| New Zealand General Election 1990 |
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Information AboutNew Zealand General Election 1990 |
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BACKGROUND The Labour Party had taken office after defeating the National Party under Robert Muldoon in the 1984 Election . David Lange became Prime Minister and Roger Douglas became Minister Of Finance . The economic program outlined by Douglas was deeply unpopular with Labour's traditional supporters, however — Deregulation , Privatisation , and Free Trade , all opposed by the party's more left-wing members, were a key part of the so-called " Rogernomics " platform. This internal dissent was off-set somewhat by new social legislation and a strong stance against Nuclear Weapons . Labour was re-elected in the 1987 Election by a slightly reduced margin, and the internal disputes continued. Eventually Lange forced Douglas to resign, but the crisis had weakened Lange's position such that he resigned soon afterwards. He was replaced as Prime Minister by Geoffrey Palmer , but Palmer failed to revive Labour's falling popularity. Several months before the election, Palmer was replaced by Mike Moore . The National Party was performing strongly — its leader, Jim Bolger, spoke repeatedly of "the Decent Society", saying that the reforms were doing significant damage to the social fabric of the country. The government was also being challenged by the NewLabour Party , founded by renegade MP Jim Anderton . THE ELECTION The date for the 1990 election was 27 October. 2,202,157 people were registered to vote, and 85.2% of these people turned out. The number of seats being contested was 97 — this was the same as in the previous election, which had the largest number of seats for any Parliament until that point. SUMMARY OF RESULTS The 1990 election eventually saw a victory for the National Party , then in opposition. National won nearly half the vote and 67 (69%) of the seats. This was the highest number of seats the party had ever won, either in absolute terms or as a percentage. The governing Labour Party, by contrast, suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat since it first won power in the 1935 Election , winning only 29 (30%) of the seats. The new Green Party gained the third-highest number of votes, but won no seats. The NewLabour Party won a single seat, due to Jim Anderton retaining the Sydenham seat he originally won as a Labour candidate. DETAILED RESULTS National results Electorate results Summary of seat changes
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