2008 New Zealand general election

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All 122 seats in theHouse of Representatives, including twooverhang seats 62 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	2,376,480 (79.46%)1.46
First party Second party Third party   Leader John Key Helen Clark Russel Norman Jeanette Fitzsimons Party National Labour Green Leader since 27 November 2006 1 December 1993 3 June 2006 21 May 1995 Leader's seat Helensville Mount Albert List List Last election 48 seats, 39.10% 50 seats, 41.10% 6 seats, 5.30% Seats before 48 49 6 Seats won 58 43 9 Seat change 10 7 3 Electorate vote 1,072,024 46.60% 6.22 810,238 35.22% 5.13 129,584 5.63% 1.51 Party vote 1,053,398 44.93% 5.83 796,880 33.99% 7.11 157,613 6.72% 1.42   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Rodney Hide Tariana Turia Pita Sharples Jim Anderton Party ACT Māori Party Progressive Leader since 18 June 2004 7 July 2004 27 July 2002 Leader's seat Epsom Te Tai Hauāuru Tāmaki Makaurau Wigram Last election 2 seats, 1.51% 4 seats, 2.12% 1 seat, 1.16% Seats before 2 4 1 Seats won 5 5 1 Seat change 3 1 0 Electorate vote 68,852 2.99% 1.02 76,836 3.34% 0.02 25,981 1.13% 0.51 Party vote 85,496 3.65% 2.14 55,980 2.39% 0.27 21,241 0.91% 0.25   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Peter Dunne Winston Peters Party United Future New Zealand NZ First Leader since 16 November 2000 18 July 1993 Leader's seat Ōhariu List (lost seat) Last election 3 seats, 2.67% 7 seats, 5.72% Seats before 2 7 Seats won 1 0 Seat change 2 7 Electorate vote 25,955 1.13% 1.71 38,813 1.69% 1.80 Party vote 20,497 0.87% 1.80 95,356 4.07% 1.65
Results by electorate, shaded by winning margin
Prime Minister before election Helen Clark Labour Subsequent Prime Minister John Key National

The2008 New Zealand general election was held on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the49th New Zealand Parliament. The liberal-conservativeNational Party, headed by its parliamentary leaderJohn Key, won the largest share of votes and seats, endingnine years of government by thesocial-democraticLabour Party, led byHelen Clark. Key announced a week later that he would lead a Nationalminority government withconfidence-and-supply support from theACT,United Future andMāori parties. TheGovernor-General swore Key in as New Zealand's 38thPrime Minister on 19 November 2008. This marked the beginning of theFifth National Government which governed for the next nine years, until the2017 general election, when a government was formed between the Labour and New Zealand First parties, with support on confidence and supply by the Green Party.

TheGreen Party became the third-largest party in Parliament, with nine seats. The ACT Party came joint-fourth (in terms of seats), increasing their number of seats from two to five, and reversing some of their losses from the 2005 election. TheMāori Party also won five seats – out of the sevenMāori electorates – creating anoverhang of two seats. TheNew Zealand First party, which had seven MPs in the previous parliament, failed to win any electorates or pass the 5 per cent MMP threshold, and therefore won no seats in the new parliament.

In his victory speech, John Key announced the readiness of the ACT, Maori Party and United Future parties to co-operate with the National Party to form the next government, theFifth National Government of New Zealand. In her concession speech, Helen Clark announced her resignation as the parliamentary leader of the Labour Party. She had led the party since 1993, and had served as prime minister since the 1999 election. 2008 saw several important political figures enter Parliament, including future finance ministerGrant Robertson, future National Party leaderSimon Bridges, and the next two Labour Prime Ministers,Jacinda Ardern andChris Hipkins. Former Labour ministerRoger Douglas, who stepped down in 1990 returned to parliament in this election but as a member for the ACT Party.

New Zealand elections traditionally occur after September in the third year following the last election, andsnap elections occur rarely; the only three elections out of sync in the period of 1948 to 2008 took place in1951,1984 and2002—and the last two came only a few months early.Convention in New Zealand expects Parliaments to run for a full three years unless the government loses theconfidence of the House, although this has not happened since 1911.

