| New Zealand General Election 2002 |
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Arguably the most controversial issue in the election campaign was the end of a moratorium on Genetic Engineering , strongly opposed by the Green Party . Some commentators have claimed that the tension between Labour and the Greens on this issue was a more notable part of the campaign than any tension between Labour and its traditional right-wing opponents. Helen Clark had called the Greens "goths and anarcho-feminists" during the campaign. BACKGROUND On 12 June the government announced that the country would have a general election on 27 July . This was several months earlier than was required, a fact which caused considerable comment. The Prime Minister , Helen Clark , claimed that an early poll was necessary due to the collapse of her junior coalition partner, the Alliance . Critics, however, claimed that Clark could have continued to govern, and that the early election was called to take advantage of Labour's strong position in the polls. Some commentators believe that a mixture of these factors was responsible. Before the election, the Labour Party held 49 seats in parliament. It governed in coalition with the smaller (and more left-wing) Alliance , which had 10 seats. It also relied on support from the Greens , but this was a largely informal arrangement, and the Greens were not a part of the administration itself. Opposing Labour were the National Party (centre-right), New Zealand First ( Radical Centrist and Nationalist ), ACT New Zealand (strongly supportive of the Free Market ), and United Future (centrist). Many opinion polls, indicated that Labour was popular enough to conceivably win an absolute majority, leaving it able to govern without the support of smaller parties. Labour's dominance over National was such that for many people, the question was not whether Labour would win, but whether Labour would receive the absolute majority it sought. THE ELECTION There were 2,670,030 registered voters, the highest number for any election in New Zealand. However, only 77% of these registered voters chose to cast a vote, a considerable drop from previous elections. Many commentators cited Labour's dominance in the polls as a reason for this lack of voting. Many people saw the outcome as inevitable, and so did not bother to vote. SUMMARY OF RESULTS As most people expected, Labour was victorious. It did not, however, receive an absolute majority, gaining only 52 seats (eight seats short of the half-way mark). Labour's former coalition partner, the Alliance (which had splintered shortly before the election), was not returned to parliament. However, the new Progressive Coalition (now the Progressive Party) started by former Alliance leader Jim Anderton won two seats, and remained allied with Labour. The Greens, who were now distanced from Labour over the genetic engineering controversy, gained nine seats (an increase of two). In general, it was a bad election for the parties of the right. The National Party, once referred to as "the natural party of government", suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat, gaining only 21% of the vote. ACT New Zealand , National's more right-wing neighbour, failed to capitalize on the exodus of National supporters, retaining the same number of seats as before. Instead, the most notable gains among opposition parties were made by two centrist parties. One of these was Winston Peters 's New Zealand First party, a Radical Centrist and Nationalist party opposed to Immigration . Strong campaigning by Peters allowed the party to recover from its serious losses in the 1999 Election . The other was United Future New Zealand party, a centrist party based on a merger of the United Party and the Future New Zealand party - primarily due to the performance of leader Peter Dunne , the party shot from having one seat to having eight seats. Once the final distribution of seats was determined, it was clear that Labour would be at the centre of the government, and that it would be allied with the Progressives. However, this still left Labour needing support in matters of confidence and supply, as the two parties together fell short of an absolute majority. Labour expressed a preference for an "agreement" rather than a full coalition, hoping to establish an arrangement similar to the one that existed with the Greens prior to the election. Three realistic choices existed for a partner - the Greens, United Future, and New Zealand First. Labour had repeatedly ruled out deals with New Zealand First during the election campaign, and reaffirmed this soon after the election, leaving just the Greens and United Future as candidates. After a period of negotiation, Labour opted to ally with United Future, being unwilling to change their genetic engineering policies to secure the Green Party's support. Labour and the Progressives remain in power, with support in Confidence And Supply votes from United Future. DETAILED RESULTS National results Table Graph of party vote Electorate results Of the 69 electorates in the 2002 election, a majority (45) were won by the Labour Party. The opposition National Party won 21 electorate seats. Labour dominated the urban areas, where it has traditionally been strongest, while National performed best in rural areas. However, Labour's strong position in this election led to National losing ground in a number of its traditional strongholds. The loss of Otago electorate, a rural area, was one notable example. Labour also dominated in the seven Maori seats. National gained second place in only one Maori electorate, with Labour's main rivals being the Mana Maori Movement , the Greens, and the Alliance. Of the minor parties, only three managed to win electorates, mostly due to the strong personal following of the incumbents. United Future leader Peter Dunne retained his strong support in the Wellington electorate of Ohariu-Belmont, while New Zealand First leader Winston Peters retained Tauranga. Progressive leader Jim Anderton retained the Christchurch seat of Wigram, which he had formerly held as leader of the Alliance. List results Summary of seat changes
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