1993 New Zealand general election

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All 99 seats in theHouse of Representatives 50 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	1,922,796 (82.82%)
First party Second party   Leader Jim Bolger Mike Moore Party National Labour Leader since 26 March 1986 4 September 1990 Leader's seat King Country Christchurch North Last election 67 seats, 47.82% 29 seats, 35.14% Seats before 63 29 Seats won 50 45 Seat change 13 16 Popular vote 673,892 666,759 Percentage 35.05% 34.68% Swing 12.77% 0.46%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Jim Anderton Winston Peters Party Alliance NZ First Leader since 1 December 1991 18 July 1993 Leader's seat Sydenham Tauranga Last election 1 seat, 14.28%[1] New party Seats before 2 2 Seats won 2 2 Seat change Popular vote 350,063 161,481 Percentage 18.21% 8.40% Swing 3.93%[1] 8.40%
Results by electorate, shaded by winning margin
Prime Minister before election Jim Bolger National Subsequent Prime Minister Jim Bolger National

The1993 New Zealand general election was held on 6 November 1993 to determine the composition of the44th New Zealand Parliament. Voters elected 99 members to theHouse of Representatives, up from 97 members at the 1990 election. The election was held concurrently with anelectoral reform referendum to replace thefirst-past-the-post system, with all members elected from single-memberelectorates, withmixed-member proportional representation. It saw the governingNational Party, led byJim Bolger, win a second term in office, despite a major swing away from National in both seats and votes, and the carrying of the referendum by 53.9% to 46.1%.^[2]

Having broken electoral campaign promises and embarked on supply-side economics and wide-sweeping cuts during his first term, Bolger led the most unpopular government since theGreat Depression.^[3] The neoliberal actions ofRuth Richardson, his Minister of Finance, were termedRuthanasia by the media, and herMother of all Budgets in 1991 caused huge protests.^[3] By September 1991,support for National had plummeted to a hitherto unprecedented polling low of 22%. Mike Moore, ousted by Bolger in a landslide just three years before, attacked National's caucus as dangerous right-wing extremists, and enjoyed considerable personal popularity. While the high unemployment Ruthanasia had caused had recovered somewhat by 1993, Bolger's approval ratings remained dire against Moore up until election day.^[4]

With a vote difference of just 7,133 between the two major parties, the election was one of the closest in New Zealand history. Bolger's 17-seat majority gained in 1990 was pared back to a bare majority of one seat. TheLabour Party, led by former Prime MinisterMike Moore, enjoyed a 16-seat rise and almost won outright. The two smaller parties -Winston Peters'New Zealand First, which he formed after leaving National over conflict with their economic policy, andJim Anderton'sAlliance of parties to the left of Labour - both outperformed expectations and won significant shares of the vote. However, the first-past-the-post system kept them from gaining more than two seats each.

If MMP had been in use, the left-wing bloc of Labour and the Alliance – having secured a larger share of the vote than National or New Zealand First – would likely have formed a government. This was the last time prior to the2020 election where a party won an absolute majority of seats.

Before the election, theNational Party governed with 64 seats, while the oppositionLabour Party held only 29. The1990 election had been a major victory for the National Party, with the unpopularFourth Labour Government being decisively defeated. The Labour Party had become unpopular for its ongoing economic reforms, nicknamedRogernomics after Minister of FinanceRoger Douglas, which were based aroundliberalisation,privatisation, and the removal oftariffs andsubsidies. The National Party divided as to the merits of the reforms, with conservatives generally opposed and libertarians generally in favour. The party had fought the 1990 election saying that the Labour government's program was too radical, and was being carried out without any thought of the social consequences –Jim Bolger spoke about "the Decent Society", promising a return to a more moderate and balanced platform.

Once in government, however, the keyMinister of Finance role was taken not by a moderate but byRuth Richardson, who wished to expand, not end, the economic reforms. Upon gaining power, Richardson intensified the deregulation, creating an portfolio of neoliberal policies popularly known asRuthanasia. Richardson's "Mother of all Budgets", released in 1991, slashed available unemployment, sickness and welfare benefits. The families benefit by $25.00 to $27.00, unemployment benefit was cut by $14.00 a week, sickness benefit by $27.04. Universal payments for family benefits were completely abolished, anduser pay schemes were introduced in alibertarian fashion.^[5][6] TheEmployment Contracts Act sought to weaken trade unions, by meaning employees had to have individual contracts or be on a single-employer collective agreement.^[7] Richardson also ended freetertiary education altogether, after the Fourth Labour Government had ended bursaries.^[8][9]

These policies, a steep departure even from Rogernomics, led to a major backlash in multiple aspects of society, both on the left and the right.^[5] Students and trade unionists led protests and marches in Wellington and Auckland against university cuts and the Employment Contracts Bill.^[10][11][3] Many of the voters who had felt betrayed by Labour's reforms now felt betrayed by the National Party as well. The Mother of all Budgets not only caused widespread public contempt for the National Party but also wreaked havoc internally.^[12] The budget was lamented by the conservative wing of the National Party; former Prime MinisterSir Robert Muldoon resigned from hisTamaki electorate in protest of Richardson's policies,triggering a by-election. Polling declined massively for National, andMike Moore shot up inapproval ratings while attacking National's caucus as right-wing extremists.^[13][4] According to an episode ofFrontline onTVNZ 1 that aired less than two weeks before the election, Bolger led the most unpopular government since theGreat Depression.^[3] By September 1991, support for National had plummeted to a hitherto unprecedented polling low of 22%.