TheConstitution Act 1986 defines the term of Parliament as "three years from the day fixed for the return of the writs issued for the last preceding general election of members of the House of Representatives, and no longer". Since the writs for the 2005 election were returned on 6 October 2005,^[1]the ensuing48th New Zealand Parliament expired on 6 October 2008, making 15 November the final possible date for the 2008 general election.

On Friday 12 September 2008, Prime MinisterHelen Clark announced that the general election would take place on 8 November 2008. This set the full election timetable as:

• Dissolution of parliament – Friday, 3 October 2008.
• Writ day – Wednesday, 8 October.
• Nominations day – Tuesday, 14 October.
• Election day – Saturday, 8 November.
• Official results declared and writs returned by Saturday, 22 November.
• The49th Parliament must convene no later than Saturday 3 January 2009.^[2]

Nineteen registered political parties contested the party vote:^[3]

The following parties either disappeared during the previous parliament's term (2005 to 2008), or did not contest the 2008 elections for other reasons.

In the months preceding the election 13 Members of Parliament announced that they would not seek re-election to the House of Representatives in 2008, namely:

• fromLabour, 9 members:
  1. Tim Barnett (Christchurch Central)
  2. David Benson-Pope (Dunedin South)
  3. Mark Gosche (Maungakiekie)^[4]
  4. Marian Hobbs (Wellington Central)
  5. Steve Maharey (Palmerston North)
  6. Jill Pettis (list MP)
  7. Dover Samuels (list MP)
  8. Paul Swain (Rimutaka)
  9. Margaret Wilson (list MP)
• fromNational, 4 members:
  1. Mark Blumsky (list MP)
  2. Bob Clarkson (Tauranga)
  3. Katherine Rich (list MP)
  4. Clem Simich (list MP)

Several list MPs elected in 2005 resigned before the end of the term; for a full list, see48th New Zealand Parliament#Changes during term.

New Zealand First received 4.07% of the party vote – below the threshold of 5% – and failed to win an electorate seat. The party's seven MPs lost their seats:

• Winston Peters Leader, and second inTauranga by 11,742 votes
• Peter Brown 2nd on List and Deputy Leader
• Ron Mark (list MP; 3rd in Rimutaka)
• Doug Woolerton (list MP)
• Barbara Stewart (list MP)
• Pita Paraone (list MP)
• Dail Jones (list MP at number 14)

• Judy Turner (list MP)

• Damien O'Connor (MP forWest Coast-Tasman)
• Dave Hereora (list MP)
• Harry Duynhoven (MP forNew Plymouth)
• Judith Tizard (MP forAuckland Central)
• Lesley Soper (list MP)
• Louisa Wall (list MP)
• Mahara Okeroa (MP forTe Tai Tonga)
• Mark Burton (MP forTaupo)
• Martin Gallagher MP forHamilton West)
• Russell Fairbrother (list MP; MP forNapier from2002 to2005)

• Gordon Copeland (list MP)
• Taito Phillip Field (MP forMangere)

The rolls listed almost 3 million people registered to vote in the election, a record number representing 95.3% of the estimated eligible voting population.^[5]In contrast, voter turnout of 79.5% of enrolled voters came in lower than in most previous elections, the second-lowest since 1978 (when a large number of outdated and duplicate enrolments deflated the figure) and third-lowest since 1902.^[6][7]

Turnout statistics reflect the percentage of those enrolled to vote.

Political scientist Stephen Levine fromVictoria University speculated that the low turnout may have resulted from the National Party's large lead over Labour in opinion polls running up to the election.^[8]Māori Party co-leaderPita Sharples expressed concern that only 55% of those on the Maori roll had voted.^[9]

TheElectoral Finance Act 2007 passed by the Labour government had a "chilling effect" on political activity in 2008, according to theElectoral Commission.^[10]Some parties attempted to make this an election issue.

