- New Zealand by-elections
By-elections in New Zealand occur to fill vacant seats in the
New Zealand Parliament . The death, resignation, or expulsion of a sitting electorate MP can cause a by-election. (Note thatlist MP s do not have geographic districts for the purpose of provoking by-elections — if a list MP's seat becomes vacant, the next person on his or her party's list fills the position.)A by-election need not take place if a general election will occur within six months of an electorate seat becoming vacant. In 1996 the general election date was brought forward slightly, to 12 October, to avoid a by-election after the resignation of
Michael Laws .In recent years by-elections have not occurred particularly frequently — only one in the 2002 - 2005 parliamentary term, and none in the 1999 - 2002 term. This is because most MPs who retire mid-term (most recently Labour MP
Jim Sutton ) are List MPs, and are simply replaced by the next member on their party list.Historically, however, they have taken place considerably more frequently — the 2nd Parliament of 1856 - 1860, for example, saw at least twenty by-elections, despite the House of Representatives then having only thirty-seven seats.
In the past it was not uncommon for an MP who died in office to be replaced with an immediate family member such as a brother, wife or son. This resulted in the election of the first woman MP
Elizabeth McCombs (who was in turn succeeded by her sonTerence McCombs ) and the first woman National MPMary Grigg ; both of whom took over their husband's seat. This practice has however fallen out of favour since the 1970s.List of New Zealand by-elections
The following incomplete table lists previous
by-election s in New Zealand. Interestingly, it features the names of ten subsequent Prime Ministers (#).ee also
*
New Zealand elections
*Elections in New Zealand
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