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 by electorate, shaded by winning margin
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]
^"More Māori in Parliament: Sandra Lee reflects on introduction of MMP". RNZ. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
The 1996NewZealandgeneralelection was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th NewZealand Parliament. It was notable for being...
The 2020 NewZealandgeneralelection was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd NewZealand Parliament. Voters elected...
The 2011 NewZealandgeneralelection took place on Saturday 26 November 2011 to determine the membership of the 50th NewZealand Parliament. One hundred...
The 2023 NewZealandgeneralelection was held on 14 October 2023 to determine the composition of the 54th Parliament of NewZealand. Voters elected 122...
The next NewZealandgeneralelection will be held after the current 54th NewZealand Parliament is dissolved or expires. The current Parliament was elected...
NewZealand is a representative democracy in which members of the unicameral NewZealand Parliament gain their seats through elections. General elections...
having won 6.08% of the total party vote in the 2023 NewZealandgeneralelection. NewZealand First takes a broadly centrist and interventionist position...
1987 NewZealandgeneralelection was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 42nd sitting of the NewZealand Parliament. The governing New Zealand...
The 1943 NewZealandgeneralelection was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the NewZealand Parliament's 27th term. With the onset of World War...
The 1999 NewZealandgeneralelection was held on 27 November 1999 to determine the composition of the 46th NewZealand Parliament. The governing National...
2005 NewZealandGeneralElection The 2005 NewZealandgeneralelection on Saturday 17 September 2005 determined the membership of the 48th NewZealand Parliament...
The 2008 NewZealandgeneralelection was held on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the 49th NewZealand Parliament. The liberal-conservative...
The 2017 NewZealandgeneralelection took place on Saturday 23 September 2017 to determine the membership of the 52nd NewZealand Parliament. The previous...
The 1981 NewZealandgeneralelection, held on 28 November 1981, was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 40th NewZealand Parliament. It saw...
The 1993 NewZealandgeneralelection was held on 6 November 1993 to determine the composition of the 44th NewZealand Parliament. Voters elected 99 members...
The 1969 NewZealandgeneralelection was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of Parliament's 36th term. It saw the Second National Government headed...
65 electorate members of the NewZealand House of Representatives were elected in the generalelection on 12 October 1996. Unless otherwise noted the information...
The 2002 NewZealandgeneralelection was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th NewZealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of...
Hide, ACT NewZealand had primarily focused on two main policy areas: taxation and crime (law-and-order issues). At the 2011 generalelection, ACT advocated...
The 2023 NewZealandgeneralelection was held on Saturday, 14 October 2023 to determine the membership of the 54th NewZealand Parliament. This page lists...
commissioned throughout the duration of the 44th NewZealand Parliament in the lead up to the 1996election by various research organisations. Polls are listed...
53rd NewZealand Parliament (2020–2023) for the 2023 NewZealandgeneralelection. The regular polls are the quarterly polls produced by Television New Zealand...
This page provides the party lists put forward in NewZealand's 2005 election. Party lists determine (in the light of proportional voting) the appointment...
referendum during the 1993 election. As a result, NewZealand has used the mixed-member proportional (MMP) system since 1996. Under MMP, each member of...
has spent more time in government than any other NewZealand party. After the 1949 generalelection, Sidney Holland became the first prime minister from...
Global Information
5.46%
