New Zealand National Party Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Sylvia Wood |
| Leader | Christopher Luxon |
| Deputy Leader | Nicola Willis |
| Founded | 14 May 1936; 89 years ago (1936-05-14) |
| Preceded by | United–Reform Coalition |
| Headquarters | 41 Pipitea Street,Thorndon,Wellington 6011 |
| Youth wing | Young Nationals |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Regional affiliation | Asia Pacific Democracy Union[2] |
| European affiliation | European Conservatives and Reformists Party (regional partner, until 2022) |
| International affiliation | International Democracy Union |
| Colours | Blue |
| Slogan | Get our country back on track[3] |
| House of Representatives | 49 / 123 |
| Website | |
| national.org.nz | |
TheNew Zealand National Party (Māori:Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa),[4] often shortened toNational (Nāhinara),[5] or theNats,[6] is acentre-right[7][8]political party in New Zealand that is the current senior governing party. It is one of twomajor parties that dominate contemporaryNew Zealand politics, alongside its traditional rival, theLabour Party.
National formed in 1936 through amalgamation ofconservative andliberal parties,Reform andUnited respectively, and subsequently became New Zealand's second-oldest extant political party.[9] National's predecessors had previously formeda coalition against the growinglabour movement. National has governed for six periods during the 20th and 21st centuries, and has spent moretime in government than any other New Zealand party.[10][11]
After the1949 general election,Sidney Holland became the firstprime minister from the National Party, and remained in office until 1957.Keith Holyoake succeeded Holland, and was defeated some months later at a general election by the Labour Party in1957. Holyoake returned to office for a second period from1960 to 1972. The party's platform shifted from moderateeconomic liberalism to increased emphasis onstate interventionism duringRobert Muldoon's National government from1975 to1984. In1990,Jim Bolger formed another National government, which continued the radicalfree-market reforms initiated by the preceding Labour government. The party has since advocatedfree enterprise, reduction of taxes, and limited state regulation. Following the firstMMP election in1996, the National Party governed in a coalition with the populistNew Zealand First Party. National Party leaderJenny Shipley became New Zealand's first female prime minister in 1997; her government was defeated by a Labour-led coalition in1999.
The National Party was in government from2008 to 2017 underJohn Key andBill English; it governed withsupport from the centristUnited Future, the classical-liberalACT Party and the indigenous-rights-basedMāori Party. In the2017 general election, despite leaving government, the party secured 44.4 percent of the vote and won 56 seats, making it the largestcaucus at the time in theHouse of Representatives.[12] It lost this plurality position in the2020 general election, receiving only 25.58 percent of the vote and 33 seats. National was again unable to form a government following the election and remained theOfficial Opposition.
Christopher Luxon has served as theleader of the National Party since 30 November 2021.[13] He led the party to victory in the2023 general election,[14] winning 38 percent of theparty vote and a plurality with 48 seats.[15] Subsequently, since November 2023, Luxon heads aNational-led coalition government with the ACT Party and New Zealand First.
The National Party was formed in May 1936, but its roots go considerably further back. The party came about as the result of a merger between theUnited Party (known as theLiberal Party until 1927, except for a short period between 1925 and 1927 when it used the name "National Party") and theReform Party.[9] The United Party gained its main support from the cities, and drew uponbusinesses for money and uponmiddle class electors for votes,[16] while the Reform Party had arural base and received substantial support fromfarmers,[17] who then formed a substantial proportion of the population.
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Like other political parties, the National Party is constituted by two separate entities. An unincorporated association of members operating outside of parliament under a written constitution, called The New Zealand National Party, and a second unincorporated association of elected members of parliament, called the Parliamentary National Party.[18]
Historically, the Liberal and Reform parties had competed against each other; however, between 1931 and 1935, theUnited–Reform Coalition held power in New Zealand.[19] The coalition went into the1935 election under the title of the "National Political Federation", a name adopted to indicate that the grouping intended to represent New Zealanders from all backgrounds (in contrast to the previous situation, where United served city-dwellers and Reform served farmers). However, because of the effects of theGreat Depression and a perception that the existing coalition government had handled the situation poorly, the National Political Federation lost heavily in 1935 to theLabour Party, the rise of which had prompted the alliance. The two parties were cut down to 19 seats between them.
