| New Zealand General Election 1996 |
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The 1996 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament . It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new Mixed Member Proportional Electoral System , and produced a parliament considerably more diverse than previous elections. It saw the National Party , led by Jim Bolger , retain its position in government, but only after protracted negotiations with the smaller New Zealand First party to form a coalition. New Zealand First's position as "kingmaker", able to place either of the two major parties into government, was a significant election outcome. CHANGES MID-TERM In the 1993 election, the National Party and the Labour Party had won 50 and 45 seats, respectively. The Alliance and the New Zealand First party had each won two seats. In the approach to MMP, however, there had been considerable rearrangement in parliament, with three new parties being established. As such, the situation just before the 1996 election was markedly from the situation that had been established at the 1993 election. THE ELECTION The date of the 1996 election was 12 October; it was brought forward slightly to avoid the need for a by-election following the resignation of Michael Laws . Of the 2,418,587 people registered to vote, 88.3% turned out to vote. The turnout was a slight improvement on the previous two elections, but still slightly lower than what would have been expected during the 1980s . The number of seats being contested was 120, an increase of 21 from the previous election, but as 55 of the new seats were for list candidates, the number of electorates was reduced considerably and many electorates had their boundaries amended or were abolished. While the number of general seats decreased from 95 (1993) to 60 (1996), the number of Māori seats increased from 4 to 5. SUMMARY OF RESULTS The 1996 election eventually saw a victory for the governing National Party , which won around a third of the vote. The opposition Labour Party won slightly less. The election, however, was not decided by the comparative strengths of the major parties - rather, the smaller New Zealand First party, which won 17 seats, was placed in the position of "kingmaker", able to provide the necessary majority to whichever side it chose. Although predicted by many to ally with Labour, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters eventually chose to form a coalition with National, thus preserving Prime Minister Jim Bolger 's administration. The 1996 election effectively showcased the difference made by the new electoral system. The Alliance and New Zealand First , both of which held two seats each in the old parliament, increased their representation to 13 and 17 seats, respectively, as a result of the change. The new ACT New Zealand also benefited, taking eight seats. The MMP system did not, however, save the United New Zealand party - United was virtually wiped out, retaining only a single seat. The Conservative Party fared even worse, failing to remain in parliament at all. Also notable in the 1996 election campaign was the Christian Coalition , an alliance of the Christian Democrats and the Christian Heritage Party . Although the party had briefly crossed the 5% threshold in some polls, it gained only 4.33% at the election, and therefore did not qualify for proportional representation. With the exception of the Maori Ratana movement, this is the closest that an overtly religious party has come to winning representation in parliament. DETAILED RESULTS National results The table below displays data on the performance of all registered parties that submitted a party list. Parties are listed in order of the number of party votes they received. Displayed on the table are:
In addition to the registered parties listed above, a number of unregistered parties also contested the election. Being unregistered, they could not submit party lists (and thus receive party votes), but they could still stand candidates in individual electorates. Among the parties to do this were the Indigenous Peoples Party, the New Zealand Progressive Party (unrelated to the present-day party of the same name) and the Nga Iwi Morehu Movement. Most unregistered parties stood only a single candidate, with only four parties running in multiple electorates. In total, around 1,500 people voted for candidates from unregistered parties. In addition, 26 independents contested electorate seats. A total of 16,436 people voted for independent candidates. No candidates from unregistered parties managed to win electorate seats, or to be placed second. The same was true of independents. Electorate results The 1996 election was notable for the significant change of electorate boundaries. Because of the introduction of the MMP electoral system, the number of electorates had to be reduced, leading to significant changes. Many electorates were abolished, with their territories being incorporated into completely new districts. More than half of the electorates contested in 1996 were newly constituted, and most of the remainder had seen significant boundary changes. No party managed to win a straight majority of the 65 electorates. The National Party, the governing party, was three seats short of a majority, gaining 30 seats. The Labour Party, in opposition, won 26 electorate seats. New Zealand First won six electorate seats, the highest number of any minor party for over 50 years. The Alliance, ACT and United managed to win one electorate seat each. For United, this was a significant loss - established by break-away MPs from National and Labour, the party entered the election with seven seats, but only Peter Dunne managed to retain his position. For the most part, traditional patterns prevailed when it came to the distribution of electorates - National performed best in rural areas, while Labour was strongest in the cities. A very significant departure from traditional patterns, however, was New Zealand First's capture of all five Maori seats, which had traditionally been Labour strongholds. Although Labour was to reclaim these seats in the subsequent election, Labour's monopoly was no longer so secure as it had been. List results Summary of seat changes
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