1996 New Zealand general election

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All 120 seats in the House of Representatives 61 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	2,135,175 (88.28%) 5.46%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jim Bolger Helen Clark Winston Peters Party National Labour NZ First Leader since 26 March 1986 1 December 1993 18 July 1993 Leader's seat Taranaki-King Country Owairaka Tauranga Last election 50 seats, 35.05% 45 seats, 34.68% 2 seats, 8.40% Seats before 41 41 5 Seats won 44 37 17 Seat change 3‡ 4‡ 12‡ Electorate vote 699,073 33.91% 1.14 640,884 31.08% 3.60 278,103 13.49% 5.09 Party vote 701,315 33.87% 584,159 28.19% 276,603 13.35%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jim Anderton Richard Prebble Clive Matthewson Party Alliance ACT United NZ Leader since 7 May 1995 24 March 1996 28 June 1995 Leader's seat Wigram Wellington Central Ran in Dunedin South (lost) Last election 2 seats, 18.21% Not yet founded Not yet founded Seats before 2 0 7 Seats won 13 8 1 Seat change 11‡ 8 6 Electorate vote 231,944 11.25% 6.96 77,319 3.75% new 42,666 2.07% new Party vote 209,347 10.10% 126,442 6.10% 18,245 0.88%
Results of the election ‡ Figures are notional as the overall number of seats increased and the electorate boundaries were redrawn under the new electoral system.
Prime Minister before election Jim Bolger National Subsequent Prime Minister Jim Bolger National

The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse than previous elections. Under the new MMP system, 65 members were elected in single-member districts by first-past-the-post voting, while a further 55 "top-up" members were allocated from closed lists to achieve a proportional distribution based on each party's share of the nationwide party vote.

1996 saw the National Party, led by Jim Bolger, retain its position in government, but only after protracted negotiations with the smaller New Zealand First party to form a coalition. New Zealand First won 17 seats—including sweeping every single Māori electorate, all of which had been dominated by the Labour Party since the Second World War. Particular emphasis was placed on New Zealand First's unprecedented success, particularly among Māori; their five Māori electorate winners became known as the "Tight Five". The party's position as "kingmaker" meant they were able to place either of the two major parties into government, a significant election outcome for such a new party.

Various other unusual results occurred under the new system. For one, the National Party sought to ensure the parliamentary representation of the ACT New Zealand, a newly-formed libertarian party which had largely split from the Labour Party after the end of Rogernomics. National endorsed ACT leader and former Labour minister Richard Prebble against their own for Wellington Central, a consistently safe Labour seat. Under New Zealand's MMP rules, a party qualified for list seats if it won at least one electorate seat, regardless of vote share. Bolger thus wanted to ensure ACT could potentially be part of a National-led coalition. Prebble unexpectedly won, though ACT's vote share would have qualified them for MMP in any event. Other unusual occurrences was the large amount of new Māori MPs – leading to the backronym "More Māori in Parliament" for MMP.^[1] With the introduction of MMP in 1996, the proportion of Māori in Parliament increased from 8% to 14%, to an all-time record of 17 MPs.^[2]

Background

Changes mid-term

In the 1993 election, the National Party and the Labour Party had won 50 and 45 seats, respectively. The Alliance and the New Zealand First party had each won two seats. In the approach to MMP, however, there had been considerable rearrangement in parliament, with three new parties being established. As such, the situation just before the 1996 election was markedly different from the situation that had been established at the 1993 election.

Electoral redistribution

The 1996 election was notable for the significant change of electorate boundaries, based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 1993.^[3] Because of the introduction of the MMP electoral system, the number of electorates had to be reduced, leading to significant changes. Under MMP, there would be only 65 district members, down by 34 from the number elected in the 1993 election.

Many electorates were abolished, with their territories being incorporated into completely new electoral districts. More than half of the electorates contested in 1996 were newly constituted, and most of the remainder had seen significant boundary changes. Wanganui was renamed as Whanganui. In total, 73 electorates were abolished, 29 electorates were newly created, and 10 electorates were recreated, giving a net loss of 34 electorates.

South Island

Since the 1967 electoral redistribution, the South Island had its number of general electorates fixed at 25.^[4] For the 1996 election and onwards, the number of South Island electorates is fixed at 16. The number of electors on the general roll of the South Island divided by 16 gives the target size for North Island and Māori electorates; this is referred to as the South Island quota.^[5]

The electorates of Avon, Awarua, Christchurch North, Clutha, Dunedin West, Fendalton, Lyttelton, Marlborough, Rangiora, Selwyn, St Albans, St Kilda, Sydenham, Tasman, Timaru, Waitaki, Wallace, West Coast, and Yaldhurst were abolished in the South Island. Six existing electorates (Christchurch Central, Dunedin North, Invercargill, Nelson, Otago, and Rakaia) were kept. Seven electorates (Aoraki, Banks Peninsula, Clutha-Southland, Ilam, Kaikoura, Waimakariri, and West Coast-Tasman) were newly formed. Three electorates (Christchurch East, Dunedin South, and Wigram) were recreated.

North Island

Based on the calculation described above, the target size for North Island electorates resulted in 44 of them being required.

