The New Zealand Labour Party, or simply 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.
The Alliance was a left-wing political party in New Zealand. It was formed at the end of 1991 by the linking of four smaller parties. The Alliance positioned itself as a democratic socialist alternative to the centre-left New Zealand Labour Party. It was influential throughout the 1990s, but suffered a major setback after its founder and leader, Jim Anderton, left the party in 2002, taking with him several of its members of parliament (MPs). After the remaining MPs lost their seats in the 2002 general election, some commentators predicted the demise of the party.
James Patrick Anderton was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of left-wing parties after leaving the Labour Party in 1989.
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 2020 election would see it suffer a greater defeat in terms of net loss of seats.
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.
Jim Anderton's Progressive Party was a New Zealand political party generally somewhat to the left of its ally, the Labour Party.
The New Zealand Social Credit Party is a political party which served as the country's third party from the 1950s through into the 1980s. The party held a number of seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives, although never more than two at a time. It renamed itself the New Zealand Democratic Party from 1985 to 2018, and was for a time part of the Alliance from 1991 to 2002. It returned to the Social Credit name in 2018.
The 1990 New Zealand general election was held on 27 October to determine the composition of the 43rd New Zealand parliament. The governing Labour Party was defeated, ending its two terms in office. The National Party, led by Jim Bolger, won a landslide victory and formed the new government.
Laila Jane Harré is a New Zealand politician and trade unionist. She was the first leader of the Internet Party, and stood for Parliament in the 2014 general election through the Helensville electorate. From 1996 to 2002, she was a Member of Parliament for the Alliance party, briefly leading that party after the group experienced a schism in 2002.
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 the last general election to use the first-past-the-post electoral system, with all members elected from single-member electorates.
The New Zealand Liberal Party founded in 1991 was a splinter group of the National Party.
Matthew Peter Robson is a New Zealand politician. He was deputy leader of the Progressive Party, and served in the Parliament from 1996 to 2005, first as a member of the Alliance, then as a Progressive.
John Wright is a former New Zealand politician. He was a member of parliament from 1996 to 2002, representing the Alliance. Before entering Parliament he owned the Port-a-Loo company.
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.
Mana Māori Motuhake was a Māori political party in New Zealand from 1980 to 2005. The name is difficult to translate accurately, but essentially refers to Māori self-rule and self-determination — mana, in this context, can be understood as "authority" or "power", while motuhake can be understood as "independent" or "separate". The purpose of the party was to unify Māori to gain 'political potency'. From 1991 to 2002, the party participated in the left-wing Alliance.
The Onehunga by-election of 1980 was a by-election for the Onehunga electorate during the 39th New Zealand Parliament. It was prompted by the death of Frank Rogers, a Labour Party MP. It was held on 7 June 1980 and was won by Fred Gerbic, also of the Labour Party.
Wigram is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Wigram is Megan Woods of the Labour Party. She took over this position from Jim Anderton, who had held this position from 1996 until 2011.
Norman Vazey Douglas was a New Zealand trade unionist and left-wing politician. He joined the New Zealand Labour Party in 1932, but when John A. Lee was expelled from the party in 1940, Douglas followed to join the new Democratic Labour Party. He rejoined the Labour Party in 1952 and represented the Auckland Central electorate in Parliament from 1960 until his retirement in 1975, serving time on the Opposition front bench.
Sydenham was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, from 1881 to 1890 and again from 1946 to 1996. It had notable politicians representing it like Mabel Howard, Norman Kirk and Jim Anderton.
The Backbone club was a ginger group within the New Zealand Labour Party in the late 1980s and early 1990s that advocated neoliberal economic policies and supported Roger Douglas in his financial reforms of New Zealand. Its members later became the nucleus of ACT New Zealand, a neoliberal party which Douglas founded in 1994.
