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The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's Head Of Government and is the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament Of New Zealand . Since 5 December 1999 the Prime Minister has been Helen Clark of the Labour Party .


RESPONSIBILITIES AND POWERS

The role of the Prime Minister is not formally defined, being based on constitutional convention rather than specific legislation. According to these conventions, the Prime Minister is leader of Cabinet (itself a body existing by convention), and takes a coordinating role.

The Prime Minister is regarded by convention as " First Among Equals " — he or she does indeed hold the most senior post in the administration, but is also required to adhere to any decisions taken by Cabinet. The actual ability of a Prime Minister to give direct orders is surprisingly limited — most of the position's power comes about through other means, such as:

  • The ability to set the Cabinet agenda, thereby controlling what issues will be discussed.

  • The ability to appoint and dismiss ministers. The extent to which this power can be exercised varies between different parties — for example, the Labour Party places most of this responsibility in the hands of the Caucus , leaving the Prime Minister only with the power to choose which portfolios a minister is given.

  • The influence a Prime Minister is likely to have as leader of the dominant party — these powers may give him or her more direct control over subordinates than is attached to the Prime Minister's role itself.

  • The power gained simply from being central to most significant decision-making, and from being able to comment on and criticise any decisions taken by other ministers.


The Prime Minister also can call elections by notifying the Governor-General .

By convention, the Prime Minister is the leader of the party or coalition of parties which has the most seats in Parliament. There is also a Deputy Prime Minister , who may or may not be from the same party.


HISTORY OF THE OFFICE

The exact origins of the office of Prime Minister are disputed. Use of the words "prime minister" as a descriptive term date back to the 1st Parliament , where they are applied to James FitzGerald and Thomas Forsaith . FitzGerald and Forsaith had no official titles, however, and New Zealand had not yet obtained self-rule. As such, they are not usually considered Prime Ministers in any substantive sense.

The first person to be formally appointed to a position of leadership was Henry Sewell , who formed a government at the beginning of the 2nd Parliament . Despite his formal leadership role, however, his only actual title was Colonial Secretary. His successor, William Fox , was also given a formal leadership role, but was not Colonial Secretary. It was not until Frederick Weld , the sixth person appointed to formal leadership, that a substantive leadership title—Premier—appeared. Weld's successor, Edward Stafford , briefly changed the title to First Minister but it was soon afterwards restored to Premier by William Fox. From that point, Premier became the usual designation. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the term Prime Minister arose as a common alternative to Premier and Richard Seddon used the title almost exclusively. Seddon's successor, William Hall-Jones , was officially appointed Prime Minister rather than Premier. The title ''Prime Minister'' has been used ever since.

Assuming that Sewell is counted as the first Prime Minister, thirty-seven people have held the office since it was established. Some of these people have held it on several different occasions, with the record for maximum number of times being shared between William Fox and Harry Atkinson (both of whom served four times). The longest that anyone has served in the office is thirteen years, a record set by Richard Seddon . The first holder of the office, Henry Sewell , led the country for the shortest total time; his only term lasted only thirteen days (the shortest term actually belonged to Harry Atkinson, whose third term lasted only seven days, but Atkinson served longer than Sewell in total).

New Zealand is also one of the few countries in the world to have had two female Heads Of Government , and one of only two countries to have two females heads of government directly succeed the other.


LIST OF NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTERS



TIMELINE

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The dates in the below timeline are, in some cases, not quite correct. This is deliberate, and is done because some Prime Ministers had a term so short that they wouldn't show up at all unless we exaggerate them.
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id:Ind value:gray(0.8) legend:Independent
id:Lab value:red legend:Labour
id:Lib value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.0) legend:Liberal/United
id:Nat value:blue legend:National
id:Ref value:rgb(0.0,0.8,0.0) legend:Reform