The electorates of Birkenhead, East Coast Bays, Eastern Bay of Plenty, Eastern Hutt, Eden, Far North, Franklin, Gisborne, Glenfield, Hastings, Hauraki, Hawkes Bay, Henderson, Heretaunga, Hobson, Horowhenua, Howick, Island Bay, Kaimai, Kaipara, Kapiti, King Country, Manawatu, Matakana, Matamata, Miramar, Mt Albert, Onehunga, Onslow, Otara, Pahiatua, Panmure, Papakura, Papatoetoe, Pencarrow, Porirua, Raglan, Remuera, Roskill, Taranaki, Tarawera, Te Atatu, Titirangi, Tongariro, Waikaremoana, Waikato, Waipa, Waitotara, Wellington-Karori, and Western Hutt were abolished in the North Island. Twenty existing electorates (Albany, Auckland Central, Hamilton East, Hamilton West, Mangere, Manurewa, Napier, New Lynn, New Plymouth, North Shore, Pakuranga, Palmerston North, Rangitikei, Rotorua, Tamaki, Tauranga, Wairarapa, Waitakere, Whanganui, and Whangarei) were kept. Seventeen electorates (Mahia, Owairaka, Waipareira, Karapiro, Ohariu-Belmont, Port Waikato, Epsom, Hutt South, Mana, Manukau East, Maungakiekie, Northcote, Northland, Rimutaka, Rongotai, Taranaki-King Country, and Tukituki) were newly formed. Eight electorates (Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, Hunua, Otaki, Rodney, Taupo, and Wellington Central) were recreated.

Māori electorates

All four existing Māori electorates (Eastern Maori, Northern Maori, Southern Maori, and Western Maori) were abolished. The calculation described above resulted in five Māori electorates being required; these were Te Puku O Te Whenua, Te Tai Hauauru, Te Tai Rawhiti, Te Tai Tokerau, and Te Tai Tonga.

List seats

The House of Representatives was to have 120 seats, of which 65 were filled through electorate MPs (16 from South Island electorates, 44 from North Island electorates, and 5 from Māori electorates). This left 55 list seats to be filled. An outcome of the election was that no overhang seats were required.

MPs retiring in 1996

Eleven MPs intended to retire at the end of the 44th Parliament.

The election

The date of the 1996 election was 12 October; it was brought forward slightly to avoid the need for a by-election following the resignation of Michael Laws, as a by-election is not needed if there will be a general election within 6 months of a seat being vacated.

Of the 2,418,587 people registered to vote, 88.3% turned out to vote. The turnout was a slight improvement on the previous two elections, but still slightly lower than what would have been expected during the 1980s. The number of seats being contested was 120, an increase of 21 from the previous election, but as 55 of the new seats were for list candidates, the number of electorates was reduced considerably and many electorates had their boundaries amended or were abolished. While the number of general electorates decreased from 95 (1993) to 60 (1996), the number of Māori electorates increased from 4 to 5.

In the election 842 candidates stood, and there were 21 registered parties with party lists. Of the candidates, 459 were electorate and list, 152 were electorate only, and 231 were list only. 73% of candidates (616) were male and 27% (226) female.^[6][7]

Summary of results

The 1996 election eventually saw a victory for the governing National Party, which won around a third of the vote. The opposition Labour Party won slightly less. The election, however, was not decided by the comparative strengths of the major parties – rather, the smaller New Zealand First party, which won 17 seats, including 5 Māori seats won by the Tight Five, and was placed in the position of "kingmaker", able to provide the necessary majority to whichever side it chose.^[8] Although predicted by many to ally with Labour, on 10 December 1996 New Zealand First leader Winston Peters chose to form a coalition with National, thus preserving Prime Minister Jim Bolger's administration.^[9]

The 1996 election effectively showcased the difference made by the new electoral system. The Alliance and New Zealand First, both of which held two seats each in the old parliament, increased their representation to 13 and 17 seats, respectively, as a result of the change. The new ACT New Zealand also benefited, taking eight seats. The new United New Zealand party however was virtually wiped out, retaining only a single seat. The Conservative Party also only established only in previous Parliament by defecting Members of Parliament fared even worse, failing to remain in parliament at all. Strategic voting took place for the first time in a New Zealand MMP election in the Wellington seats of Ohariu-Belmont and Wellington Central.

However, Labour did manage to retain its status as among the top-two parties, as polls in the 1993–1996 period had shown Labour was in danger of being overtaken by the Alliance or New Zealand First. Labour's success was credited largely to its leader Helen Clark being seen as having convincingly won the election debates and running a strong campaign on health, education and social services, while Bolger was said to have run a lackluster campaign.^[10]

Also notable in the 1996 election campaign was the Christian Coalition, an alliance of the Christian Democrats and the Christian Heritage Party. Although the party had briefly crossed the 5% threshold in some polls, it gained only 4.33% at the election, and therefore did not qualify for parliamentary representation. With the exception of the Maori Ratana movement, this is the closest that an overtly religious party has come to winning representation in parliament.

