| Parliament name |
House of Representatives |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
17 September 2005 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in the House of Representatives following the dissolution of the House on 11 August 2005. General elections had previously taken place on 27 July 2002. |
On 25 July 2005, Prime Minister Helen Clark, seeking a third term in office, called a general election for 17 September.
The outgoing government, led by the Labour Party (52 seats), formed a coalition with Jim Anderton's Progressive Party (2 seats), and concluded a "confidence and support agreement" with the pro-family United Future New Zealand (8 seats), under which the United New Zealand agreed not to oppose a vote of confidence and support in Parliament, thus ensuring the government had a majority of votes. With general support from the Green Party (9 seats), the outgoing government controlled 71 of the 120 seats. Although the Greens and the Progressive Party said they were willing to support Labour in the next legislature, the United Future party said it would hold talks with any party that won the most votes.
The main centre-right opposition, the National Party (27 seats), led by former Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Don Brash, sought support from the pro-business ACT New Zealand Party (9 seats); and the conservative New Zealand First Party (13 seats), which had supported both Labour and National parties in previous governments. The National Party had led the country in most of the 1990s, but in the 2002 elections, it had recorded its lowest results since the party's formation in 1938.
Of the 19 political parties contesting the election, six were newcomers, including the Maori Party, which aims to give more voice to indigenous people in parliament. It was expected that the party's participation would boost Maori turnout.
Under the Labour government, the country had experienced an economic boom, with 4 per cent annual growth, a 3.7 per cent unemployment rate, the lowest in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, and a budget surplus of $4.9 billion.
The Labour Party called for voters to support its successful economic policy and criticized the National Party's foreign policy proposals, insisting that the opposition party would end a ban on nuclear ships entering New Zealand waters. The National Party, reportedly seeking a closer relationship with the United States, said that it would focus on tax, education and the social welfare system.
Turnout was recorded at 80.92 per cent.
According to the final results, the Labour Party remained the biggest party by securing 50 seats. The final results enabled Ms. Helen Clark to become the first Labour leader to win three consecutive terms since the World War II. Its partners in the outgoing coalition government won a total of 11 seats: the Green Party captured 6, the United Future New Zealand won 3, and Jim Anderton's Progressive Party secured 1. The National Party dramatically increased its seats to 48. Its possible partners, the New Zealand First Party and ACT New Zealand Party, were reduced to seven and two seats respectively. Due to one overhang seat (see Note below) won by the Maori Party, the total number of members of parliament was raised to 121, instead of 120.
At this election, the number of women elected reached a record-high in New Zealand of 39: 16 in single-member electoral districts and 23 under proportional representation lists.
On 17 October 2005, Ms. Clark announced the new minority coalition arrangements with the Progressive Party, with " confidence and support agreement" by United Future and New Zealand First. The new coalition government controlled 61 seats of 121 in Parliament. The Green Party signed a cooperation agreement promising not to oppose it in confidence votes, while the newly formed Maori Party announced it would not support the new government.
Parliament was convened on 7 November 2005, and re-elected Ms. Margaret Wilson as Speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 17 September 2005 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
2'847'396
2'286'190 (80.29%)
2'275'629
10'561 |
|
Notes
|
Breakdown for the number of registered electors:
- 2,639,393 on the General Roll
- 208,003 on the Maori Roll
Maoris may register and vote either in the General electoral district in which they reside or in the appropriate Maori electoral district.
The number of 'Voters', 'Invalid or blank ballot papers', and 'Valid votes' above refer to the results for Party votes.
The statistics for Electoral Constituencies are as follows:
- Voters: 2,260,670
- Invalid or blank ballot papers: 24,801
- Valid votes: 2,235,869
The statistics include special votes (those cast overseas and by people outside their home district on election day), totaling 248,677, or 10.8% of total votes cast. |
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Labour Party |
|
935'319 |
|
|
41.10 |
|
|
| National Party |
|
889'813 |
|
|
39.10 |
|
|
| New Zealand First |
|
130'115 |
|
|
5.72 |
|
|
| Green Party |
|
120'521 |
|
|
5.30 |
|
|
| Maori Party |
|
48'263 |
|
|
2.12 |
|
|
| United Future |
|
60'860 |
|
|
2.67 |
|
|
| ACT New Zealand |
|
34'469 |
|
|
1.51 |
|
|
| Jim Anderton's Progressive Party |
|
26'411 |
|
|
1.16 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Electorate Seats |
Party Votes |
Gain/Loss |
|
| Labour Party |
50
|
31 |
19 |
-2 |
|
| National Party |
48
|
31 |
17 |
21 |
|
| New Zealand First |
7
|
0 |
7 |
-6 |
|
| Green Party |
6
|
0 |
6 |
-3 |
|
| Maori Party |
4
|
4 |
0 |
4 |
|
| United Future |
3
|
1 |
2 |
-5 |
|
| ACT New Zealand |
2
|
1 |
1 |
-7 |
|
| Jim Anderton's Progressive Party |
1
|
1 |
0 |
-1 |
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
82
39
32.23%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Source:
- http://www.elections.org.nz/
- http://www.ps.parliament.govt.nz/schools/texts/members.shtml
- House of Representatives (01.01.2008)
Notes on the number of women:
- 16 women were elected in single-member electoral districts and 23 others under party lists.
- The "Distribution of seats according to sex" includes one overhang seat: 39 women of 121 members, or 32.23%. The percentage below is based on the statutory number of 120.
Note:
"Overhang seats" in New Zealand:
Under the New Zealand electoral system, seats are first be allocated to candidates winning electorate seats. Parties will then get a share of seats in Parliament close to their share of "party votes". If parties win more electorate seats than their share of seats determined by the party vote then they can keep the extra seats, called "overhang seats".
In the 2005 election, the Maori Party won 2.12 per cent under party votes. Under the New Zealand Electoral System (using the Sainte-Laguë formula), the party was entitled to three seats. However, it also won four seats in the electorate vote in single-member electoral districts. The Maori Party kept its fourth seat, an "overhang seat"; thus raising the total number of members of parliament to 121.
More information is available at: http://www.elections.org.nz/ |
|
A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page