2011 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election

Last updated

2011 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election
←  2008 13 December 2011 (2011-12-13) 2013  →
  David Shearer.jpg David Cunliffe, 2008.jpg
Candidate David Shearer David Cunliffe
Popular vote≥18<18
Leader before election

Phil Goff

Elected leader

David Shearer

The 2011 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held on 13 December 2011 to choose the thirteenth Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party. A Deputy Leader and a senior and a junior whip were also elected. Following the Labour Party's loss in the 2011 general election, leader Phil Goff and deputy leader Annette King resigned, prompting the leadership election, which was conducted as a secret ballot of the Labour caucus.

Contents

David Cunliffe, David Shearer and David Parker stood for the leadership, and Nanaia Mahuta and Grant Robertson contested the deputy position. Cunliffe and Mahuta ran as a ticket. During the campaign Parker pulled out of the race and endorsed Shearer. Shearer and Robertson won the votes for their respective positions. Chris Hipkins and Darien Fenton were chosen as the senior and junior whips, respectively.

Background

The leadership election followed Phil Goff's resignation as party leader. Labour Leader Phil Goff in Hamilton.JPG
The leadership election followed Phil Goff's resignation as party leader.

At the 2008 general election, the Fifth Labour Government, led by Helen Clark, was defeated by John Key's National Party. Following Clark's election-night resignation, [1] Phil Goff was unanimously elected as the party's leader, with Annette King as deputy, and Darren Hughes and Steve Chadwick as the senior and junior whips, respectively. [2] The party lost more support in the 26 November 2011 general election; its popular vote dipped to 27% – its worst-ever result under the mixed-member proportional representation system [3] – and its number of MPs was reduced from forty-three to thirty-four. On 29 November 2011, Goff and King announced their resignations, effective 13 December. [4] New whips also had to be chosen because Rick Barker (who replaced Hughes as the senior whip in April 2011, following Hughes leaving Parliament) [5] and Chadwick were not re-elected to Parliament. [6]

Candidates

Former Cabinet ministers David Cunliffe (MP for New Lynn) and Nanaia Mahuta (Hauraki-Waikato) ran as a ticket for the leadership and deputy leadership, respectively. Former minister and list MP David Parker and 2009 Mount Albert by-election winner David Shearer were candidates for the party leadership, and Wellington Central representative Grant Robertson sought the deputy leadership. Shane Jones considered standing for the deputy leadership, but in the end did not run. Parker stated his preference for Robertson as deputy leader. [7] Shearer did not indicate a preferred deputy. [8]

Shearer was viewed as unlikely to win the election; Claire Trevett of The New Zealand Herald originally expected that only Cunliffe and Parker would run for the leader's role, [9] and The Dominion Post 's Vernon Small wrote that "Mr Shearer's bid is seen as a way to lift his profile". [10] Political commentator Bryce Edwards said that Cunliffe was the more appealing candidate to the public, and described Parker and Robertson as "sort of Phil Goff clones". [11]

Campaign

Labour Party president Moira Coatsworth stated that the leadership contest would be a "robust contest of ideas", [7] and suggested to the party's caucus that a series of meetings with party members be held around New Zealand. [12] These were held from 6 to 11 December in six major cities—Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Auckland. The party membership was then encouraged to give feedback to the party caucus, who would vote in the election. [13] On 30 November Cunliffe, Parker and Shearer were interviewed by Mark Sainsbury on the current affairs programme Close Up . The television show held a text message poll in which viewers voted for their preferred leader of the party. Over 7,500 people took part; Shearer received 50% of the support, Cunliffe 31% and Parker 19%. The following day, Parker pulled out of the leadership race and put his support behind Shearer. [14] [15] [16] Shearer and Cunliffe were interviewed by Guyon Espiner on political talkshow Q+A on 4 December. During the interview, both candidates indicated their support for the introduction of a capital gains tax, which was a key part of Labour's tax policy during the 2011 general election campaign. [17] Both also disagreed with the 2008 Employment Relations Amendment Act (90-day workplace trial), and wanted New Zealand to invest further in research and development; Shearer mentioned striving for a more green economy. [18] On 9 December, Horizon Research released a demographically-weighted survey which found that 35.4% of adult New Zealanders supported Shearer's bid for the leadership, and 19.9% backed Cunliffe. [19]