On 5 August 2008, theTreasury announced that the New Zealand economy had entered arecession.^[11]Economic downturn has led to high-profile job losses, such as the closure of factories inFoxton,^[12]in westDunedin^[13]and in southernHawke's Bay.^[14]At the same time, inflation hit an eighteen-year high,^[15]with an upwards tug on the prices of basics such as food and petrol, the latter crossing the two-dollar-per-litre mark in late May.^[16]

At the Labour Party's campaign launch on 12 October 2008, Helen Clark became the latest world leader to guarantee bank deposits, unveiling a plan worth $150 billion whereby all retail deposits would be unconditionally covered.^[17] The plan would be voluntary to join; within two days, reports appeared stating that all of New Zealand's major trading banks had signed up.^[18] Also signed up to the plan was the National Party, with deputy leader and finance spokesperson Bill English saying that there was "still time to change the...scheme if banks find it hard to borrow overseas".^[19]

On 6 October, two days before the National Party's scheduled release of details of the tax-cut plan it had over and above the governing coalition's three-stage series oftax cuts revealed in the2008 Budget,^[20]the Government disclosed its full fiscal situation; it showed that it expected to take $3.1 billion less tax in 2009, forcing the government to borrow $5.9 billion in 2009, rising to $7.3 billion by 2013. This implied higher costs for KiwiSaver, Working For Families and the 20 hours subsidised early-childhood plan; and higher numbers of people forced onto benefits by any prospective economic downturn. Over the next fiscal year, Cullen expected GDP to rise by just 0.1%, with median house prices dropping by an estimated 10–15%.^[21][22]

John Key responded to the news by describing the numbers as "a bit worse than we had anticipated", and stated "I'm confident we can deliver a programme of tax cuts."^[23]The same day Helen Clark reiterated her opinion on tax cuts beyond the government's proposal, saying "now is not the time to go out and recklessly borrow to offer tax cuts",^[24]an opinion she had first voiced in early August^[25]when the National Party used its annual conference to promise to speed up the implementation of the tax cuts, and to borrow several billion dollars to fund infrastructure projects such as a $1.5 billion broadband plan and a new prison in its first term.^[26]On 9 October, National released its policy, promising people on the average wage or higher around $47 a week extra in the hand, funded through a combination of cutting contributions to KiwiSaver, eliminating a tax credit for science and development, and changing Working For Families entitlements.^[27]

On calling the 2008 election, Prime MinisterHelen Clark declared that it would be "about trust", labelling the National Party's recent commitments to preserve Labour Party programmes such asKiwiSaver andKiwibank as "insincere".^[28]

Members of the Labour Party accused John Key of lying about his shareholding inTranz Rail, by not disclosing nearly half of the shares he and his family trusts owned in the company, even though this presented a clear conflict of interest with Key's role as his party's spokesperson on transport, at a time when he asked several questions in the House about the government's plans regarding rail infrastructure.^[29]

New Zealand First leaderWinston Peters faced an attack on his party's credibility, first over allegations that his party did not declare a $100,000 donation from millionaire ex-patriate property developerOwen Glenn to cover Winston Peters' legal costs in a challenge to the result in the seat ofTauranga. This was referred to a House of RepresentativesPrivileges Committee. On 22 September, the committee determined that Peters had "provided misleading information" and recommended he becensured;^[30] this was done by the House of Representatives in a 62–56 vote two days later.^[31] The second allegation revolved around the party's failure to declare the use of a secret trust to funnel large donations into New Zealand First's bank account, even though no donations over $10,000 to New Zealand First has been declared, as the law requires. This case was referred to theSerious Fraud Office for further investigation; on 11 October, New Zealand First was cleared of charges that Peters called a "waste of time"^[32] and on 24 October, New Zealand First was cleared of wrongdoing by the Electoral Commission, which was investigating donations that the party failed to declare.^[33]

The Representation Commission altered many of the boundaries of New Zealand's parliamentaryelectorates following the2006 census; the large growth in population between censuses lead to significant boundary changes, particularly in Auckland, the area around Christchurch and the central North Island. In May 2007, the Representation Commission announced the boundary changes^[34]to take effect for the next general election, with the boundaries finalised in September 2007.

