| Parliament name |
House of Representatives |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
23 September 2017 |
| Purpose of elections |
No party took an outright majority in the 120-member Parliament. Prime Minister Bill English's National Party remained the largest party with 56 seats, losing four; while the Labour Party, led by Ms. Jacinda Ardern, increased its representation from 32 to 46 seats. On 24 October, the Labour Party and the New Zealand First party, led by former Foreign Minister Winston Peters, signed a coalition agreement under Ms. Ardern's leadership. The Green Party also entered into a confidence and supply agreement with the Labour Party. On 26 October, Ms. Ardern was officially sworn in as the new Prime Minister, becoming at 37 the country's youngest Prime Minister and the third woman to assume the post.
The 2017 elections were the first to be held after the resignation in December 2016 of long-serving Prime Minister John Key, who had held the position since 2008. In August 2017, Ms. Ardern became Labour Party leader, following Mr. Andrew Little. During the election campaign, the major parties focused on climate change, regional development and poverty reduction. |
Date of previous elections: 20 September 2014
Date of dissolution of the outgoing legislature: 22 August 2017
Timing of election: Upon normal expiry
Expected date of next elections: September 2020
Number of seats at stake: 120 (full renewal)
Number of candidates: 534 (341 men, 190 women, 3 others*)
*3 gender diverse/not specified.
366 candidates ran under both majority and proportional representation (PR) systems. In addition, 81 candidates ran only under the PR and 87 others stood only for the majority system.
Percentage of women candidates: 35.6%
Number of parties contesting the election: 26*
*16 parties fielded candidates under the proportional representation system.
In addition 10 more parties and independents ran under the majority system.
Number of parties winning seats: 5
Alternation of power: Yes
Number of parties in government: 2
Names of parties in government: Labour Party, New Zealand First party
Date of the first session of the new parliament: 7 November 2017
Name of the new Speaker: Mr. Trevor Mallard (Labour Party) |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 23 September 2017 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
3'298'009
2'630'173 (79.75%)
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| National Party |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Labour Party |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| New Zealand First |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Green Party |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ACT New Zealand |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Electorate seats |
List seats |
|
|
| National Party |
56
|
41 |
15 |
|
|
| Labour Party |
46
|
29 |
17 |
|
|
| New Zealand First |
9
|
0 |
9 |
|
|
| Green Party |
8
|
0 |
8 |
|
|
| ACT New Zealand |
1
|
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
74
46
38.33%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
House of Representatives (25.10.2017)
Electoral Commission (29.10.2017)
http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2017/index.html
http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2017/statistics/overall-results-summary.html
http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2017/statistics/party-votes-and-turnout-by-electorate.html
https://www.parliament.nz/en/mps-and-electorates/members-of-parliament/?PrimaryFilter=Gender&SecondaryFilter=female
http://www.elections.org.nz/news-media/party-and-candidate-lists-2017-election
http://www.nzherald.co.nz
https://www.theguardian.com |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