Outcome and aftermath

The election took place on 13 December 2011 and comprised a secret ballot of the thirty-four Labour caucus members, meaning a candidate had to receive the support of eighteen MPs to win. Shearer was elected the party leader, Robertson the deputy leader, Chris Hipkins the senior whip and Darien Fenton the junior whip. [20] [21] Upon election, Shearer stated, "I am a fresh face for Labour and I represent a fresh start for New Zealand." [22] Both One News ' Espiner and 3 News reported that Shearer received about twenty-two of the thirty-four votes for the leadership position; [23] [24] however, Coatsworth stipulated that the election was secret and that she was the only person who had access to the ballot papers, which were destroyed. [25] Robertson and Jacinda Ardern publicly supported Shearer, [26] [27] and Carmel Sepuloni backed Cunliffe. [28]

On 19 December, Shearer announced a reshuffle of the Labour front bench—Parker replaced Cunliffe in the finance portfolio and number three ranking, Ardern took the number four spot as social development spokesperson, while Cunliffe moved down to number five and gained the economic development portfolio. Clayton Cosgrove (number six) became responsible for state owned enterprises and commerce, Jones (number seven) took regional development and fisheries and Mahuta (number eight) picked up education. [29] Shearer himself took the science and innovation portfolio, while Robertson was made environment spokesperson. [30]

Related Research Articles

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

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">David Cunliffe</span> New Zealand politician

David Richard Cunliffe is a New Zealand management consultant and former politician who was Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from September 2013 to September 2014. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Titirangi and then New Lynn for the Labour Party between 1999 and 2017. He served as the Minister of Health, Minister for Communications and Information Technology and Minister of Immigration for the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand from October 2007 until November 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Hughes</span> New Zealand politician

Darren Colyn Hughes is a New Zealand former Member of Parliament between 2002 and 2011, first elected at the age of 24. He represented the Labour Party and was a Minister outside Cabinet in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanaia Mahuta</span> New Zealand politician (born 1970)

Nanaia Cybele Mahuta is a New Zealand former politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand from 2020 to 2023. In October 2022, Mahuta became the Mother of the House, having served continuously in the House of Representatives since the 1996 general election. She lost her seat in parliament in the 2023 general election.

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

David William Parker is a New Zealand Labour Party politician who served as Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Minister of Transport and Associate Minister of Finance in the Sixth Labour Government. He previously served as a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour Government, Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from September 2013 to September 2014, and as interim Leader of the Labour Party from September to November 2014. He represented the Otago electorate at the 47th Parliament and has since served as a list MP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Jones</span> New Zealand politician

Shane Geoffrey Jones is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryan Street</span> New Zealand politician

Maryan Street is a New Zealand unionist, academic and former politician. She was president of the New Zealand Labour Party from 1993 to 1995 and a Labour Party list member of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2005 until 2014.

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

Andrew James Little is a New Zealand lawyer, former politician and former trade union official. He was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2014 to 2017 and a senior minister in the Labour governments led by Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins from 2017 to 2023, including as Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Minister of Justice, Minister of Health and Minister of Defence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisa Wall</span> New Zealand Member of Parliament

Louisa Hareruia Wall is a New Zealand former double international sportswoman, former politician, and human rights advocate. She represented New Zealand in both netball as a Silver Fern from 1989 to 1992 and in rugby union as a member of the Black Ferns from 1995 to 2001, including as a member of the 1991 World Netball Championships runner-up team and 1998 Women's Rugby World Cup winning team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grant Robertson</span> New Zealand politician (born 1971)

Grant Murray Robertson is a retired New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party who served as the Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2023, as Minister of Foreign Affairs in November 2023, and as the 19th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2020 to 2023. He was the member of Parliament (MP) for Wellington Central from 2008 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 New Zealand general election</span> General election in New Zealand

The 2011 New Zealand general election took place on Saturday 26 November 2011 to determine the membership of the 50th New Zealand Parliament.

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

David James Shearer is a New Zealand United Nations worker and politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Labour Party from 2009 to 2016, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2011 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Mana by-election</span> New Zealand by-election

A by-election was held in the New Zealand electorate of Mana on 20 November 2010. The seat was vacated by former Labour Pacific Island Affairs Minister Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, who announced her resignation from the New Zealand Parliament on 10 August 2010 following her appointment as Assistant Vice Chancellor Pasifika at Victoria University. According to provisional results, the by-election was won by Kris Faafoi, also of the Labour Party.

Opinion polling for the 2014 New Zealand general election has been commissioned throughout the duration of the 50th New Zealand Parliament by various organisations. The five main polling organisations are Fairfax Media, MediaWorks New Zealand, The New Zealand Herald, Roy Morgan Research, and Television New Zealand. The sample size, margin of error and confidence interval of each poll varies by organisation and date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election</span> New Zealand party leadership election

The 2013 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held on 15 September 2013 to choose the fourteenth Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party. The election was won by David Cunliffe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election</span> New Zealand party leadership election

The 2014 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held to choose the Leader of the Labour Party. Andrew Little won the election and became leader of the party.