The Commission announced the formation of a new electorate in Greater Auckland, bringing the number of geographical constituencies to 70. The new seat, originally dubbed "Howick" (after the Auckland suburb), would have included parts of the existing Pakuranga, Manukau East and Clevedon electorates. AfterPakuranga electors made strong objections to the proposed changes (which would have seen the inclusion of the population centresPanmure,Point England andGlen Innes into the electorate) the Commission largely reverted proposed changes to the boundaries of thePakuranga electorate. The Commission opted to alleviate population pressures by moving the Auckland City suburb ofŌtāhuhu intoManukau East. The revised new seat received the name"Botany" to reflect its focus on the growing population-centres ofBotany Downs–Dannemora. On paper, Botany counts as a safe National seat.

Even though the number of South Island electorates remains fixed, the decline in the population of electorates south ofChristchurch has resulted in the boundaries of electorates fromInvercargill north toRakaia shifting northwards. The seats ofAoraki,Otago,Rakaia andBanks Peninsula all gravitated towards Christchurch. In the process:

• Aoraki received the new name ofRangitata
• Otago received the new name ofWaitaki
• Rakaia received the new name ofSelwyn
• Banks Peninsula received the new name ofPort Hills

Other seats in the lower South Island increased dramatically in size.

In 2005 four MPs won seats with majorities of under a thousand: Labour'sDarren Hughes beat National candidateNathan Guy inŌtaki by 382 votes (1.00%), and inHamilton West,Martin Gallagher of the Labour Party won an 825-vote majority (2.46%) over National's Tim Macindoe. Both these seats saw a rematch in 2008, with the National Party candidates emerging victorious in each.

The swing to National in the central North Island saw two Bay of Plenty seats produce close results: inRotorua, the sitting Labour MPSteve Chadwick prevailed by just 662 votes (2.17%) over National's Gil Stehbens, and inTauranga, property developerBob Clarkson defeated New Zealand First's leader and seven-term MP for Tauranga Winston Peters by 730 votes (2.02%). Rotorua fell to National'sTodd McClay in 2008, whileSimon Bridges held Tauranga for National by a wide margin, preventing Peters from returning to Parliament.

Besides the three Labour-held narrow-margin seats mentioned above (Otaki, Hamilton West and Rotorua), National had prospects of gainingTaupō, where boundary changes have added the National-leaning town ofCambridge and with it nearly 20,000 different voters – putting sitting MPMark Burton's 2005 majority of just 1,285 votes (4.43%) at risk. Similarly, the seat ofWest Coast-Tasman gave Labour'sDamien O'Connor a majority of 2,154 (6.77%). National reversed all of these majorities in 2008 and captured all three seats.

Part of National's core vote comes from provincial centres. In 1990, when Labour lost power, it lost every seat between the southern fringe of the Auckland urban area and Porirua exceptNapier andPalmerston North; in 2005, National again won several provincial seats off Labour:

1. East Coast
2. Tukituki
3. Napier
4. Whanganui
5. Hamilton East
6. Otago
7. Aoraki

National also won Tauranga off New Zealand First leader Winston Peters in 2005 and the lion's share of the ACT and United parties' core votes^{[citation needed]} (and in the process gainedNorthcote off Labour).

The newly-drawn seat ofBotany on Auckland's eastern fringe presented an electoral problem for the Labour Party – on 4 July 2008 a crowd of mostly Asian marchers numbered in the thousands^[35] protested against Labour's record on crime and sentencing and a perceived upswing in anti-Asian crime. Because of the large Asian population in the new seat, such trends may have given National candidate and victorPansy Wong a possible advantage. Boundary changes have also shaken up the electoral landscape of the South Island.^[34] Three new seats –Selwyn,Waitaki andRangitata, drawn respectively out of Aoraki, Otago and Rakaia, three National-held seats in 2005, damaged Labour's chances outside of Christchurch and Dunedin.^{[citation needed]}

On Labour's other flank, the three Māori electorates that it held last time against a strongMāori Party challenge were in danger of falling as they did in 1996 when New Zealand First broke Labour's sixty-year stranglehold.Nanaia Mahuta again facedAngeline Greensill for the newHauraki-Waikato seat, and narrowly held it. Māori Affairs MinisterParekura Horomia also held on by a small margin against veteran broadcasterDerek Fox inIkaroa-Rāwhiti. IncumbentMahara Okeroa, however, was defeated byRahui Katene inTe Tai Tonga, giving the Māori Party an additional seat.

