Chamber:
	House of Representatives
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	6 November 1993
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members’ term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	The election date was set on 14 September 1993 and Parliament was dissolved on 30 September in anticipation of the polling. In contention for the newly enlarged House of Representatives’ 99 seats were the country’s two traditional opponents – the ruling National Party and the opposition Labour Party – who were challenged for the first time by two new groups: the centre-left Alliance Party, comprising five small parties and headed by Mr. Jim Anderton, and the centre-right New Zealand First Party, led by the popular Winston Peters. The country’s economy, and who was best equipped to manage it, was the dominant issue of the campaign. National leader and Prime Minister Jim Bolger stressed his Government’s positive record in this field, especially in maintaining a steady growth rate and reducing inflation, while Labour, led by Mr. Mike Moore, countered that the austerity policies of its rival had created social hardship and high (nearly 10%) unemployment. Finally announced on 17 November, polling results gave the conservative National Party a “wafer-thin” (to quote Mr. Bolger) overall one-seat majority after absentee ballots were tallied to avoid what had initially indicated a hung Parliament. Political analysts opined that National’s relatively poor performance (compared to 1990) was due largely to the Government’s cuts in welfare benefits and social services. Because of the split in the opposition vote (18.2% to the Alliance, in particular), democratic socialist Labour failed to capitalise sufficiently to take the leading position in the House. Prime Minister Bolger concluded that the voters had given his party a “pretty clear message about what they thought of” economic reforms instituted over the past three-year term. In a separate referendum held simultaneously, voters approved (by 54% to 46%) a change in New Zealand’s electoral system to one of mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) instead of simple majority, with the modification to go into effect from the next (1996) elections. Mr. Bolger new reshuffled Cabinet was announced on 28 November.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (6 November 1993): Elections results
Number of registered electors	2,321,664
Voters	1,978,215 (85.2%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	55,419
Valid votes	1,922,796

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Candidates	Votes	%
National Party	98	673,892	35.05
Labour Party	99	666,800	34.68
Alliance Party	99	350,063	18.21
New Zealand First Party	84	161,481	8.40

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Gain/Loss
National Party	50	-17
Labour Party	45	+16
Alliance Party	2	+1
New Zealand First Party	2	+2

Comments:
	Two seats added since last elections.

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	78
Women:	21

Distribution of seats according to age:
Under 30 years	2
30-34 years	3
35-39 years	14
40-44 years	26
45-49 years	21
50-54 years	17
55-59 years	10
60 years and over	6
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Business and trade	16
Farmers	14
Lawyers	10
Teachers (primary and secondary school)	8
Trade unionists	8
State servants	4
Health professionals	4
Lecturers (university)	3
Education administrators	3
Engineers	3
Others	26