Voters were prepared with MMP to vote for minor party candidates with their electorate vote, hence in a number of electorates won by National or Labour the other major party candidate came third or even fourth; previously the two top polling candidates were almost always National and Labour.

Detailed results

Summary of the 12 October 1996 election for the House of Representatives^[11]

Party		Party vote		Electorate vote			Seats
		Votes	%	Votes	%	Change (pp)	List	Electorate	Total	+/-
	National	701,315	33.84	699,073	33.91	1.14	14	30	44	6
	Labour	584,159	28.19	640,884	31.08	3.60	11	26	37	8
	NZ First	276,603	13.35	278,103	13.49	5.09	11	6	17	15
	Alliance	209,347	10.10	231,944	11.25	6.96	12	1	13	11
	ACT	126,442	6.10	77,319	3.75	new	7	1	8	new
	United NZ	18,245	0.88	42,666	2.07	new	0	1	1	new
	Christian Coalition	89,716	4.33	31,995	1.55	0.47	0	0	0	0
	Legalise Cannabis	34,398	1.66	3,420	0.17	new	0	0	0	new
	McGillicuddy Serious	5,990	0.29	12,177	0.59	0.02	0	0	0	0
	Progressive Green	5,288	0.26	7,437	0.36	new	0	0	0	new
	Mana Māori	4,070	0.20	4,763	0.23	0.06	0	0	0	0
	Animals First	3,543	0.17	—	—	—	0	—	0	new
	Natural Law	3,189	0.15	5,385	0.26	0.05	0	0	0	0
	Ethnic Minority Party	2,514	0.12	—	—	—	0	—	0	new
	Green Society	2,363	0.11	1,140	0.06	new	0	0	0	new
	Conservatives	1,431	0.07	4,377	0.21	new	0	0	0	new
	Superannuitants & Youth	1,244	0.06	686	0.03	new	0	0	0	new
	Advance NZ	949	0.05	637	0.03	new	0	0	0	new
	Libertarianz	671	0.03	553	0.03	new	0	0	0	new
	Asia Pacific	478	0.02	293	0.01	new	0	0	0	new
	Te Tawharau	404	0.02	818	0.04	new	0	0	0	new
	Republican	—	—	134	0.01	new	0	0	0	new
	Unregistered Parties	—	—	1,506	0.07	—	0	0	0	0
	Independent	—	—	16,436	0.80	—	0	0	0	0
Valid Votes		2,072,359	97.06	2,061,746	96.56	—
Informal votes		8,183	0.38	18,796	0.88	—
Disallowed votes		54,633	2.56	54,633	2.56	—
Total		2,135,175	100	2,135,175	100		55	65	120	21a
Eligible voters and Turnout		2,418,587	88.28	2,418,587	88.28	5.46

In addition to the registered parties listed above, a number of unregistered parties also contested the election. Being unregistered, they could not submit party lists (and thus receive party votes), but they could still stand candidates in individual electorates. Among the parties to do this were the Indigenous Peoples Party, the New Zealand Progressive Party (unrelated to the 2002–2012 party of the same name) and the Nga Iwi Morehu Movement. Most unregistered parties stood only a single candidate, with only four parties running in multiple electorates. In total, around 1,500 people voted for candidates from unregistered parties. In addition, 26 independents contested electorate seats. A total of 16,436 people voted for independent candidates. No candidate from an unregistered party or an independent candidate won an electorate seat.

Votes summary

Electorate results

No party managed to win a straight majority of the 65 electorates. The National Party, the governing party, was three seats short of a majority, gaining 30 seats. The Labour Party, in opposition, won 26 electorate seats. New Zealand First won six electorate seats, the highest number of any minor party for over 50 years.

The Alliance, ACT and United managed to win one electorate seat each. For United, this was a significant loss – established by break-away MPs from National and Labour, the party entered the election with seven seats, but only Peter Dunne managed to retain his position, being helped by National's decision not to field a candidate in his electorate of Ohariu-Belmont.

For the most part, traditional patterns prevailed when it came to the distribution of electorates – National performed best in rural areas, while Labour was strongest in the cities. A very significant departure from traditional patterns, however, was New Zealand First's capture of all five Maori seats, which had traditionally been Labour strongholds. Although Labour was to reclaim these seats in the subsequent election, Labour's monopoly was no longer so secure as it had been.

The table below shows the results of the 1996 general election:

Key

  National   Labour   Alliance   NZ First   ACT   United NZ   Mana Māori   Independent

List results

Notes

1. These party list members later entered parliament in the term as other list MPs elected resigned from parliament.
2. These party list members later resigned during the parliamentary term.

Summary of seat changes

• Seats captured:
  • By National: Hamilton East, Hamilton West and Nelson were captured from Labour. North Shore was captured from United.
  • By Labour: Auckland Central was captured from the Alliance.
• Seats transferred from departing MPs to new MPs:
  • The seats of Albany, Otago, Rotorua and Waitakere, all held by departing National MPs, were won by new National candidates. One departing MP retired, one was re-elected in a different electorate, and two became list MPs.
  • The seats of Christchurch Central, Mangere and New Lynn, all held by departing Labour MPs, were won by new Labour candidates. One departing MP retired and two became list MPs.