The seats ofTauranga andEpsom provided particular resonances: Winston Peters failed to retake themarginal Tauranga (andRon Mark failed to win theRimutaka seat), meaningNew Zealand First's chances of returning to the House depended on winning 5% of the party vote, which they did not accomplish. Similarly, the electoral fortunes of the ACT Party depended very largely onRodney Hide retaining Epsom, which he did.

Amongst other parties very aware of the 5% barrier,United Future appeared more secure in the light ofPeter Dunne's grip onŌhariu, which he maintained, though by a narrower margin than previously; and theProgressive Party retained a very strong hold viaJim Anderton's "safe seat" ofWigram.

The Greens never appeared in danger of slipping below the 5% threshold, although lacking an obvious winnable electorate seat (co-leaderJeanette Fitzsimons had wonCoromandel in1999, but the electorate returned to National in2002).

National won nine electorate seats from Labour:

• Auckland Central:Nikki Kaye defeated sitting Labour MPJudith Tizard, the first time National has won this seat.
• Hamilton West: won byTim Macindoe who ousted sitting Labour MPMartin Gallagher, a reversal of the 2005 election when Gallagher narrowly defeated Macindoe.
• Maungakiekie:Sam Lotu-Iiga achieved a majority of 1,876 overCarol Beaumont after incumbentMark Gosche retired. Beaumont entered Parliament as a Labour list member.
• New Plymouth: the most marginal electorate, whereJonathan Young won by 314 votes to oustHarry Duynhoven.
• Otaki: the most marginal 2005 seat fell toNathan Guy, who defeated incumbent MinisterDarren Hughes by 1,422 votes. Hughes remained in Parliament through the Labour list.
• Rotorua: fell toTodd McClay who defeated sitting MinisterSteve Chadwick by 4,855 votes. Chadwick returned to Parliament through the party list.
• Taupo: won byLouise Upston, who defeatedMark Burton by nearly 6,000 votes, to reverse a 1,198 majority in2005.
• Waitakere:Paula Bennett defeatedLynne Pillay by just over 600 votes, Pillay returned to Parliament as a List MP. This Waitakere seat differs from that previously held by National'sBrian Neeson.^{[citation needed]}
• West Coast-Tasman:Chris Auchinvole defeated Cabinet MinisterDamien O'Connor.

TheMāori Party also won a seat from Labour.

• Te Tai Tonga:Rahui Katene won the seat fromMahara Okeroa.

• National'sPansy Wong became the first Member for the newBotany seat. She had become the first Asian list MP in1996, and in 2008 became the first Asian electorate MP.
• National'sPaul Hutchison, sitting MP forPort Waikato, returned to Parliament as Member forHunua which covers most of his former electorate and parts of the formerClevedon electorate.
• United Future'sPeter Dunne, sitting MP forOhariu-Belmont, returned to Parliament as the new Member forŌhariu.
• National'sJudith Collins, sitting MP forClevedon, returned to Parliament as the new Member forPapakura.
• Labour'sRuth Dyson, sitting MP forBanks Peninsula, returned to Parliament as the new Member forPort Hills.
• National'sJo Goodhew, sitting MP forAoraki, returned to Parliament as the new Member forRangitata.
• National'sLindsay Tisch, sitting MP forPiako, returned to Parliament as the new Member forWaikato, covering most of Piako and rural areas north of Hamilton West.
• National'sJacqui Dean, sitting MP forOtago, returned to Parliament as the new Member forWaitaki which takes in most of Dean's former Otago electorate, and Queenstown and Arrowtown.
• Labour'sNanaia Mahuta, sitting MP for the Maori electorate ofTainui, returned to Parliament as the new Member forHauraki-Waikato.

