46th New Zealand Parliament

The 46th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Its composition was determined by the 1999 elections, and it sat until the 2002 elections.

The 46th Parliament marked a change of government, with a coalition of the Labour Party and the Alliance taking office. Helen Clark replaced Jenny Shipley as Prime Minister. The National Party, which had formed a minority government for the last part of the 45th Parliament, became the largest opposition party, eventually emerging under a new leader, Bill English. Other parties in Parliament were ACT, the Greens, New Zealand First, and United. Several parties represented at the end of the previous Parliament, such as Mauri Pacific, were wiped out, failing to retain any of their seats.

The 46th Parliament consisted of one hundred and twenty representatives. Sixty-seven of these representatives were chosen by geographical electorates, including six special Maori electorates. The remainder were elected by means of party-list proportional representation under the MMP electoral system.

Electoral boundaries for the 46th Parliament

Initial composition of the 46th Parliament

Changes during term

*Don McKinnon, a National Party list MP, left Parliament in March 2000 to become Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. He was replaced by Arthur Anae, the next candidate on the National Party list.
*Simon Upton, a National Party list MP, left Parliament in January 2001. He was replaced by Alec Neill, the next candidate on the National Party list.