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New Zealand national politics feature a pervasive Party System . Usually, all Members Of Parliament 's unicameral House Of Representatives belong to a Political Party . Independent MPs occur relatively rarely. Unlike some other democracies, New Zealand no longer has an entrenched Two-party arrangement - while two primary parties do indeed dominate the political landscape, smaller groups can reasonably expect to play a role in government. As Of 2005 , eight parties have representatives in parliament. HISTORY Political parties in New Zealand evolved towards the end of the 19th Century out of interest groups and personal cliques. Most historians regard the Liberal Party , which began its rule in 1891 , as the first real party in New Zealand politics. During the long period of Liberal Party control the party's more conservative opponents founded the Reform Party , forming the original duopoly in the New Zealand parliament. Gradually, Liberal and Reform found themselves working together more often, mostly in opposition to the growing Labour Party . After Labour eventually won office in 1935, the Liberals and Reform came together to form the National Party . Labour and National currently exist as the two main parties of New Zealand politics. Over the years, a number of "third parties" or so-called "minor parties" developed - notably the Social Credit Party , the New Zealand Party , the Values Party , and the Alliance . However, the "first past the post" electoral system meant that no matter how many votes a party gained nation-wide, it could not win a seat without a majority in a particular electorate (voting district). Under such conditions, these parties mostly performed poorly in terms of making an impact in Parliament. With the introduction of the MMP Electoral System for the 1996 elections, however, it became much easier for smaller parties to enter parliament - and more difficult to gain election as a non-party independent. Since the change to MMP, about one third of the seats in Parliament have been held by MPs representing parties other than Labour and National. In the years before MMP, by contrast, there were sometimes no such MPs at all. REGISTRATION OF PARTIES Political parties in New Zealand can be either registered or unregistered. Registered parties must have five-hundred paying members, each eligible to vote in General Election s. If a party registers, it may submit a party list, enabling it to receive party votes in New Zealand's MMP electoral system. Unregistered parties may still nominate candidates for individual electorates, however. PARTIES CURRENTLY IN PARLIAMENT The order in which parties appear in this list corresponds to the number of MPs they Currently have. REGISTERED PARTIES OUTSIDE OF PARLIAMENT Parties listed in alphabetical order: UNREGISTERED PARTIES Parties listed in alphabetical order: HISTORICAL PARTIES Parties which held seats Parties which never held seats SEE ALSO
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