Another factor was athird party, theDemocrat Party formed byAlbert Davy, a former organiser for the coalition who disapproved of the perceived "socialist" measures that the coalition had introduced. The new party split the conservative vote, and aided Labour's victory.[20]
In hopes of countering Labour's rise, United and Reform decided to turn their alliance into a single party.[21] This party, the New Zealand National Party, was formed at a meeting held inWellington on 13 and 14 May 1936. Erstwhile members of the United and Reform parties made up the bulk of the new party.[21] The United Party's last leader,George Forbes, Prime Minister from 1930 until 1935, opened the conference; he served as Leader of the Opposition from May until November, when former Reform MPAdam Hamilton, who had been a minister in the coalition government was elected the merged party's first leader. He got the top job primarily because of a compromise between Forbes and Reform leaderGordon Coates, neither of whom wished to serve under the other. Hamilton led the party into its first election in 1938. He was unable to counter Labour's popularPrime Minister,Michael Joseph Savage effectively. Because of this, perceptions that he remained too much under the control of Coates and his lack of real support from his party colleagues, Hamilton failed to prevent Labour's re-election in1938.In 1940, former Reform MPSidney Holland replaced Hamilton.William Polson "acted effectively as Holland's deputy".[22] One former Reform MPBert Kyle resigned in 1942 in protest at the "autocratic" behaviour of Holland and the new party organisation.[23]
In the1943 election, National reduced Labour's majority from 12 seats to four. In the1946 election, National made further gains, but Labour was able to cling to a one-seat majority. However, in the1949 election, thirteen years after the party's foundation, National won power after taking eight seats off Labour, and Holland became prime minister.
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Sidney Holland was finance minister as well as prime minister in the new government. In 1949 National had campaigned on "the private ownership of production, distribution and exchange". Once in power the new Holland Government proved decidedly administratively conservative, retaining, for instance, compulsory unionism and thewelfare state set up by the previous Labour government.[24]
In 1951, theWaterfront Dispute broke out, lasting 151 days. The National government stepped into the conflict, acting in opposition to the maritimeunions. Holland also used this opportunity to call the 1951snap election. Campaigning on ananti-communist platform and exploiting the Labour Opposition's apparent indecisiveness, National returned with an increased majority, gaining 54 parliamentary seats out of 80.[25]
In the1954 election, National was elected to a third term, though losing some of its seats. Towards the end of his third term, however, Holland became increasingly ill, and stepped down from the leadership shortly before the general election in 1957.Keith Holyoake, the party's long-standing deputy leader, took Holland's place. Holyoake, however, had insufficient time to establish himself in the public mind as prime minister, and lost in theelection later that year to Labour, then led byWalter Nash.[26]
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Nash's government became very unpopular as Labour acquired a reputation for poor economic management, and much of the public saw its1958 Budget, known since as the "Black Budget", as miserly.[27] After only one term in office, Labour suffered defeat at the hands of Holyoake and the National Party in theelections of 1960.
Holyoake's government lasted twelve years, the party winning re-election three times (in1963,1966, and1969). However, during this periodSocial Credit arose, which broke the National/Labour duopoly in parliament, winning former National seats from 1966. Holyoake retired from the premiership and from the party leadership at the beginning of 1972, and his deputy,Jack Marshall, replaced him.[23]
Marshall suffered the same fate as Holyoake. Having succeeded an experienced leader in an election-year, he failed to establish himself in time. Marshall had an added disadvantage; he had to compete against the much more popular and charismatic Labour leaderNorman Kirk, and lost the ensuingelection. Unpopular policies, including initiating clear felling of parts of the Warawara kauri forest, also needlessly alienated voters.[23]
Within two years, the National Party removed Marshall as its parliamentary leader and replaced him withRobert Muldoon, who had previously served asMinister of Finance. An intense contest between Kirk and Muldoon followed. Kirk became ill and died in office (1974); his successor,Bill Rowling, proved no match for Muldoon, and in the1975 election, National under Muldoon returned comfortably to power.
The Muldoon administration, which favouredinterventionist economic policies, arouses mixed opinions amongst thefree-market adherents of the modern National.Bill Birch's "Think Big" initiatives, designed to invest public money in energy self-sufficiency, stand in contrast to the party's contemporary[update] views.[28] Muldoon's autocratic leadership style became increasingly unpopular with both the public and the party, and together with disgruntlement over economic policy led to an attempted leadership change in 1980. Led by ministersDerek Quigley,Jim McLay, andJim Bolger, the challenge (dubbed the "colonels' coup") against Muldoon aimed to replace him withBrian Talboys, his deputy. However, the plan collapsed as the result of Talboys' unwillingness, and Muldoon kept his position.[29]
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Under Muldoon, National won three consecutive general elections in 1975,1978 and1981. However, public dissatisfaction grew, and Muldoon's controlling and belligerent style ofleadership became less and less appealing. In both the 1978 and 1981 elections, National gained fewer votes than the Labour opposition, but could command a small majority in Parliament because of the then-usedFirst Past the Post electoral system.
