Chamber:
	House of Representatives
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	12 October 1996
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:
	On 21 May 1996, Prime Minister Jim Bolger (National Party) announced the October election date. The poll would be the first held under the new electoral system of mixed-member proportional representation designed to more fairly reflect overall support for each political party and to facilitate more effective representation of significant groups and interests in the community. During the campaign, Mr. Bolger - in power since 1990 - pointed to his Government's "record of stability" and its positive performance in the economic sector (successful free-market policies, lower unemployment, inflation and public debt). The conservative National Party's main challenger proved once again to be the Labour Party, this time led by Helen Clark. Other major contenders were the New Zealand First party headed by Mr. Winston Peters, the five-party Alliance coalition led by Mr. Jim Anderton, and the Act New Zealand group founded in 1994 as the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers and led by Mr. Richard Prebble. Altogether 33 parties and some 1,300 candidates were in contention. On polling day, voters turned out in record numbers. Both National and Labour fell in vote percentage, while the nationalist New Zealand First - whose platform included proposed curbs on immigration and foreign investment - recorded large gains as did the left-of-centre Alliance, which advocated higher taxes for most citizens and greater assistance to the poor. As no party obtained an outright majority of seats in the election, political efforts became concentrated upon forming a coalition government. New Zealand First, with 17 seats, had a key role to play in the outcome. On 11 December 1996, National and New Zealand First concluded a coalition agreement, with Prime Minister Bolger heading the Government and Mr. Peters becoming Deputy Prime Minister.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (12 October 1996): Elections results
Number of registered electors	2,418,587
Voters	2,135,175 (88,28%)
Valid electorate votes	2,061,746
Valid party votes	2,072,359

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Electoral votes	%	Party votes	%
National Party	699,047	34.91	701,176	33.83
Labour Party	640,917	31.09	584,159	28.19
New Zealand First	278,041	13.49	276,591	13.35
Alliance	231,931	11,25	209,347	10.1
Act New Zealand	77,342	3,75	126,442	6,1
United New Zealand	42,666	2,07	18,245	0.88
Others	91,802	4.45	156,339	7.54

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
National Party	44
Labour Party	37
New Zealand First	17
Alliance	13
Act New Zealand	8
United New Zealand	1
Others	0

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	85
Women:	35