TheAlliance, the largest "third party", was a broad coalition of five smaller groups – theNewLabour Party (a Labour splinter), theDemocrats (asocial credit party), theGreens (anenvironmentalist party),Mana Motuhake (aMāori party), and theLiberal Party (a National splinter). The Alliance held three seats in Parliament – one belonged toJim Anderton, who had been re-elected under a NewLabour banner in the seat he had formerly held for Labour, while the other two belonged to the National MPs who formed the Liberal Party. In its first electoral test, the1992 by-election in Tamaki, the Alliance had performed well, taking second place. Another smaller group wasNew Zealand First, a party established by former National MPWinston Peters. Peters had broken with his party after a number of policy disputes with its leadership, and resigned from parliament to contest his seat as an independent. After being overwhelmingly re-elected, Peters established New Zealand First to promote his views. Peters was the party's sole MP.

Another consequence of dissatisfaction with both major parties was the referendum conducted alongside the 1993 election. The culmination of the larger decade-longNew Zealand electoral reform process, the referendum was held following the September 1992 indicative referendum, which saw 85% of voters voting for change from the existing First Past The Post (FPP) system, and 70% choosing theMixed Member Proportional (MMP) as its preferred replacement: aproportional system which would make it easier for smaller parties to win seats. It asked voters to choose whether to keep the existing FPP system or change to MMP, with 53.9% of voters opting to change to MMP.

While National and Labour usually stood candidates in every seat, National was one candidate short as theirSouthern Maori candidate apparently did not apply in time.

Four MPs, including three National MPs and one Labour MP, intended to retire at the end of the 43rd Parliament.

The election was held on 6 November. 2,321,664 people were registered to vote, and 85.2% turned out. This turnout was almost exactly the same as for the previous election, although slightly less than what would be seen for the following one.

With a vote difference of just 7,133 between the two major parties, the election was one of the closest in New Zealand history. Preliminary results based on election night counts saw the country facing its firsthung parliament since 1931, with no party gaining the 50 seats required for a majority. The National Party won 49 seats, a drop of 15 from before the election, and Labour had won 46 seats, with the balance of power held with the Alliance and New Zealand First, which won two seats each.^[14][15] This led toJim Bolger saying on public television, "Bugger the pollsters", as polls had predicted a comfortable National victory.^[16] Bolger reacted to the election results by giving a conciliatory speech, while Labour leaderMike Moore delivered a speech later described by political scientist Jack Vowles as "damaging" and "more appropriate for a decisive Labour win than a narrow defeat."^[17]

On election night result with the two major parties tied, the Governor-General DameCatherine Tizard asked her predecessor SirDavid Beattie to form a committee, along with three retired appeal court judges, to decide whom to appoint as prime minister.^[18] However National won one more seat and was returned to power when the official count saw the seat ofWaitaki swing from Labour to National, giving National 50 seats and Labour 45 seats. Labour's SirPeter Tapsell agreed to becomespeaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives (so that National would not lose a vote in the house). Hence National had a majority of one seat.^[15]

The 1993–1996 parliamentary term would see a number of defections from both major parties, meaning that National would eventually be forced to make alliances to retain power.

Summary of the 6 November 1993New Zealand House of Representatives election results^[19]

Party		Votes	% of votes		Seats
			%	change	total	change
	National	673,892	35.05	-12.78	50	-17
	Labour	666,759	34.68	-0.46	45	+16
	Alliance	350,064	18.21	+3.93a	2	+1b
	NZ First	161,481	8.40	+8.4	2	+2
	Christian Heritage	38,749	2.02	+1.49	0	–
	McGillicuddy Serious	11,706	0.61	+0.06	0	–
	Natural Law	6,056	0.31	+0.31	0	–
	Mana Māori	3,342	0.17	+0.17	0	–
	minor parties and independents	10,747	0.56	+0.34	0	–
total votes		1,922,796	100.00		99	+2
total registered electors		2,321,664
turnout		82.82%

^a Increase over Alliance's constituent member parties' (Greens,NewLabour,Democrats andMana Motuhake) combined vote share in1990.
^b Increase of one over Alliance's constituent party,NewLabour's result in1990.

