Moore
Judith Tizard Clark
Koro Wētere Moore
Jill White Clark
Dianne Yates Clark

Aftermath

Clark would lead Labour until she resigned in 2008. She went on to lose the next election in 1996, but would then win three consecutively (a record for a Labour leader) in 1999, 2002 and 2005. Moore did not take the loss gracefully and was a constant agitator in Labour's ranks until his retirement in 1999. [8] During that time he was Labour's spokesman on Foreign Affairs and Trade.

A noted critic of Clark's ousting of Moore as Labour leader was former Labour Prime Minister Norman Kirk's widow Ruth, who famously rang a Christchurch talkback radio show in 1993 to voice her fury at the episode. [9] Damien O'Connor (a new MP in 1993) said in 2018 that his decision to support Moore over Clark would set his career back a decade, saying that he was the only one of Labour's 14 newly elected MPs to vote for Moore. [10]

Notes

    1. "A Hung Parliament Seems Likely For New Zealand". Orlando Sentinel. 8 November 1993. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
    2. "All Labour's 29 MPs get areas of responsibility". Otago Daily Times . 28 November 1990. p. 4.
    3. 1 2 Quin, Phil (2 April 2011). "Phil Quin: The anatomy of a failed Labour coup". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 15 May 2016.
    4. 1 2 3 Franks & McAloon 2016, p. 229.
    5. Lange 2005, p. 281-2.
    6. Franks & McAloon 2016, p. 230.
    7. "How they voted in caucus". The New Zealand Herald . 3 December 1993. p. 3.
    8. Edwards 2001, p. 229.
    9. Ward, Kathleen (29 December 2000). "Kiwis who left their mark on the nation". The New Zealand Herald . Auckland . Retrieved 21 August 2016.
    10. "Helen Clark coup set my career back". Stuff (Fairfax). 9 June 2018.

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Moore (New Zealand politician)</span> Prime Minister of New Zealand in 1990

    Michael Kenneth Moore was a New Zealand politician, union organiser, and author. In the Fourth Labour Government he served in several portfolios including minister of foreign affairs, and was the 34th prime minister of New Zealand for 59 days before the 1990 general election elected a new parliament. Following Labour's defeat in that election, Moore served as Leader of the Opposition until the 1993 election, after which Helen Clark successfully challenged him for the Labour Party leadership.

    The New Zealand Labour Party, also known simply as Labour, is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers describe Labour as social democratic and pragmatic in practice. The party participates in the international Progressive Alliance. It is one of two major political parties in New Zealand, alongside its traditional rival, the National Party.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lange</span> Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989

    David Russell Lange was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989.

    The New Zealand National Party, shortened to National or the Nats, is a centre-right New Zealand political party that is the current ruling party. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside its traditional rival, the Labour Party.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Douglas</span> New Zealand politician

    Sir Roger Owen Douglas is a retired New Zealand politician who served as a minister in two Labour governments. He became best known for his prominent role in New Zealand's radical economic restructuring in the 1980s, when the Fourth Labour Government's economic policy became known as "Rogernomics".

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Anderton</span> New Zealand politician (1938–2018)

    James Patrick Anderton was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of left-wing parties after leaving the Labour Party in 1989.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Cullen (politician)</span> New Zealand politician (1945–2021)

    Sir Michael John Cullen was a New Zealand politician. He served as the 16th deputy prime minister of New Zealand, also as the minister of Finance, minister of Tertiary Education, and attorney-general. He was the deputy leader of the Labour Party from 1996 until November 2008, when he resigned following a defeat in the general election. He resigned from Parliament in April 2009, to become the deputy chairman of New Zealand Post from 1 November 2009 and chairman from 1 November 2010 until leaving the role in 2016. On 6 March 2020 he announced that he had resigned from the Lakes and Bay of Plenty district health boards, respectively. At the same time he also announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 small-cell lung cancer, which had also spread to his liver.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Annette King</span> New Zealand politician (born 1947)

    Dame Annette Faye King is a former New Zealand politician. She served as Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2011, and from 2014 until 1 March 2017. She was a Cabinet Minister in the Fourth and Fifth Labour Governments, and was the MP for the Rongotai electorate in Wellington from 1996 to 2017.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Rowling</span> Prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975

    Sir Wallace Edward Rowling, commonly known as Bill Rowling, was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the leader of the Labour Party.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Kelly (politician)</span> New Zealand politician

    Graham Desmond Kelly is a former New Zealand politician.

    Geoffrey Bernard Braybrooke was a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 2002, representing the Labour Party. He was notably one of the party's more socially conservative MPs.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">David Caygill</span> New Zealand politician

    David Francis Caygill is a former New Zealand politician. He was born and raised in Christchurch. He entered politics in 1971 as Christchurch's youngest city councillor at the age of 22. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1978 to 1996, representing the Labour Party. A supporter of Rogernomics, he served as Minister of Finance between 1988 and 1990. From 2010 to 2019, he was one of the government-appointed commissioners at Environment Canterbury.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Moyle</span> New Zealand politician (1929–2024)

    Colin James Moyle was a New Zealand politician. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1963 to 1976 and again from 1981 to 1990. He was a Government minister in the Third Labour and Fourth Labour Governments. He was a close confidant of Bill Rowling during Rowling's short premiership. In the Fourth Labour Government, as Minister of Agriculture, Moyle oversaw the removal of farming subsidies and the establishment of a fisheries quota system.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1980 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election</span> New Zealand party leadership election

    The 1980 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held on 12 December 1980 to determine the leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. The leadership was retained by former Prime Minister Bill Rowling, who had led the party for the last six years.

    On 3 February 1983, a New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held to determine the leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. The leadership was won by Mangere MP David Lange, who had been Deputy Leader of the party since 1979.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1996 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election</span> New Zealand party leadership election

    The 1996 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was intended to determine the future leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. The leadership was retained by Mount Albert MP Helen Clark, who was the incumbent leader.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1988 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election</span> New Zealand party leadership election

    The 1988 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held on 21 December 1988. The incumbent leader of the New Zealand Labour Party David Lange was re-elected with 69% of the vote. To date, it is the only instance when an incumbent New Zealand Prime Minister has been challenged for leadership in a caucus vote.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election</span> New Zealand party leadership election

    The 1990 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held on 4 September to determine the leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. The leadership was won by Christchurch North MP Mike Moore.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election</span> New Zealand party leadership election

    The 2008 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held on 11 November 2008 to choose the twelfth Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party. Phil Goff, who had served continuously as an MP since the 1993 election, unanimously won the election with no other MPs putting themselves forward. Annette King became the Deputy Leader. She was first elected to parliament in the 1984 election, three years after Goff.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">1989 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election</span> New Zealand party leadership election

    The 1989 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held to determine the leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. The leadership was won by Christchurch Central MP and incumbent deputy leader Geoffrey Palmer.

    References