Dissent within the National Party continued to grow, however, with rebel National MPsMarilyn Waring andMike Minogue causing particular concern to the leadership, threatening National's thin majority in parliament. When, in 1984, Marilyn Waring refused to support Muldoon's policies on visits by nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed ships, Muldoon called a snapelection. Muldoon made the television announcement of this election while visiblyinebriated, and some believe[23] that he later regretted the decision to "go to the country". National lost the election to Labour underDavid Lange.
Shortly after this loss, the National Party removed Muldoon from the leadership.Jim McLay, who had replacedDuncan MacIntyre as deputy leader shortly before the election, became the new leader.[30] McLay, an urban liberal with right-wing views on economics, however, failed to restore the party's fortunes. In 1986Jim Bolger took over the leadership with the support of centrists within the party.[31]
In the1990 election, National defeated Labour in an electoral landslide and formed a new government underJim Bolger. However, the party lost some support from Muldoon era policy based conservatives when it continued the economic reforms which had ultimately led to the defeat of the previous Labour government—these policies, started by Labour Party Finance MinisterRoger Douglas and popularly known asRogernomics, centred on theprivatisation of state assets and on the removal oftariffs andsubsidies. These policies alienated traditional Labour supporters, who saw them as a betrayal of the party's social service based character, but did not appear to appease the membership base of the non-parliamentary party either, which still had a significant supporter base for thestatist intervention style policies of the Muldoon Government.[citation needed]
Many more conservative and centrist National supporters preferred Muldoon's more authoritarian and interventionist policies over the free-market liberalism promoted by Douglas. However, the new National Party Finance Minister,Ruth Richardson, strongly supported Rogernomics, believing that Douglas had not gone far enough. Her policies—dubbed "Ruthanasia"— encouraged two MPs to leave the National Party and form theLiberal Party. Richardson's views also met with considerable opposition within the National Party Parliamentary Caucus and for a time caused damage to the party's membership base.[32]
At the1993 election, National was narrowly able to retain government owing partly to a slight economic recovery and the opposition being split between three competing parties. National's unprecedented eighteen-seat majority had virtually disappeared and the country faced an election nighthung parliament for the first time since1931, with National one seat short of the required 50 seats to govern. Finalspecial votes counted over the following days revealed National had wonWaitaki, allowing it to form a government with the majority of one seat but required the election of a Speaker from the opposition benches (Peter Tapsell of the Labour Party) to hold a working majority in the House. At the same time as the election, however, a referendum took place which established theMMP electoral system for future use in New Zealand general elections as widespread dissatisfaction with the existing political system led to reform. This would have a significant impact on New Zealand politics. Some National Party MPs defected to a new grouping,United New Zealand in mid-1995 whilst other splinter parties emerged. And, as a result of the new electoral mechanics, theNew Zealand First party, led by former National MP and former Cabinet ministerWinston Peters, held the balance of power after the1996 election. After a prolonged period of negotiation lasting nearly two months, in which New Zealand First played National and Labour off against each other (both parties negotiated complete coalition agreements), New Zealand First entered into a coalition with National despite the fact many expected Peters to form such a coalition with Labour.
Under the coalition agreement, Peters becameDeputy Prime Minister and had the post ofTreasurer especially created by the Crown for him. New Zealand First extracted a number of other concessions from National in exchange for its support. The influence of New Zealand First angered many National MPs, particularlyJenny Shipley.[32]
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When, in 1997, Shipley toppledBolger to become National's new leader, relations between National and its coalition partner quickly deteriorated. After Shipley sacked Peters fromCabinet in 1998, New Zealand First split into two groups and half the MPs followed Peters out of the coalition but the remainder broke away, establishing themselves as independents or as members of new parties of which none survived the 1999 election. From the latter group National gained enough support to continue in government with additional confidence support ofAlamein Kopu a defect Alliance List MP.[32] The visibly damaged National Government managed to survive the parliamentary term, but lost theelection to Labour'sHelen Clark and theAlliance'sJim Anderton, who formed a coalition government leaving National in opposition for nine years.
Shipley continued to lead the National Party until 2001, whenBill English replaced her. English, however, proved unable to gain traction against Clark, and National suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat in the2002 election, gaining only 27 of 120 seats.[33] Many hoped that English would succeed in rebuilding the party, given time, but a year later polling showed the party performing only slightly better than in the election. In October 2003 English gave way as leader toDon Brash, a former governor of theReserve Bank who had joined the National Parliamentary caucus in the 2002 election.