A number of seats elected new MPs following the retirement of their sitting Members:

• Brendon Burns held for LabourChristchurch Central by just over 800 votes, previously held by retiring MPTim Barnett.
• Clare Curran held for LabourDunedin South vacated byDavid Benson-Pope who did not achieve party reselection.
• William Sio held for Labour the seat ofMangere, defeatingTaito Phillip Field. Field won the seat in the2005 general election, but left the party after being indicted on fraud charges and contested this election as leader ofNew Zealand Pacific Party.
• Iain Lees-Galloway held for Labour the seat ofPalmerston North following the retirement of sitting MPSteve Maharey.
• Chris Hipkins held for Labour the seat ofRimutaka following the retirement of sitting MPPaul Swain.
• Amy Adams won for National the new seat ofSelwyn, taking in part of the formerRakaia electorate. Sitting Rakaia MPBrian Connell retired from politics.
• Simon Bridges held for National the seat ofTauranga following the retirement of sitting MPBob Clarkson.
• Grant Robertson held for Labour the seat ofWellington Central following the retirement of sitting MPMarian Hobbs.

Having come first in the party vote at the 2005 election by just two percentage points, Labour held a slender lead in aggregate polling through the first half of 2006; a two-point lead in the first half of the year turned into a two-point deficit by May. Polling for a preferred Prime Minister showed Helen Clark nearly twice as popular as then National Party leaderDon Brash.

Things changed in early 2007, with new National leaderJohn Key improving on Brash's preferred Prime Minister rating by ten points, and overtaking Clark as preferred Prime Minister in May; at the same time National jumped out to a sizeable lead over Labour ranging from between eight and eighteen points, spending most of 2007 and 2008 with support from around fifty percent of the electorate. Labour's popularity slumped, hitting its lowest point in the winter of 2008, before beginning a slow climb into the high thirties in August and September.

Leading up to the election, polls indicated a range of possible outcomes on election day; some suggested Labour could form a coalition government, while others predicted National in control. Of the "minor" parties, only the Green Party consistently polled over the five-percent threshold, andUnited Future and the Progressive Party frequently failed to register a mention. Both ACT's and theMāori Party's popularity since 2005 remained steady at around two percent, while New Zealand First failed to poll over the threshold after December 2006. The polls gave varied results for preferred Prime Minister, with some giving Clark a slight lead, and others giving Key a sturdy margin.

The coalition preferences of various parties played a role during the campaign, due to the likelihood that no party would get an absolute majority of seats in the House. ACT emerged as the first "minor" party to announce that it would support a prospective National-led government.^[36]United Future also announced that it would side with National in late October, after supporting the Labour government for six years.^[37]

The Progressive Party, led byJim Anderton, had served as a steady coalition partner to Labour and the electorate probably expected it to remain so. The Green Party, which abstained from opposing the Labour-led government in supply and confidence votes through the life of the48th Parliament (2005 to 2008), said on 20 October that the only party of the two main parties it could form a coalition with was Labour.^[38] In the light of New Zealand First's run-in with the Serious Fraud Office, John Key ruled out that party as a government support partner on 31 August 2008, saying "the sheer weight of allegations and the actions of Mr Peters in the last few months means that I have lost that confidence in him".^[39]At that time, Peters' future seemed under a cloud; after his party being cleared of charges of serious fraud, National restated its position, saying that the result of the case has not altered it.^[40]

Based on polls commissioned by the Māori news showMarae,^[41] theMāori Party appeared likely to win most of the Māori electorates and stood a chance of holding the balance of power. The party's MP forTe Tai Tokerau,Hone Harawira, stated at the end of September that the party could work with both Labour and National.^[42] On 28 September, National announced a commitment to abolish the Māori electorates in time for the 2014 election.^[43]The Māori Party has benefited greatly from the Māori electorates, and its co-leaderTariana Turia was unimpressed: "They think again that they can deny us the right to participate. If they want a relationship with the Māori Party then very clearly they're starting off on the wrong foot".^[43]Marae polls released on 12 October showed 62 percent of voters polled in the two northernmost Māori electorates were resistant to the idea of a National–Māori government; co-leader Pita Sharples responded to the poll results by saying his party would be "stupid" to ignore the poll figures.^[44]

See:

