The politics of New Zealand function within a framework of a unitary parliamentary representative democracy. The structure of government is based on the Westminster system, and the legal system is modelled on the common law of England. New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy, in which King Charles III is the sovereign and head of state.
Prostitution in New Zealand, brothel-keeping, living off the proceeds of someone else's prostitution, and street solicitation are legal in New Zealand and have been since the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 came into effect. Coercion of sex workers is illegal. The 2003 decriminalisation of brothels, escort agencies and soliciting, and the substitution of a minimal regulatory model, created worldwide interest; New Zealand prostitution laws are now some of the most liberal in the world.
Sir Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer is a New Zealand lawyer, legal academic, and former politician, who was a member of Parliament from 1979 to 1990. He served as the 33rd prime minister of New Zealand for a little over a year, from August 1989 until September 1990, leading the Fourth Labour Government. As minister of justice from 1984 to 1989, Palmer was responsible for considerable reforms of the country's legal and constitutional framework, such as the creation of the Constitution Act 1986, New Zealand Bill of Rights, Imperial Laws Application Act, and the State Sector Act. He served as president of the New Zealand Law Commission, from 2005 to 2010.
Sir Thomas Kerry Burke is a former New Zealand politician and Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He was a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1990, and later served twelve years on Canterbury Regional Council from 1998 to 2010.
Derek Francis Quigley is a New Zealand former politician. He was a prominent member of the National Party during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and was known for his support of free market economics and trade liberalisation. Quigley left the National Party after clashing with its leadership, and later co-founded the ACT New Zealand party.
Sir Ronald Macmillan Algie was a New Zealand politician who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives for six years in the 1960s. He described himself as "a Tory in the old tradition".
Richard Mark Burton is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the Labour Party, serving as Minister of Defence, Minister of Justice, Minister of Local Government, Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Deputy Leader of the House, and the Minister Responsible for the Law Commission in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand.
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.
David Francis Caygill is a former New Zealand politician. Caygill was born and raised in Christchurch. He entered politics in 1971 as Christchurch's youngest city councillor at the age of 22. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1978 to 1996, representing the Labour Party. A supporter of Rogernomics, he served as Minister of Finance between 1988 and 1990. From 2010 to 2019, he was one of the government-appointed commissioners at Environment Canterbury.
Christopher Francis Finlayson is a New Zealand lawyer and former Member of Parliament, representing the National Party.
Nicola Joanne Wagner is a New Zealand teacher, businesswoman and politician. She represented the Christchurch Central electorate for the New Zealand National Party in the New Zealand Parliament.
Rainbow Labour is the LGBTQIA+ sector of the New Zealand Labour Party.
Charles Pierre Chauvel is a New Zealand lawyer and former New Zealand politician who was a Labour list Member of Parliament (2006–2013) until his resignation to take up a position with the UN Development Programme. He was the first New Zealand MP of Tahitian ancestry.
Sir Anand Satyanand, is a former lawyer, judge and ombudsman who served as the 19th Governor-General of New Zealand from 2006 to 2011.
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.
Clyde Leonard Carr was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party, and was a minister of the Congregational Church.
Tāmaki Makaurau is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was first formed for the 2002 election. The electorate covers the Auckland area and was first held by Labour's John Tamihere before going to Dr Pita Sharples of the Māori Party for three terms from 2005 to 2014. After Sharples' retirement, the electorate was won by Peeni Henare of the Labour Party in the 2014 election.
Munokoa Poto Williams is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and a member of Parliament. She was elected in a 2013 by-election and served as Minister of Conservation and Minister for Disability Issues in the Sixth Labour Government.
Gregory Eamon O'Connor is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and former police officer. He is the Deputy Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, and has served as the Member of Parliament for Ōhāriu since the 2017 general election.
Stephen Laurence Rainbow is a former New Zealand politician. He is manager of Auckland Transport's key relationships unit.