Under Brash, the National Party's overall popularity with voters improved markedly. Mostly, however, the party achieved this by "reclaiming" support from electors who voted for other centre-right parties in 2002. National's campaigning on race relations, amid claims of preferential treatment ofMāori, and amid their opposition to Labour Party policy during theforeshore-and-seabed controversy, generated considerable publicity and much controversy.[34] Strong campaigning on a tax-cuts theme in the lead-up to the2005 election, together with a consolidation of centre-right support, may have contributed to the National Party's winning 48 out of 121 seats in Parliament. National, however, remained the second-largest party in Parliament (marginally behind Labour, which gained 50 seats), and had fewer options for forming a coalition government. With the formation of a new Labour-dominated Government, National remained the major Opposition party. Before the leadership of John Key, the National Party had made renewed efforts to attract social conservative voters,[citation needed] through adoption ofanti-abortion and anti-same-sex marriage policies.
In the 2005 general election run up, it was revealed that theExclusive Brethren, a conservative Christian group, had distributed attack pamphlets critical of the Labour Party and praising of National to letterboxes throughout New Zealand.[35] Labour insisted that National had close ties to and prior knowledge of these attacks, which was repeatedly denied by National. It was later admitted by the leader Don Brash that he indeed did have knowledge of the plan, a statement that was contradicted by MP Gerry Brownlee who subsequently denied the National party had any foreknowledge.[36]
After the 2005 election defeat Don Brash's leadership of National came under scrutiny from the media, and political watchers speculated on the prospect of a leadership-challenge before the nextgeneral election due in 2008. Brash resigned on 23 November 2006, immediately before the release ofNicky Hager's bookThe Hollow Men, which contained damaging revelations obtained from private emails.John Key became the leader of the National caucus on 27 November 2006. Key fostered a more "centrist" image, discussing issues such aschild poverty.[citation needed]
On 8 November 2008, the National Party won 58 seats in thegeneral election. The Labour Party, which had spent three terms in power, conceded the election and Prime MinisterHelen Clark stepped down. National formed a minority government underJohn Key withconfidence-and-supply support from theACT Party (5 seats), theMāori Party (5 seats) andUnited Future (1 seat). On 19 November the Governor-General swore in the new National-led government.[37] In Key's first Cabinet he gave the ACT Party'sRodney Hide andHeather Roy ministerial portfolios outside Cabinet, and the Māori Party'sTāriana Turia andPita Sharples the same. United Future leaderPeter Dunne retained his ministerial post outside Cabinet which he had held within the immediately precedingLabour Government.
National came to power during the2008 financial crisis. In response to New Zealand's rising debt, Finance MinisterBill English made budget deficit-reduction his main priority for the first term. The government alsocut taxes on all income; the top personal tax rate was lowered from 39% to 38% and then 33% in 2010.[38]
At the26 November 2011 general election, National gained 47.31% of the party vote, the highest percentage gained by any political party since MMP was introduced, helped by a lower voter turnout and the misfortunes of its traditional support parties.[32] A reduced wasted vote enabled the party to gain 59 seats in Parliament, one more than in 2008. National re-entered confidence-and-supply agreements with ACT (one seat) and United Future (one seat) on 5 December 2011, enabling it to form a minority government with the support of 61 seats in the new 121-seat Parliament. National also re-entered a confidence-and-supply agreement with the Māori Party on 11 December 2011 for extra insurance, despite the parties differing on National's contentious plans to partially sell (or "extend the mixed ownership model to") four state-owned enterprises. This nearly led to a cancellation of the agreement in February 2012 overTreaty of Waitangi obligations for the mixed ownership companies, and again in July 2012 over water rights.[citation needed]
The government also introduced the "mixed ownership model" plan, in which the Government planned to reduce its share inGenesis Energy,Meridian Energy,Mighty River Power andSolid Energy from 100% to 51% andAir New Zealand from 74% to 51%, andsell off the remainder. The plans to sell down Solid Energy were later axed due to the company's poor financial position.A citizens-initiated referendum on the sell-downs returned a 67.3% vote in opposition (on a turnout of 45.1%).[39]
The National Government won a third term at the2014 general election. The National Party won 47.04% of the party vote, and increased its seats to 60. National resumed its confidence and supply agreements with ACT and United Future.[32] The National government extended freegeneral practitioner visits to children under 13 as part of their 2014 election package, as well as extending paid parental leave by two weeks to 16 weeks.[6] The National parliamentary caucus was split on the issue ofsame-sex marriage in 2014.[40]
