Labour was re-elected in the1987 election with its parliamentary majority untouched, but the internal disputes continued. Eventually Lange forced Douglas to resign in December 1988, but continued destabilisation of his leadership by Douglas had weakened Lange's position such that he resigned eight months later. He was replaced as prime minister byGeoffrey Palmer, but Palmer failed to revive Labour's falling popularity. Several months before the election, Palmer was replaced byMike Moore. The National Party was performing strongly – its leader, Jim Bolger, spoke repeatedly of "the Decent Society", saying that the reforms were doing significant damage to the social fabric of the country. The government was also being challenged by theNewLabour Party, founded by renegade MPJim Anderton.
The date for the 1990 election was 27 October. 2,202,157 people were registered to vote, and 85.2% of these people turned out. The number of seats being contested was 97 – this was the same as in the previous election, which had the largest number of seats for any Parliament until that point.
The 1990 election eventually saw a victory for theNational Party, then in opposition. National won nearly half (48%) of the vote and 67 (69%) of the seats, becoming thefourth National government. This was the highest number of seats the party had ever won, either in absolute terms or as a percentage, and by extension the largest majority government in New Zealand history. Four new (and young) National MPs: (Bill English,Tony Ryall,Roger Sowry andNick Smith) were called the "brat pack" by SirRobert Muldoon (himself one of the "Young Turks" of1960).[3]
The newGreen Party gained the third-highest number of votes, but won no seats. TheNewLabour Party won a single seat, due toJim Anderton retaining theSydenham seat he originally won as a Labour candidate.
The governing Labour Party, by contrast, suffered its worst-ever defeat since it first won power in the1935 election, winning only 29 (30%) of the seats and 35% of the vote (its lowest percentage since 1931), and losing 27 seats. Initially it appeared that twelve ministers and the Speaker had lost their seats, butFran Wilde scraped in on special votes. Many of Labour's talented "class of 84" were swept out, though five of them,Annette King,Jim Sutton,Trevor Mallard,Richard Northey andJudy Keall, returned in 1993.[4]
The result was primarily due to intense anger at Labour and its policies (shown by it losing 12% of the vote) rather than love of National (which only increased its vote by 4%).
There was no redistribution of electoral boundaries between the 1987 and 1990 elections.
Seats captured:
By National:Birkenhead,East Cape,Eden,Gisborne,Glenfield,Hamilton East,Hamilton West,Hastings,Hawkes Bay,Heretaunga,Horowhenua,Kapiti,Lyttelton,Manawatu,Miramar,New Plymouth,Onehunga,Otara,Roskill,Tasman,Te Atatu,Titirangi,Tongariro,Waitaki,Wanganui,West Coast andWestern Hutt (27 seats) were captured from Labour. Seventeen of these (Gisborne, Hamilton East, Hamilton West, Hastings, Horowhenua, Lyttelton, Manawatu, Miramar, New Plymouth, Onehunga, Otara, Roskill, Te Atatu, Titirangi, Tongariro, Wanganui & the West Coast) wereone-term gains, recaptured by Labour in 1993.
Seats transferred from departing MPs to new MPs:
The seats ofNorth Shore,Papakura,Tarawera,Waitotara andWallace, all held by departing National MPs, were won by new National candidates.
The seats ofChristchurch Central,Dunedin North,Eastern Hutt,Manurewa,Nelson,Palmerston North andPanmure, all held by departing Labour MPs, were won by new Labour candidates.
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 Maungakiekie Ward councillorGrahame Thorne resigned his seat after he was elected MP forOnehunga, necessitating a by-election to fill the council vacancy. The by-election was won by Ken Graham with two candidates from the general election,Richard Northey (Labour candidate forEden) and Laurie Ross (Green candidate for Onehunga), also contesting.[6]
A by-election to theAuckland Regional Council was caused after Panmure Ward councillorJudith Tizard resigned her seat after she was elected MP forPanmure, necessitating a by-election to fill the council vacancy. The by-election was won byBruce Jesson with a retiring candidate at the general election,Bob Tizard (previously Labour MP for Panmure) also contesting.[7][8]
Aby-election to theWellington City Council was caused after Southern Ward councillorJohn Blincoe resigned his seat after he was elected MP forNelson, necessitating a by-election to fill the council vacancy. The by-election was won by Margaret Bonner with two candidates from the general election, Ann Nolan (National candidate forIsland Bay) and Jeff Montgomery (NewLabour candidate forWellington Central), also contesting.[9][10][11]
McLeay, E. M., ed. (1991).The 1990 General Election, Perspectives on Political Change in New Zealand: Occasional Publications No 3, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington.ISBN0-475-11202-4.
Stringer, John (1990).1990 Parliamentary Candidates for the New Zealand National Party. Wellington: New Zealand National Party.
Vowles, Jack; Aimer, Peter (1993).Voters' Vengeance: The 1990 Election in New Zealand and the fate of the Fourth Labour Government. Auckland: University Press.ISBN1-86940-078-X.
The tables below shows the results of the 1990 general election:
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