Andrew Little assembled a shadow cabinet after he was elected Leader of the Labour Party in New Zealand. He composed this of individuals who acted for the party as spokespeople in assigned roles while he was Leader of the Opposition (2014–17). As the Labour Party formed the largest party not in government, this Frontbench team was as a result the Official Opposition of the New Zealand House of Representatives.

<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">Electoral history of Grant Robertson</span>

This is a summary of the electoral history of Grant Robertson, Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party (2011–13), Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament for Wellington Central (2008–2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 New Zealand National Party leadership election</span> 2018 election to determine the 12th leader of the National Party

The 2018 New Zealand National Party leadership election was held on 27 February 2018 to determine the 12th Leader of the National Party. On 13 February 2018, Bill English announced his resignation as leader of the National Party, effective on 27 February 2018. He left Parliament on 13 March 2018. On 20 February, Deputy Leader Paula Bennett announced that a concurrent deputy leadership election would take place, in which she would stand.

References

  1. ↑ Shepheard, Nicola (9 November 2008). "Cullen follows Clark out of Labour leadership". The New Zealand Herald . APN News & Media . Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Labour elects Phil Goff as new leader" (Press release). New Zealand Labour Party. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  3. ↑ Australian Associated Press (27 November 2011). "Phil Goff to step down as NZ Labour leader after election slump". The Australian . News Corp Australia . Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  4. ↑ "Labour leadership battle: Goff quits". The Dominion Post . Fairfax New Zealand. 29 November 2011. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "Rick Barker takes over as Labour's chief whip". 3 News . MediaWorks New Zealand. 5 April 2011. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  6. ↑ "Labour's list of casualties features stalwarts". Stuff.co.nz (Fairfax New Zealand). 28 November 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  7. 1 2 "Labour's 'three Davids' to hit the road". Stuff.co.nz (Fairfax New Zealand). 30 November 2011. Archived from the original on 1 January 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  8. ↑ "Labour leadership preferences" (PDF). Horizon Research. 8 December 2011. p. 11. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  9. ↑ Trevett, Claire (29 November 2011). "Parker edges ahead of Cunliffe in leadership race". Otago Daily Times . Allied Press . Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  10. ↑ Small, Vernon (30 November 2011). "Who is backing whom in Labour battle?". The Dominion Post. Fairfax New Zealand. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  11. ↑ Trevett, Claire (29 November 2011). "'Charismatic' Cunliffe people's choice for Labour". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  12. ↑ Trevett, Claire (1 December 2011). "David, David or David? Would-be leaders hit the road". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  13. ↑ "Labour leadership candidates focused on meetings". Radio New Zealand. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  14. ↑ "Parker drops out, backs Shearer for Labour leadership". One News . Television New Zealand. 1 December 2011. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  15. ↑ "Shearer wins battle of the three Davids – poll". One News. Television New Zealand. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  16. ↑ Parker, David (1 December 2011). "David Parker withdrawing from Labour leadership" (Press release). New Zealand Labour Party. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  17. ↑ Adams, Daniel (15 July 2011). "Goff hits back at tax critics". Waikato Times . Fairfax New Zealand. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  18. ↑ "David Shearer and David Cuniffe transcript". Q+A . Television New Zealand. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  19. ↑ "Public back Shearer over Cunliffe for Labour leadership". Horizon Research. 9 December 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  20. ↑ "David Shearer elected as Labour leader". The Dominion Post. Fairfax New Zealand. 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  21. ↑ NZ Newswire (13 December 2011). "High-flyer Hipkins new Labour chief whip". Yahoo! News (Yahoo!). Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  22. ↑ "David Shearer New Labour Leader". Scoop. 13 December 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  23. ↑ "Labour's new leader: I'm up to the job". One News. Television New Zealand. 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  24. ↑ Garner, Duncan (13 December 2011). "Shearer routs Cunliffe for Labour leadership". 3 News. MediaWorks New Zealand. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  25. ↑ "Secret caucus ballot will stay secret". 3 News. MediaWorks New Zealand. 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 29 January 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  26. ↑ Trevett, Claire (6 December 2011). "Shearer v Cunliffe: Which way Labour's MPs are voting". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  27. ↑ "Labour leadership hopefuls". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  28. ↑ Gower, Patrick (12 December 2011). "'Vicious' scrap over Labour leadership". 3 News. MediaWorks New Zealand. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  29. ↑ Trevett, Claire (19 December 2011). "Labour reveals new front bench". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  30. ↑ Trevett, Claire (20 December 2011). "Shearer gives team a year to shape up". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.