Throughout his second and third terms, Key campaigned heavily in favour of free-trade agreements such as theTrans-Pacific Partnership.[41]
After serving prime minister for eight years, Key announced his resignation as the party leader on 5 December 2016. He stepped down as prime minister on 12 December.[42] Key's deputyBill English was acclaimed as the party's new leader on 12 December 2016 after Health MinisterJonathan Coleman and Minister of PoliceJudith Collins withdrew from theleadership election.[43][44]
In the2017 general election, National's share of the party vote dropped to 44.4%. It lost four seats, dropping to 56, but remained the largest party in Parliament. Two of the National government's three support parties lost representation in parliament.[12]New Zealand First, led byWinston Peters, held the balance of power, and formed a coalition with Labour, who also gainedGreen Party support, marking an end to the 9-year National government. English announced his intention to stay on as party leader until the2020 general election[32] but subsequently resigned.[45] On 27 February 2018, English was succeeded bySimon Bridges.[46]
Following theChristchurch Mosque shootings, the party removed content from their website which indicated opposition to the UNMigration Compact; a position also espoused by the terrorist in his manifesto.[47][48] On 2 July 2020, however, the party's new leader Todd Muller confirmed in response to a question from a journalist that the party was still opposed to the pact, although it was not an issue he was focused on.[49]
On 22 May 2020, following poorpoll results for the party during theCOVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand,[50] the National Party held an emergency caucus meeting and voted to oust both leader Simon Bridges and deputy leaderPaula Bennett, replacing them withTodd Muller andNikki Kaye, respectively.[51] Less than two months later, Muller resigned citing that his position had "become untenable from a health perspective".[52] This came after a series of gaffes and scandals surrounding Muller and the National caucus during his tenure, triggering thesecond leadership election in as many months. He was succeeded byJudith Collins.[53] Kaye, who served as interim leader during the hours between Muller's resignation and Collins's election, was succeeded byGerry Brownlee. Collins led the party through the2020 election, but was unable to recoup polling losses seen by the party throughout 2020 in time for the election, leading to the party losing 23 seats and suffering the second worst defeat in its history. Brownlee, who was the party campaign manager, lost hiselectorate seat, returning as an MP via the party list and resigning as deputy leader two weeks later; he was replaced byShane Reti.[54]
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On 1 February 2021, Collins announced that the National Party would contest theMāori electorates at the2023 New Zealand general election.[55] Her successorChristopher Luxon confirmed they would still be contesting the seats under his leadership.[56]
On 24 November 2021, Collins announced that Bridges was being demoted and stripped of his portfolios, in what was seen by many inside and outside the caucus (including National MP and Bridges' brother in-lawSimon O'Connor) as an act of political revenge.[57][58] O'Connor later announced that he was resigning his portfolios in protest, and demanded Collins' own resignation. Collins was removed as leader in an emergency caucus meeting the following morning, with Reti becoming interim leader.[59][60] Christopher Luxon waselected unopposed, withNicola Willis as his deputy, after Simon Bridges withdrew his candidacy.[61]
During the2023 general election held on 14 October, National under the leadership of Christopher Luxon defeated the incumbent Labour Party.[14] National won 38.08% of the popular vote and gained 48 seats.[62] National's traditional coalition partner ACT won 11 seats, leaving a prospective National–ACT coalition just short of a majority with 59 seats.[63] National formed a majority government with ACT and New Zealand First, the first three-party coalition under MMP.[64]
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The New Zealand National Party has been characterised as a "broad church",[65] encompassing bothconservative andliberal tendencies, and outlyingpopulist andlibertarian tendencies. All factions tend to be in tension, although the conservative tendency frequently prevails.[1][66] The broad liberal tendency is expressed by bothsocial liberals and theclassical liberals,[66] with the latter supportingeconomic liberalism.[67] The early National Party was united in itsanti-socialism, in opposition to theLabour Party.[21]
