New Zealand First, commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Winston Peters, from the then-governing National Party. Peters had been the sitting Member of Parliament for Tauranga since 1984 and would use the electorate as the base for New Zealand First until consecutive defeats by National Party candidates in 2005 and 2008. His party has formed coalition governments with both major political parties in New Zealand: first with the National Party from 1996 to 1998 and then with the Labour Party from 2005 to 2008 and from 2017 to 2020. Peters has served on two occasions as deputy prime minister.
New Zealand is a representative democracy in which members of the unicameral New Zealand Parliament gain their seats through elections. General elections are usually held every three years; they may be held at an earlier date at the discretion of the prime minister, although it usually only happens in the event of a vote of no confidence or other exceptional circumstances. A by-election is held to fill an electorate vacancy arising during a parliamentary term. The most recent general election took place on 17 October 2020.
Jim Anderton's Progressive Party was a New Zealand political party generally somewhat to the left of its ally, the Labour Party.
United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a centrist political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2005 and 2017, first alongside Labour (2005–2008) and then supporting National (2008–2017).
Brendan Francis John Horan is a New Zealand former politician and former list MP, who was elected to the New Zealand Parliament in 2011 for the New Zealand First party. He was expelled from the New Zealand First caucus on 4 December 2012 and served the remainder of his term as an Independent. Horan is of Māori descent with affiliations to Ngāti Maniapoto.
Bay of Plenty is a New Zealand electoral division returning one member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current representative is Todd Muller of the National Party, first elected at the 2014 election. He replaced Tony Ryall, also of the National Party, who retired after representing the seat since 1996.
Te Tai Tokerau is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate that was created out of the Northern Maori electorate ahead of the first Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) election in 1996. It was held first by Tau Henare representing New Zealand First for one term, and then Dover Samuels of the Labour Party for two terms. From 2005 to 2014, it was held by MP Hone Harawira. Initially a member of the Māori Party, Harawira resigned from both the party and then Parliament, causing the 2011 by-election. He was returned under the Mana Party banner in July 2011 and confirmed at the November 2011 general election. In the 2014 election, he was beaten by Labour's Kelvin Davis, ending the representation of the Mana Party in Parliament.
The Bill and Ben Party was a New Zealand joke political party formed in 2008 and voluntarily deregistered in 2010. The party's leaders were Jamie Linehan and Ben Boyce of the TV3 satirical sports show Pulp Sport. In the 2008 general election the party secured 0.56% of the vote, outpolling every other party not in parliament prior to the election. It gained the ninth-highest number of votes out of the 19 parties standing for election.
The 2011 New Zealand general election on Saturday 26 November 2011 determined the membership of the 50th New Zealand Parliament.
The 2014 New Zealand general election took place on Saturday 20 September 2014 to determine the membership of the 51st New Zealand Parliament.
The 50th New Zealand Parliament was elected at the 2011 general election. It had 121 members, and was in place from December 2011 until September 2014, followed by the 2014 general election. The first sitting of the 50th Parliament was held on 20 December 2011, where members were sworn in and Lockwood Smith was elected Speaker of the House. This was followed by the speech from the throne on 21 December. John Key continued to lead the Fifth National Government. Following the resignation of Smith, David Carter was elected Speaker.
The Mana Movement, formerly known as the Mana Party, is a former political party in New Zealand. The party was led by Hone Harawira which was formed in April 2011 following his resignation from the Māori Party. Harawira won the by-election in Te Tai Tokerau of 25 June 2011 for the Mana Party and retained the seat during the 2011 general election, but lost it in 2014 and 2017 to Labour Party candidate Kelvin Davis.
The Internet Party was a registered political party in New Zealand that promoted Internet freedom and privacy. The party was founded in January 2014 with the financial support and promotion of internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, and was first led by former Alliance MP Laila Harré, then by citizen journalist Suzie Dawson.
The Ban 1080 Party was a political party in New Zealand that opposed the use of sodium fluoroacetate (1080) poison, which is widely used in New Zealand for controlling mammalian pests such as possums and rats. The party was founded in 2014 by Bill Wallace and its co-leaders were Bill Wallace and Mike Downard. The party was registered by the Electoral Commission in 2014 and deregistered in February 2018.
The Opportunities Party is a centrist political party based in New Zealand. It was founded in 2016 by economist and philanthropist Gareth Morgan. The party is based upon an idea of "evidence-based policy", with policy priorities of "Universal Basic Income (UBI)", "Affordable Housing and Rent", "Smart Small Business", and "Climate Friendly Recovery".
The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, 72 from single-member electorates and 48 from closed party lists. Two referendums, one on the personal use of cannabis and one on euthanasia, were also held on the same day. Official results of the election and referendums were released on 6 November.
Vision NZ is a nationalist political party in New Zealand led by Hannah Tamaki, the co-leader of the fundamentalist Christian movement Destiny Church. The party was announced in May 2019. It contested the 2020 New Zealand general election both for electorate seats and the party list vote, receiving 0.1% of the party vote and winning no seats.
The next New Zealand general election to determine the composition of the 54th Parliament of New Zealand will be held no later than 13 January 2024, after the currently elected 53rd Parliament is dissolved or expires.
Heartland New Zealand is a New Zealand political party founded in 2020. The party is rural-based, and opposes the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, the Paris Agreement, and attempts to limit the environmental impacts of agriculture. The party is led by former Franklin District mayor Mark Ball, who is the party's candidate for Port Waikato. It is backed by Hamilton entrepreneur Harry Mowbray, father of Nick Mowbray, a billionaire who, with his siblings, was on the 2019 NBR Rich List.
