The politics of the Cook Islands, an associated state, takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy within a constitutional monarchy. The Queen of New Zealand, represented in the Cook Islands by the Queen's Representative, is the Head of State; the prime minister is the head of government and of a multi-party system. The Islands are self-governing in free association with New Zealand and are fully responsible for internal affairs. New Zealand retains some responsibility for external affairs, in consultation with the Cook Islands. In recent years, the Cook Islands have taken on more of its own external affairs; as of 2005, it has diplomatic relations in its own name with eighteen other countries. Executive power is exercised by the government, while legislative power is vested in both the government and the islands' parliament. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislatures.
The Cook Islands Party is a nationalist political party in the Cook Islands. It was the first political party founded in the Cook Islands, and one of the two major parties of the islands' politics since 1965.
Albert Royle Henry was the first Premier of the Cook Islands. He was forced to resign from that post in a 1978 voting scandal for which he was later convicted of fraud. Henry was the founder and first leader of the Cook Islands Party (CIP).
The Parliament of the Cook Islands is the legislature of the Cook Islands. Originally established under New Zealand’s United Nations mandate it became the national legislature on independence in 1965.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands on September 27, 2006 in order to elect 24 MPs to the Cook Islands Parliament. The Democratic Party remained in power, winning 15 of 24 seats. A total of 8,497 voters turned out to vote.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 7 September 2004. Initial results showed the Democratic Party winning by a wide margin, but close results led to 11 electoral petitions being filed, delaying the date Parliament could sit until mid-December. In the interim, Prime Minister Robert Woonton announced that he was forming a coalition government with the rival Cook Islands Party. This led to a split within the Democrats, with Woonton and four other MPs leaving to form the Demo Tumu Party. With 14 MPs, the coalition had a comfortable majority in Parliament.
Norman George is a Cook Islands politician and former Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister, and Cabinet Minister.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 30 March 1978 to elect 22 MPs to the Parliament. The result was a victory for the Cook Islands Party under Albert Henry, but it later emerged that the CIP had flown hundreds of supporters from New Zealand to the Cook Islands at public expense in order to vote. The results of the election were challenged, and the election of eight MPs was overturned by the High Court. Albert Henry was subsequently convicted of conspiracy and misuse of public money and stripped of his knighthood.
Kete Ioane was a Cook Islands politician. He was a Cook Islands Democratic Party Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2010 and served as a cabinet minister between 2006 and 2009.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 17 November 2010 in order to elect 24 MPs to the Cook Islands Parliament. The elections were won by the Cook Islands Party, which won 16 of the 24 seats. Voter turnout was 78%.
Robert George Wigmore was a Cook Islands politician and former Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and Cabinet Minister. He was leader of the Cook Islands Democratic Party.
The United Political Party was a political party in the Cook Islands. It was founded shortly before the 1965 election and was led by the then-Leader of Government Business, D. C. Brown. It ran 16 candidates, 4 of which were elected; Brown himself lost his seat. The party fell apart after the election, though some members went on to participate in the United Cook Islanders.
Sir Pupuke Robati, KBE was a Cook Island politician who was the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 29 July 1987 to 1 February 1989.
The Party Tumu is a political party in the Cook Islands. It was founded in July 2010 by Cook Islands Party MP Albert (Peto) Nicholas after a split over candidate selection. Originally known as the "Cook Islands party Tumu", the party was forced to rename itself after the CIP successfully sought a court injunction preventing them from using the name Cook Islands Party.
A general election was held in the Cook Islands on 9 July 2014. It determined the membership of the 14th Cook Islands Parliament.
The One Cook Islands Movement, formerly known as "Cook Islands One" is a political party in the Cook Islands. It was established in May 2014.
A by-election was held in the Cook Islands constituency of Vaipae-Tautu on 31 March 2015. It was won by Moana Ioane, the Cook Islands Party candidate, consolidating the ruling party's slender majority in Parliament.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 14 June 2018 to elect the 24 members of the 15th Cook Islands Parliament.