• Candidates in the 2008 New Zealand general election by electorate
• Party lists in the 2008 New Zealand general election

The Labour government failed to secure a fourth consecutive term, after the National Party entered into support agreements with the ACT, United Future and Māori parties, resulting in a National minority government.^[45]

The Chief Electoral Officer released the official results on 22 November 2008.^[46]

Summary of the 8 November 2008 election for theHouse of Representatives^[47]

Party		Party vote			Electorate vote			Seats
		Votes	%	Change (pp)	Votes	%	Change (pp)	List	Electorate	Total	+/-
	National	1,053,398	44.93	5.83	1,072,024	46.60	6.22	17	41	58	10
	Labour	796,880	33.99	7.11	810,238	35.22	5.13	22	21	43	7
	Green	157,613	6.72	1.42	129,584	5.63	1.51	9	0	9	3
	ACT	85,496	3.65	2.14	68,852	2.99	1.02	4	1	5	3
	Māori Party	55,980	2.39	0.27	76,836	3.34	0.02	0	5	5	1
	Progressive	21,241	0.91	0.25	25,981	1.13	0.51	0	1	1
	United Future	20,497	0.87	1.80	25,955	1.13	1.71	0	1	1	2
	NZ First	95,356	4.07	1.65	38,813	1.69	1.80	0	0	0	7
	Bill and Ben	13,016	0.56	new	—	—	—	0	0	0	new
	Kiwi	12,755	0.54	new	15,528	0.68	new	0	0	0	new
	Legalise Cannabis	9,515	0.41	0.16	3,884	0.17	0.05		0	0
	Pacific	8,640	0.37	new	9,714	0.42	new	0	0	0	new
	Family Party	8,176	0.35	new	9,214	0.40	new	0	0	0	new
	Alliance	1,909	0.08	0.01	1,885	0.08	0.01	0	0	0
	Democrats	1,208	0.05		1,758	0.08	0.05	0	0	0
	Libertarianz	1,176	0.05	0.01	1,739	0.08	0.05	0	0	0
	Workers Party	932	0.04	new	480	0.02	new	0	0	0	new
	RAM	465	0.02	new	1,213	0.05	new		0	0	new
	RONZ	313	0.01	new	192	0.01	new		0	0	new
	Unregistered parties	—	—	—	1,363	0.06	0.01		0	0
	Independent	—	—	—	5,013	0.53	0.31	0	–	0
Valid votes		2,344,566	98.66	0.11	2,300,266	96.79	0.2
Informal vote		11,970	0.50	0.04	25,332	1.07	0.01
Disallowed votes		19,944	0.84	0.07	50,882	2.14	0.26
Belowelectoral threshold		153,461	6.46		—	—	—
Total		2,376,480	100		2,376,480	100		52	70	122	1
Eligible voters and Turnout		2,990,759	79.46	1.46	2,990,759	79.46	1.46

While the National Party has dominated rural seats since 1938, it achieved a clean sweep this year. The 19 general electorates which Labour retained all have a predominantly urban character, excluding Waimakariri, a predominantly urban area but with a significant rural population, resulting in a Labour MP narrowly elected but National winning the party vote commandingly. Palmerston North remains the only provincial city with a Labour MP. The two seats of Hamilton (consideredbellwether seats as their demographic profile closely resembles that of the country as a whole^[48]) both went to National.

The table below shows the results of the 2008 general election:

Key:

• ^† These people entered Parliament at the election as list MPs

Notes

1. Party list members resigned during the parliamentary term.
2. Originally unsuccessful party list members declared elected to parliament when elected list MPs resigned.

• Elections in New Zealand
• Electoral system of New Zealand
• 2008 in New Zealand

• Vowles, Jack (2009). "The 2008 General Election in New Zealand".Electoral Studies.28 (3):507–510.doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2009.04.001.
  • Lay summary in:Bryce Edwards (10 February 2009)."NZ 2008 election review: Jack Vowles".Liberation.
• Roberts, Nigel S.; Levine, Stephen, eds. (2010).Key to Victory: The New Zealand General Election of 2008. Wellington:Victoria University Press.ISBN 978-0-86473-613-0.

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