- New Zealand general election, 1993
-
New Zealand general election, 1993 
1990 ←
members6 November 1993
elected members→ 1996
membersAll 99 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives
50 seats were needed for a majorityFirst party Second party 
Leader Jim Bolger Mike Moore Party National Labour Leader since 1986 1990 Leader's seat King Country Christchurch North Last election 67 seats, 47.82% 29 seats, 35.14% Seats before 66 29 Seats won 50 45 Seat change 
16
16Popular vote 673,892 666,800 Percentage 35.05% 34.68% Swing 12.77% 0.46%Third party Fourth party 
Leader Jim Anderton Winston Peters Party Alliance NZ First Leader since 1991 1993 Leader's seat Sydenham Tauranga Last election 1 seat, 14.28%[1] Not yet founded Seats before 1 1 Seats won 2 2 Seat change 1[1] 1Popular vote 350,063 161,481 Percentage 18.21% 8.40% Swing 3.93%[1] 8.40%
Prime Minister before election
Elected Prime Minister
The 1993 New Zealand general election was held on 6 November 1993 to determine the composition of the 44th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the governing National Party, led by Jim Bolger, win a second term in office, despite a major swing back towards the Labour Party. The new Alliance and New Zealand First parties gained significant shares of the vote, but won few seats. The election was New Zealand's last to date under the non-proportional first past the post electoral system.
Contents
Background
Before the election, the National Party governed with 64 seats, while the opposition Labour Party held only 29. The 1990 election had been a major victory for the National Party, with the unpopular Fourth Labour Government being decisively defeated. The Labour Party had become increasingly unpopular for its ongoing economic reforms, which were based around liberalisation, privatisation, and the removal of tariffs and subsidies. The National Party was somewhat divided as to the merits of the reforms, with conservatives generally opposed and neoliberals generally in favour. The party had fought the 1990 election saying that the Labour government's program was too radical, and was being carried out without any thought of the human consequences - Jim Bolger spoke about "the Decent Society", promising a return to a more moderate and balanced platform. Once in government, however, the key Minister of Finance role was taken not by a moderate but by Ruth Richardson, who wished to expand, not end, the economic reforms. Many of the voters who had felt betrayed by Labour's reforms now felt betrayed by the National Party as well, a fact which contributed to the rise of minor parties.
The Alliance, the largest "third party", was a broad coalition of five smaller groups - the NewLabour Party (a Labour splinter), the Democrats (a social credit party), the Greens (an environmentalist party), Mana Motuhake (a Māori party), and the Liberal Party (a National splinter). The Alliance held three seats in Parliament - one belonged to Jim Anderton, who had been re-elected under a NewLabour banner in the seat he had formerly held for Labour, while the other two belonged to the National MPs who formed the Liberal Party. In its first electoral test, the 1992 by-election in Tamaki, the Alliance had performed well, taking second place. Another smaller group was New Zealand First, a party established by former National MP Winston Peters. Peters had broken with his party after a number of policy disputes with its leadership, and resigned from parliament to contest his seat as an independent. After being overwhelmingly re-elected, Peters established the New Zealand First party to promote his views. Peters was the party's sole MP.
Another consequence of dissatisfaction with both major parties was the referendum conducted alongside the 1993 election. This referendum asked voters whether New Zealand's electoral system should be changed from the first-past-the-post system to the MMP system, which would implement proportional representation (and thus make it easier for smaller parties to win seats). The referendum was part of the larger New Zealand electoral reform process.
While National and Labour usually stand candidates in every seat, National was one candidate short as their Southern Maori candidate apparently did not apply in time.
The election
The election was held on 6 November. 2,321,664 people were registered to vote, and 85.2% turned out. This turnout was almost exactly the same as for the previous election, although slightly less than what would be seen for the following one.
Summary of results
Preliminary results based on election night counts saw the country facing its first hung parliament since 1931, with no party gaining the 50 seats required for a majority. The National Party won 49 seats, a drop of 15 from before the election. and Labour had won 46 seats, with the balance of power held with the Alliance and New Zealand First, which won two seats each. The Labour Party won 45 seats, while the Alliance and New Zealand First held the balance of power, winning two seats each. [2][3]
Official counts saw the seat of Waitaki swing from Labour to National, giving National 50 seats and Labour 45 seats. This meant that National kept its majority by only a single seat. [3]
The 1993-1996 parliamentary term would see a number of defections from both major parties, meaning that National would eventually be forced to make alliances to retain power.