The party's principles include "loyalty to our country, its democratic principles and ourSovereign as Head of State; recognition of theTreaty of Waitangi as the founding document of New Zealand; national and personal security; equal citizenship and equal opportunity; individual freedom and choice; personal responsibility; competitive enterprise and rewards for achievement;limited government; strong families and caring communities; sustainable development of our environment."[68] National supports a limitedwelfare state but says that work, merit, innovation and personal initiative must be encouraged to reduce unemployment and boosteconomic growth. In a 1959 speech, party leader and Prime MinisterKeith Holyoake encapsulated the conservative and liberal principles of the National Party:
We believe in the maximum degree of personal freedom and the maximum degree of individual choice for our people. We believe in the least interference necessary with individual rights, and the least possible degree of state interference.[69]
Historically, National supported a higher degree of state intervention than it has in recent decades.[70][28] TheFirst,Second andThird National governments (1950s–1980s) generally sought to preserve the economic and social stability of New Zealand, mainly keeping intact the high degree ofprotectionism and the strong welfare state built up by theFirst Labour Government.[70] The last major interventionist policy was Prime MinisterRobert Muldoon's massive infrastructure projects designed to ensure New Zealand's energy independence after the 1973 oil shock,Think Big.[71][72] In contrast, theFourth National Government (1990–1999) mostly carried on the sweepingfree-market reforms of theFourth Labour Government known asRogernomics (after Labour's finance ministerSir Roger Douglas). The corporatisation and sale of numerousstate-owned enterprises, the abolition ofcollective bargaining and major government spending cuts were introduced under the Fourth National Government, policies that were popularly known asRuthanasia (National's finance minister at the time wasRuth Richardson).[73] TheFifth National Government (2008–2017) took a relativelycentrist position.[74]
The Sixth Government from 2023 has taken a more right-wing position, including cutting state welfare and ending what it calls 'welfare dependency'.[75] Other positions include eliminating all references to gender, sexuality and "relationship-based education guidelines" in educational curriculums,[76] repealing the previous government's ban on offshore gas and oil exploration,[77][78] restricting the number of doctors who can issue medical certificates for health and disability limits,[79] and reducing state spending. The party would also scrap the previous Labour Government'sFair Pay Agreements Act 2022, no-cause eviction ban, public transport discounts, hate speech legislation,co-governance policies, Auckland light rail,Three Waters reform programme, andMāori Health Authority.[80]
The party has mixed views onabortion, with some MPs being against while others for.[81] In aconscience vote, National Party MPs voted largely against theAbortion Legislation Act 2020.[82]
The National Party's corebase has traditionally comprisedEuropean New Zealanders (Pākehā), social conservatives and rural voters,[83] although it targets other groups too. National has retained a reputation for showing more favour to farmers and to business than Labour; the party provides for its support through incentives for farmers.[84]
In the 1930s National first emulated and then outstripped Labour in building a large low-fee membership, with widegrassroots support. By the mid-1970s it claimed to have around 200,000 members. Since 1981 National (as well as the Labour Party) has suffered a steady decline in membership. By the early 2000s party membership was below 30,000.[85]
National features both regional andelectorate-level organisational structures. National traditionally had a strongly decentralised organisation, designed to allow electorates and the five regions to appeal to the unique voter base in their area. However, in light of the2002 election result, in which the party suffered a significant loss of its support base, a review of the party organisation resulted in decisions to weaken the regional structure and to implement a more centralised structure. The restructuring was ostensibly planned to make the party organisation more "appropriate" for themixed-member proportional electoral system, where votes are cast for a countrywide party list.[86]
Currently, the affairs of the party are centrally governed by a Board of Directors, comprising the party leader, one caucus representative, the party's general manager and seven elected members. The board elects a party president from within its members. An Annual Conference determines partypolicy, and elects members to the Board of Directors. The party is subdivided into Electorate Committees; each committee sends six delegates to Annual Conference, including a chair and anyMPs from within the electorate.[87]
Theleader of the National Party (currently[update]Christopher Luxon), elected by the party'scurrent sitting MPs, acts as a spokesperson for National and is responsible for managing the party's business within parliament. The president (currently[update]Sylvia Wood, elected to the role in August 2022)[88] heads the administration outside of parliament.[87]
