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 Taranaki-King Country by-election was a by-election in the New Zealand electorate of Taranaki-King Country, a large and predominantly rural district in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It took place on 2 May 1998, and was precipitated by the resignation from parliament of sitting MP Jim Bolger. Bolger was retiring from politics, having recently been replaced as Prime Minister by Jenny Shipley.
Christchurch Central is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the South Island city of Christchurch. The electorate was established for the 1946 election and, until 2011 had always been won by the Labour Party. Since 2008, the incumbent was Brendon Burns but the election night results for the 2011 election resulted in a tie; the special vote results combined with a judicial recount revealed a 47-vote majority for Nicky Wagner, the National list MP based in the electorate. Wagner significantly increased her winning margin in the 2014 election after having declared the electorate "unwinnable" for National earlier in the year following a boundary review. At the 2017 election Wagner lost the seat to Labour's Duncan Webb, who retained it at the 2020 election.
Hamilton East is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate.
Hamilton West is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It has been held by Tama Potaka MP of the National Party since the 2022 by-election.
Ilam is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. Formed for the 1996 election, it was held by Gerry Brownlee of the National Party until the 2020 election, when Sarah Pallett of the Labour Party unseated Brownlee in an upset victory. The seat reverted to National when it was won by Hamish Campbell in the 2023 election.
Mana is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the Wellington metropolitan area. It has been held by Barbara Edmonds of the Labour Party since the 2020 election.
New Plymouth is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It was first created for the 1st New Zealand Parliament in 1853 and has existed since, with one 32-year interruption. The electorate was initially called Town of New Plymouth.
Northland is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The electorate was established for the 1996 election. It was represented by National Party MP John Carter from 1996 to 2011, and then National's Mike Sabin until his resignation on 30 January 2015. The by-election in March 2015 was won by New Zealand First party leader Winston Peters. Peters was defeated by National's Matt King in the 2017 general election. King in turn was defeated by the Labour Party's Willow-Jean Prime in the 2020 general election, who became the first Labour MP elected for the area since the party won the predecessor electorate Bay of Islands in 1938. Prime was later defeated in the 2023 election by National's Grant McCallum
Pakuranga is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate. It gave the Social Credit Party one of its few MPs when Neil Morrison held the seat from 1984 to 1987, but otherwise the electorate seat has been held by the National Party since 1972. Its current MP is Simeon Brown who has held the electorate since the 2017 general election.
Rangitīkei is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Rangitīkei is Suze Redmayne of the National Party. She has held this position since 2023.
Remutaka is an electorate returning one member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. Since the 2008 general election, the seat has been represented by Chris Hipkins, who served as Prime Minister of New Zealand and is currently the Leader of the Opposition.
Rongotai is a New Zealand electorate, returning a single member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Rongotai is Julie Anne Genter of the Green Party. She has held this position since the 2023 general election.
Tauranga is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Tauranga is Sam Uffindell of the National Party, who won the seat in the 2022 Tauranga by-election, following the resignation of the previous MP, Simon Bridges of the National Party.
Tukituki is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. Named after the Tukituki River which runs through the electorate, it was established for the 1996 general election and has existed since. The current MP for Tukituki is Catherine Wedd of the National Party, who won the seat from first-term Labour Party MP Anna Lorck.
Wellington Central is an electorate, represented by a Member of Parliament in the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Wellington Central is Tamatha Paul of the Green Party. She has held this position since the 2023 general election.
Te Tai Hauāuru is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives, that was first formed for the 1996 election. The electorate was represented by Tariana Turia from 2002 to 2014, first for the Labour Party and then for the Māori Party. Turia retired and was succeeded in 2014 by Labour's Adrian Rurawhe who retained the seat in 2017 and again in 2020.
Waikato is an electorate in the New Zealand Parliament. A Waikato electorate was first created in 1871 and an electorate by this name has existed from 1871 to 1963, 1969 to 1996, and 2008 to the present, though exact borders have often changed.
King Country was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It existed from 1972 to 1996 and was represented by Jim Bolger of the National Party for those 24 years.
Taupō is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate returning one Member of Parliament to the House of Representatives. Taupo first existed between 1963 and 1981, and was recreated for the introduction of MMP in 1996. The current MP for Taupō is Louise Upston of the National Party. She has held this position since 2008.