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width:25 fontsize:S textcolor:black
from:start till:20/04/1856 color:Ind text:" Henry Sewell _1856"
from:20/04/1856 till:02/06/1856 color:Ind text:"1856_ William Fox "
from:03/06/1856 till:12/07/1861 color:Ind text:" Edward Stafford _1856-1861"
from:12/07/1861 till:06/08/1862 color:Ind text:"1861-1862_ William Fox "
from:06/08/1862 till:30/10/1863 color:Ind text:" Alfred Domett _1862-1863"
from:30/10/1863 till:24/11/1864 color:Ind text:"1863-1864_ Frederick Whitaker "
from:24/11/1864 till:16/10/1865 color:Ind text:" Frederick Weld _1864-1865"
from:16/10/1865 till:28/06/1869 color:Ind text:"1865-1869_ Edward Stafford "
from:28/06/1869 till:10/08/1872 color:Ind text:" William Fox _1869-1872"
from:10/08/1872 till:11/10/1872 color:Ind text:"1872_ Edward Stafford "
from:11/10/1872 till:03/03/1873 color:Ind text:" George Waterhouse _1872-1873"
from:03/03/1873 till:08/05/1873 color:Ind text:"1873_ William Fox "
from:08/05/1873 till:06/07/1875 color:Ind text:" Julius Vogel _1873-1875"
from:06/07/1875 till:15/02/1876 color:Ind text:"1875-1876_ Daniel Pollen "
from:15/02/1876 till:01/09/1876 color:Ind text:" Julius Vogel _1876"
from:01/09/1876 till:13/10/1877 color:Ind text:"1876-1877_ Harry Atkinson "
from:13/10/1877 till:08/10/1879 color:Ind text:" George Grey _1877-1879"
from:08/10/1879 till:21/04/1882 color:Ind text:"1879-1882_ John Hall "
from:21/04/1882 till:25/09/1883 color:Ind text:" Frederick Whitaker _1882-1883"
from:25/09/1883 till:05/06/1884 color:Ind text:"1883-1884_ Harry Atkinson "
from:05/06/1884 till:28/07/1884 color:Ind text:" Robert Stout _1884"
from:28/07/1884 till:03/09/1884 color:Ind text:"1884_ Harry Atkinson "
from:03/09/1884 till:08/10/1887 color:Ind text:" Robert Stout _1884-1887"
from:08/10/1887 till:24/01/1891 color:Ind text:"1887-1891_ Harry Atkinson "
from:24/01/1891 till:27/04/1893 color:Lib text:" John Ballance _1891-1893"
from:27/04/1893 till:10/06/1906 color:Lib text:"1893-1906_ Richard Seddon "
from:10/06/1906 till:06/08/1906 color:Lib text:" William Hall-Jones _1906"
from:06/08/1906 till:28/03/1912 color:Lib text:"1906-1912_ Joseph Ward "
from:28/03/1912 till:10/07/1912 color:Lib text:" Thomas Mackenzie _1912"
from:10/07/1912 till:10/04/1925 color:Ref text:"1912-1925_ William Massey "
from:10/04/1925 till:30/05/1925 color:Ref text:" Francis Bell _1925"
from:30/05/1925 till:10/12/1925 color:Ref text:"1925-1928_ Gordon Coates "
from:10/12/1925 till:28/05/1930 color:Lib text:" Joseph Ward _1925-1930"
from:28/05/1930 till:06/12/1935 color:Lib text:"1930-1935_ George Forbes "
from:06/12/1935 till:27/03/1940 color:Lab text:" Michael Joseph Savage _1935-1940"
from:27/03/1940 till:13/12/1949 color:Lab text:"1940-1949_ Peter Fraser "
from:13/12/1949 till:20/09/1957 color:Nat text:" Sidney Holland _1949-1957"
from:20/09/1957 till:12/12/1957 color:Nat text:"1957-1957_ Keith Holyoake "
from:12/12/1957 till:12/12/1960 color:Lab text:" Walter Nash _1957-1960"
from:12/12/1960 till:07/02/1972 color:Nat text:"1960-1972_ Keith Holyoake "
from:07/02/1972 till:08/12/1972 color:Nat text:" Jack Marshall _1972"
from:08/12/1972 till:06/09/1974 color:Lab text:"1972-1974_ Norman Kirk "
from:06/09/1974 till:12/12/1975 color:Lab text:" Bill Rowling _1974-1975"
from:12/12/1975 till:26/07/1984 color:Nat text:" Robert Muldoon _1975-1984"
from:26/07/1984 till:08/08/1989 color:Lab text:" David Lange _1984-1989"
from:08/08/1989 till:04/09/1990 color:Lab text:" Geoffrey Palmer _1989-1990"
from:04/09/1990 till:02/11/1990 color:Lab text:" Mike Moore _1990"
from:02/11/1990 till:08/12/1997 color:Nat text:" Jim Bolger _1990-1997"
from:08/12/1997 till:05/12/1999 color:Nat text:" Jenny Shipley _1997-1999"
from:05/12/1999 till:end color:Lab text:" Helen Clark _1999-present"




EXTERNAL LINKS