The table below shows the results of the 1993 general election by electorate:^[20]

Key

  National  Labour  Alliance  NZ First  Independent

Table footnotes:

Based on the1991 New Zealand census, an electoral redistribution was carried out; the last one had been carried out in 1987 based on the previous census in 1986.^[21] This resulted in the abolition of nine electorates, and the creation of eleven new electorates. Through an amendment in the Electoral Act in 1965, the number of electorates in theSouth Island was fixed at 25, so the new electorates increased the number of the North Island electorates by two.^[22] In the South Island, one electorate was abolished (Ashburton), and one electorate was recreated (Rakaia). In the North Island, five electorates were newly created (Eastern Bay of Plenty,Far North,Howick,Matakana, andWellington-Karori), five electorates were recreated (Franklin,Hauraki,Henderson,Onslow, andWaitakere), and eight electorates were abolished (Bay of Islands,Clevedon,Coromandel,East Cape,Maramarua,Ohariu,Wellington Central, andWest Auckland).

In many cases an MP from an abolished seat stood for, and was elected to a new one that broadly covered their previous electorate.

Abolished Electorate		MP relocated		New Electorate
Ashburton	→	Jenny Shipley	→	Rakaia
Bay of Islands	→	John Carter	→	Far North
Clevedon	→	Warren Kyd	→	Hauraki
Coromandel	→	Graeme Lee	→	Matakana
East Cape	→	Tony Ryall	→	Eastern Bay of Plenty
Maramarua	→	Bill Birch	→	Franklin
Ohariu	→	Peter Dunne	→	Onslow
West Auckland	→	Jack Elder	→	Henderson
One MP from an abolished electorate failed to win a new electorate
Wellington Central		Pauline GardinerY		Wellington-Karori
		Chris LaidlawN
Due to boundary changes, two MPs moved to safer new electorates
Marginal Electorate		MP relocated		New Electorate
Te Atatu	→	Brian Neeson	→	Waitakere
Otara	→	Trevor Rogers	→	Howick

New electorates.

• Eastern Bay of Plenty – most of the abolished East Cape seat, plus part of Tarawera. Won by former East Cape MPTony Ryall.
• Far North – most of the abolished Bay of Islands seat. Won by former Bay of Islands MPJohn Carter.
• Franklin – part of the abolished Maramarua seat and part of Papakura. Won by former Maramarua MPBill Birch.
• Hauraki – parts of the abolished Clevedon, Maramarua, and Coromandel seats. Won by former Clevedon MPWarren Kyd.
• Henderson – parts taken from the West Auckland, Te Atatu, and Titirangi electorates. Won by former West Auckland MPJack Elder (Labour).
• Howick – the eastern part of the Otara seat. Won by former Otara MPTrevor Rogers (National).
• Matakana – part of the abolished Coromandel seat. Won by former Coromandel MPGraeme Lee.
• Onslow – the core of the abolished Ohariu seat. Won by former Ohariu MPPeter Dunne (Labour).
• Rakaia – the abolished Ashburton seat, plus part of the Selwyn seat. Won by former Ashburton MPJenny Shipley (National).
• Waitakere – chiefly, the abolished seat of West Auckland. Won by former Te Atatu MPBrian Neeson (National).
• Wellington-Karori – the abolished Wellington Central seat, plus part of the abolished Ohariu seat. Won by new National MPPauline Gardiner.

The seats ofGisborne,Hamilton East,Hamilton West,Hastings,Horowhenua,Invercargill,Lyttelton,Manawatu,Miramar,New Plymouth,Onehunga,Otara,Roskill,Te Atatu,Timaru,Titirangi,Tongariro,Wanganui andWest Coast were won from the National Party by Labour challengers. Seventeen of these seats (Gisborne, Hamilton East, Hamilton West, Hastings, Horowhenua, Lyttelton, Manawatu, Miramar, New Plymouth, Onehunga, Otara, Roskill, Te Atatu, Titirangi, Tongariro, Wanganui & the West Coast) had been won by National from Labour in 1990, so wereone-term National seats.

• The seat ofAuckland Central was won from the Labour Party by an Alliance challenger. The challenger wasSandra Lee and the defeated incumbent wasRichard Prebble.
• The seat ofNorthern Maori was won from the Labour Party by a New Zealand First challenger. The challenger wasTau Henare and the defeated incumbent wasBruce Gregory.
• The seat ofAwarua passed from an incumbent National MP to a new National MP.
• The seat ofPencarrow passed from an incumbent Labour MP to a new Labour MP.

A number oflocal by-elections were required due to the resignation of incumbent local body politicians following their election to Parliament:

• Aby-election to theAuckland City Council was caused after Hauraki Gulf Islands Ward councillorSandra Lee resigned her seat after she was elected MP forAuckland Central, necessitating a by-election to fill the council vacancy. The by-election was won by Gordon Hodson.^[23]

• McRobie, Alan (1989).Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books.ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
• Temple, Philip (1994).Temple's Guide to the 44th New Zealand Parliament. Dunedin: McIndoe Publishers.ISBN 0-86868-159-8.
• Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report).Chief Electoral Office. 1993.

• 1993 New Zealand general election
• November 1993 in Oceania

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