44th Parliament of New Zealand | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
Overview | |||||
Legislative body | New Zealand Parliament | ||||
Term | 21 December 1993 – 27 August 1996 | ||||
Election | 1993 New Zealand general election | ||||
Government | Fourth National Government | ||||
House of Representatives | |||||
Members | 99 | ||||
Speaker of the House | Peter Tapsell | ||||
Leader of the House | Don McKinnon | ||||
Prime Minister | Jim Bolger | ||||
Leader of the Opposition | Helen Clark | ||||
Sovereign | |||||
Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||
Governor-General | Michael Hardie Boys — Dame Catherine Tizard until 21 March 1996 |
The 44th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Its composition was determined by the 1993 elections, and it sat until the 1996 elections.
The 44th Parliament was the last to be elected under the old FPP electoral system, with voters approving a change to MMP at the same time as they voted in the 1993 elections. As such, the 44th Parliament saw a considerable amount of positioning for the change — at the beginning of the term, there were four parties in Parliament, but at the end, there were seven parties and one independent. The National Party, which had begun the term with a majority, was forced by the end of the term to form a coalition with several smaller parties to remain in power. Despite the various maneuverings, however, the National Party remained in government for the duration of the 44th Parliament, which comprised National's second term in office. The other three parties present at the start of the 44th Parliament, being the Labour Party, the Alliance, and New Zealand First, all remained in opposition.
The 44th Parliament consisted of ninety-nine representatives, two more than the previous Parliament. All of these representatives were chosen by single-member geographical electorates, including four special Māori electorates.
From 1991 to 1996—including the entirety of the 44th term of Parliament—MPs met in a debating chamber in Bowen House while Parliament House was being refurbished. [1]
The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1993 election and at dissolution:
Affiliation | Members | ||
---|---|---|---|
At 1993 election | At dissolution | ||
National | 50 | 41 | |
United NZ | – | 7 | |
Conservatives | – | 1 | |
Christian Democrats | – | 1 | |
Independent | – | 1 | |
Government total | 50 | 51 | |
Labour | 45 | 41 | |
NZ First | 2 | 5 | |
Alliance | 2 | 2 | |
Opposition total | 49 | 48 | |
Total | 99 | 99 | |
Working Government majority | 1 | 3 |
Notes
The table below shows the results of the 1993 general election by electorate: [2]
Key
National Labour Alliance NZ First Independent
Table footnotes:
There was one by-election held during the term of the 44th Parliament.
Electorate and by-election | Date | Incumbent | Cause | Winner | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Selwyn | 1994 | 13 August | Ruth Richardson | Resignation | David Carter |
Period | Government | Confidence and supply | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993–1994 | National | ||||||
1994 | National-Right of Centre | ||||||
1994–1995 | Future New Zealand | ||||||
1995 | United NZ, Christian Democrat | ||||||
1995–1996 | National-United NZ | Christian Democrat, Conservative, Independent |
The 2002 New Zealand general election was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of Helen Clark's Labour Party government, as well as the worst-ever performance by the opposition National Party.
The 1999 New Zealand general election was held on 27 November 1999 to determine the composition of the 46th New Zealand Parliament. The governing National Party, led by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, was defeated, being replaced by a coalition of Helen Clark's Labour Party and the smaller Alliance. This marked an end to nine years of the Fourth National Government, and the beginning of the Fifth Labour Government which would govern for nine years in turn, until its loss to the National Party in the 2008 general election. It was the first New Zealand election where both major parties had female leaders.
United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a centrist political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2004 and 2017, first alongside Labour (2004–2008) and then supporting National (2008–2017).
Peter Francis Dunne is a retired New Zealand politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ōhāriu. He held the seat and its predecessors from 1984 to 2017 – representing the Labour Party in Parliament from 1984 to 1994, and a succession of minor centrist parties from 1994. He was the Leader of Future New Zealand from 1994 to 1995, United New Zealand from 1996 to 2000, and United Future from 2000 to 2017.
The 1987 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 42nd sitting of the New Zealand Parliament. The governing New Zealand Labour Party, led by Prime Minister David Lange, was re-elected for a second term, although the Opposition National Party made gains. The election also saw the elimination of the Democratic Party from Parliament, leaving Labour and National as the only parties represented.
United New Zealand was a centrist political party in New Zealand founded in 1995. It merged with the Christian-based Future New Zealand party to form the United Future New Zealand party in 2000.
The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse than previous elections. Under the new MMP system, 65 members were elected in single-member districts by first-past-the-post voting, while a further 55 "top-up" members were allocated from closed lists to achieve a proportional distribution based on each party's share of the nationwide party vote.
The 1993 New Zealand general election was held on 6 November 1993 to determine the composition of the 44th New Zealand Parliament. Voters elected 99 members to the House of Representatives, up from 97 members at the 1990 election. The election was held concurrently with an electoral reform referendum to replace the first-past-the-post system, with all members elected from single-member electorates, with mixed-member proportional representation. It saw the governing National Party, led by Jim Bolger, win a second term in office, despite a major swing away from National in both seats and votes, and the carrying of the referendum by 53.9% to 46.1%.
Sir David Cunningham Carter is a New Zealand National Party politician who served as the 29th Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017 and as a Cabinet Minister in the Fourth and Fifth National Governments. He represented the Selwyn electorate in the 44th Parliament and the Banks Peninsula electorate in the 45th Parliament. He served as a list MP from 1999 until he retired at the 2020 election.
The New Zealand Conservative Party was a short-lived political party in New Zealand. It was founded by a dissident National Party MP, Ross Meurant.
Trevor Vicemar Rogers is a former New Zealand member of parliament, sitting for the National Party from 1990 to 1995, then for the Right of Centre party from 1995 to 1996.
The 45th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Its composition was determined by the 1996 election, and it sat until the 1999 election.
Margaret Elizabeth Austin is a former New Zealand politician. She was an MP from 1984 to 1996, representing first the Labour Party and then briefly United New Zealand.
Pauline Mona Gardiner is a former New Zealand Member of Parliament, first for the New Zealand National Party and then for United New Zealand. She was married to soldier, writer and public servant Wira Gardiner.
Peter Malcolm Hilt is a former New Zealand politician.
The 43rd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Its composition was determined by the 1990 elections, and it sat until the 1993 elections.
The Tight Five was a nickname given to the five Māori MPs elected to the New Zealand Parliament in 1996 from the centrist/populist New Zealand First party.
The New Zealand Democratic Coalition was a proposed moderate political party intended to contest the 1996 General Election. It would have been led by former Prime Minister Mike Moore and was intended to capture the balance of power on election night. Ultimately it was not registered and Moore stayed with Labour for the 1996 election.
The Fourth National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 2 November 1990 to 27 November 1999. Following electoral reforms in the 1996 election, Jim Bolger formed a coalition with New Zealand First. Following Bolger's resignation, the government was led by Jenny Shipley, the country's first female Prime Minister, for the final two years.
Wellington-Karori is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the Wellington region, which existed for one parliamentary term from 1993 to 1996, and was held by Pauline Gardiner. In 1995, Gardiner defected from National to United New Zealand.