Within National there are a number of organised groups of members, called Special Interest Groups, that share a particular belief, interest or cause. Other groups are also involved in the party's policy reviews.[89] For instance, the Bluegreens are a group within National who help formulateenvironmental policy.[90] The party's youth wing, theYoung Nationals (commonly known as theYoung Nats), has provided much political impetus as aginger group.[86] Often the more social-liberal views of the Young Nats have been at odds with those in the senior party.[91]
National is affiliated to—and plays a leading part in—theInternational Democracy Union (IDU) and theAsia Pacific Democrat Union (APDU).[2] Former National Prime Minister John Key was the chairman of the IDU from 2014 to 2018.[92]
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938[93] | Adam Hamilton | 381,081 | 40.30% | 25 / 80 |  25 | 2nd | Opposition |
| 1943[93] | Sidney Holland | 402,887 | 42.78% | 34 / 80 | 9 |  2nd | Opposition |
| 1946[93] | 507,139 | 48.43% | 38 / 80 | 4 | 2nd | Opposition | |
| 1949[93] | 556,805 | 51.88% | 46 / 80 | 8 | 1st | Majority | |
| 1951[93] | 577,630 | 53.99% | 50 / 80 | 4 | 1st | Majority | |
| 1954[93] | 485,630 | 44.27% | 45 / 80 |  5 | 1st | Majority | |
| 1957[93] | Keith Holyoake | 511,699 | 44.21% | 39 / 80 | 6 | 2nd | Opposition |
| 1960[93] | 557,046 | 47.59% | 46 / 80 | 7 | 1st | Majority | |
| 1963[93] | 563,875 | 47.12% | 45 / 80 | 1 | 1st | Majority | |
| 1966[93] | 525,945 | 43.64% | 44 / 80 | 1 | 1st | Majority | |
| 1969[93] | 605,960 | 45.22% | 45 / 84 | 1 | 1st | Majority | |
| 1972[93] | Jack Marshall | 581,422 | 41.50% | 32 / 87 | 13 | 2nd | Opposition |
| 1975[93] | Robert Muldoon | 763,136 | 47.59% | 55 / 87 | 23 | 1st | Majority |
| 1978[93] | 680,991 | 39.82% | 51 / 92 | 4 | 1st | Majority | |
| 1981[93] | 698,508 | 38.77% | 47 / 92 | 4 | 1st | Majority | |
| 1984[93] | 692,494 | 35.89% | 37 / 95 | 10 | 2nd | Opposition | |
| 1987[93] | Jim Bolger | 806,305 | 44.02% | 40 / 97 | 3 | 2nd | Opposition |
| 1990[93] | 872,358 | 47.82% | 67 / 97 | 27 | 1st | Majority | |
| 1993[93] | 673,892 | 35.05% | 50 / 99 | 17 | 1st | Majority | |
| 1996[94] | 701,315 | 33.87% | 44 / 120 | 6 | 1st | Coalition(1996–1998) | |
| Minority(1998–1999) | |||||||
| 1999[95] | Jenny Shipley | 629,932 | 30.50% | 39 / 120 | 5 | 2nd | Opposition |
| 2002[33] | Bill English | 425,310 | 20.93% | 27 / 120 | 12 | 2nd | Opposition |
| 2005[96] | Don Brash | 889,813 | 39.10% | 48 / 121 | 21 | 2nd | Opposition |
| 2008[97] | John Key | 1,053,398 | 44.93% | 58 / 122 | 10 | 1st | Minority |
| 2011[98] | 1,058,638 | 47.31% | 59 / 121 | 1 | 1st | Minority | |
| 2014[99] | 1,131,501 | 47.04% | 60 / 121 | 1 | 1st | Minority | |
| 2017[100] | Bill English | 1,152,075 | 44.45% | 56 / 120 | 4 | 1st | Opposition |
| 2020[101] | Judith Collins | 738,275 | 25.58% | 33 / 120 | 23 | 2nd | Opposition |
| 2023 | Christopher Luxon | 1,085,016 | 38.06% | 48 / 123 | 15 | 1st | Coalition |
| Source:Electoral Commission | |||||||
Key:
National Labour
PM:Prime Minister
LO:Leader of the Opposition
| No. | Name | Portrait | Term of Office | Position | Prime Minister | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adam Hamilton | | 2 November 1936 | 26 November 1940 | LO1936–1940 | Savage | |
| Fraser | |||||||
| 2 | Sidney Holland | | 26 November 1940 | 20 September 1957 | LO1940–1949 | ||
| PM1949–1957 | Holland | ||||||
| 3 | Keith Holyoake | | 20 September 1957 | 7 February 1972 | PM1957 | Holyoake | |
| LO1957–1960 | Nash | ||||||
| PM1960–1972 | Holyoake | ||||||
| 4 | Jack Marshall |  | 7 February 1972 | 4 July 1974 | PM1972 | Marshall | |
| LO1972–1974 | Kirk | ||||||
| 5 | Robert Muldoon |  | 4 July 1974 | 29 November 1984 | LO1974–1975 | ||
| Rowling | |||||||
| PM1975–1984 | Muldoon | ||||||
| LO1984 | Lange | ||||||
| 6 | Jim McLay | .jpg) | 29 November 1984 | 26 March 1986 | LO1984–1986 | ||
| 7 | Jim Bolger | .jpg) | 26 March 1986 | 8 December 1997 | LO1986–1990 | ||
| Palmer | |||||||
| Moore | |||||||
| PM1990–1997 | Bolger | ||||||
| 8 | Jenny Shipley | .jpg) | 8 December 1997 | 8 October 2001 | PM1997–1999 | Shipley | |
| LO1999–2001 | Clark | ||||||
| 9 | Bill English | .jpg) | 8 October 2001 | 28 October 2003 | LO2001–2003 | ||
| 10 | Don Brash |  | 28 October 2003 | 27 November 2006 | LO2003–2006 | ||
| 11 | John Key | .jpg) | 27 November 2006 | 12 December 2016 | LO2006–2008 | ||
| PM2008–2016 | Key | ||||||
| (9) | Bill English | | 12 December 2016 | 27 February 2018 | PM2016–2017 | English | |
| LO2017–2018 | Ardern | ||||||
| 12 | Simon Bridges | .jpg) | 27 February 2018 | 22 May 2020 | LO2018–2020 | ||
| 13 | Todd Muller |  | 22 May 2020 | 14 July 2020 | LO2020 | ||
| 14 | Judith Collins |  | 14 July 2020 | 25 November 2021 | LO2020–2021 | ||
| 15 | Christopher Luxon | _(cropped).jpg) | 30 November 2021 | Incumbent | LO2021–2023 | ||
| Hipkins | |||||||
| PM2023–present | Luxon | ||||||
As of November 2021[update], there are eight living former party leaders, as seen below.