Detailed results
Party totals
Party Candidates Total votes Percentage Seats won National Party 98 673,892 35.05% 50 Labour Party 99 666,800 34.68% 45 Alliance 99 350,063 18.21% 2 New Zealand First 84 161,481 8.40% 2 Christian Heritage Party 98 38,745 2.02% - McGillicuddy Serious Party 62 11,714 0.61% - Natural Law Party 74 6,056 0.31% - Mana Māori 5 3,342 0.17% - Other parties and Independents 63 10,661 0.55% - Total 682 1,922,796 99 Map of electorates
Individual electorate results
Summary of changes
A boundary redistribution resulted in the abolition of nine electorates, and the creation of eleven new electorates. In many cases an MP from an abolished seat stood for, and was elected to a new one that broadly covered their previous electorate.
Abolished Electorate MP relocated New Electorate Ashburton 
Jenny Shipley Rakaia Bay of Islands John Carter Far North Clevedon Warren Kyd Hauraki Coromandel Graeme Lee Matakana East Cape Tony Ryall Eastern Bay of Plenty Maramarua Bill Birch Franklin Ohariu Peter Dunne Onslow West Auckland Jack Elder Henderson One MP from an abolished electorate failed to win a new electorate Wellington Central Pauline Gardiner 
Wellington-Karori Chris Laidlaw 
Due to boundary changes, two MPs moved to safer new electorates Marginal Electorate MP relocated New Electorate Te Atatu Brian Neeson Waitakere Otara Trevor Rogers Howick
Ashburton, Bay of Islands, Clevedon, Coromandel, East Cape, Maramarua, Ohariu, Wellington Central and West Auckland were abolished.New Electorates.
- Eastern Bay of Plenty - most of the abolished East Cape seat, plus part of Tarawera. Won by former East Cape MP Tony Ryall.
- Far North - most of the abolished Bay of Islands seat. Won by former Bay of Islands MP John Carter.
- Franklin - part of the abolished Maramarua seat and part of Papakura. Won by former Maramarua MP Bill Birch.
- Hauraki - parts of the abolished Clevedon, Maramarua, and Coromandel seats. Won by former Clevedon MP Warren Kyd.
- Henderson - parts taken from the West Auckland, Te Atatu, and Titirangi electorates. Won by former West Auckland MP Jack Elder (Labour).
- Howick - the eastern part of the Otara seat. Won by former Otara MP Trevor Rogers (National).
- Matakana - part of the abolished Coromandel seat. Won by former Coromandel MP Graeme Lee.
- Onslow - the core of the abolished Ohariu seat. Won by former Ohariu MP Peter Dunne (Labour).
- Rakaia - the abolished Ashburton seat, plus part of the Selwyn seat. Won by former Ashburton MP Jenny Shipley (National).
- Waitakere - chiefly, the abolished seat of West Auckland. Won by former Te Atatu MP Brian Neeson (National).
- Wellington-Karori - the abolished Wellington Central seat, plus part of the abolished Ohariu seat. Won by new National MP Pauline Gardiner.
The seats of Gisborne, Hamilton East, Hamilton West, Hastings, Horowhenua, Invercargill, Lyttelton, Manawatu, Miramar, New Plymouth, Onehunga, Otara, Roskill, Te Atatu, Timaru, Titirangi, Tongariro, Wanganui and West Coast were won from the National Party by Labour challengers. Six of these seats (Gisborne, Hastings, Lyttelton, Miramar, New Plymouth & the West Coast) had been won by National in 1990, so were one-term National seats.
- The seat of Auckland Central was won from the Labour Party by an Alliance challenger. The challenger was Sandra Lee-Vercoe and the defeated incumbent was Richard Prebble.
- The seat of Northern Maori was won from the Labour Party by a New Zealand First challenger. The challenger was Tau Henare and the defeated incumbent was Bruce Gregory.
- The seat of Awarua passed from an incumbent National MP to a new National MP.
- The seat of Pencarrow passed from an incumbent Labour MP to a new Labour MP.
Notes
- ^ a b c Alliance results compared with 1993 totals of NewLabour Party, Democratic Party, Mana Motuhake and Green Party.
- ^ "A Hung Parliament Seems Likely For New Zealand". Orlando Sentinel. 8 November 1993. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1993-11-08/news/9311080410_1_new-zealand-zealand-first-party-seat. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
- ^ a b "History of the National Party". New Zealand National Party. http://www.national.org.nz/About/history.aspx. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
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