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| No. | Name | Term |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Forbes | 1937–1941 |
| 2 | William Polson | 1940–1946 |
| 3 | Keith Holyoake | 1946–1957 |
| 4 | Jack Marshall | 1957–1972 |
| 5 | Robert Muldoon | 1972–1974 |
| 6 | Brian Talboys | 1974–1981 |
| 7 | Duncan MacIntyre | 1981–1984 |
| 8 | Jim McLay | 1984 |
| 9 | Jim Bolger | 1984–1986 |
| 10 | George Gair | 1986–1987 |
| 11 | Don McKinnon | 1987–1997 |
| 12 | Wyatt Creech | 1997–2001 |
| 13 | Bill English | 2001 |
| 14 | Roger Sowry | 2001–2003 |
| 15 | Nick Smith | 2003 |
| 16 | Gerry Brownlee | 2003–2006 |
| (12) | Bill English | 2006–2016 |
| 17 | Paula Bennett | 2016–2020 |
| 18 | Nikki Kaye | 2020 |
| (15) | Gerry Brownlee | 2020 |
| 19 | Shane Reti | 2020–2021 |
| 20 | Nicola Willis | 2021–present |
| No. | Name | Term |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Wilson | 1936 |
| 2 | Claude Weston | 1936–1940 |
| 3 | Alex Gordon | 1940–1944 |
| 4 | Wilfrid Sim | 1944–1951 |
| 5 | Alex McKenzie | 1951–1962 |
| 6 | Jack Meadowcroft | 1962–1966 |
| 7 | Ned Holt | 1966–1973 |
| 8 | George Chapman | 1973–1982 |
| 9 | Sue Wood | 1982–1986 |
| 10 | Neville Young | 1986–1989 |
| 11 | John Collinge | 1989–1994 |
| 12 | Lindsay Tisch | 1994 |
| 13 | Geoff Thompson | 1994–1998 |
| 14 | John Slater | 1998–2001 |
| 15 | Michelle Boag | 2001–2002 |
| 16 | Judy Kirk | 2002–2009 |
| 17 | Peter Goodfellow | 2009–2022 |
| 18 | Sylvia Wood | 2022–present |
Short biographies of all presidents up to Sue Wood appear in Barry Gustafson'sThe First Fifty Years.
Usually the conservative and liberal tendencies have been central
In 2015, New Zealand held a referendum on changing the national flag, an issue that quickly became polarised along party lines. John Key, the New Zealand Prime Minister and leader of the centre-right National Party at the time, advocated for changing the flag design, while, Andrew Little, the leader of the centre-left Labour Party at the time, opposed the change.
...in New Zealand politics, by the centre-left Labour Party and the centre-right National Party
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Early contenders to replace him are his current deputy Nikki Kaye – who is now the acting leader – and the prospect of Judith Collins also lurks in the background.
[T]he National Party is both conservative and liberal, its liberalism containing both elements of classical and new liberalism, the implications of the latter also overlapping with elements of conservatism. Within the National Party, it is the liberals rather than the conservatives who are most self-conscious and vocal, although the conservatives most frequently seem to prevail.
The conservative National Party that formed the government in New Zealand after 1990, went even further than its Labour predecessor in implementing neo-liberal economic and social policies.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
