| New Zealand General Election 1999 |
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The 1999 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 46th Session of the New Zealand Parliament . The governing National Party , led by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley , was defeated, being replaced by a coalition of Helen Clark 's Labour Party and the smaller Alliance . This marked an end to nine years of National Party government, and the beginning of the administration which is still in power today. BACKGROUND Before the election, the National Party had an unstable hold on power. After the 1996 Election National had formed a coalition with the populist New Zealand First party and its controversial leader, Winston Peters . Gradually, however, the relationship between the two parties declined, and Peters took his party out of the coalition. A number of New Zealand First MPs deserted Peters, establishing themselves as independents or as members of newly established parties. By forming agreements with these MPs, National was able to keep itself in office, but its control was often unsteady. The Labour Party, which had been in Opposition since losing the 1990 election, presented a strong challenge, particularly due to its agreement with the smaller Alliance party. The two had not previously enjoyed good relations, primarily due to the presence of the NewLabour Party as one of the Alliance's key members. NewLabour had been established by Jim Anderton , a former Labour MP who quit the party in protest over the economic reforms of Roger Douglas , which were often blamed for Labour's election loss in 1990. Gradually, as the Labour Party withdrew from " Rogernomics ", the Alliance (led by Anderton) reduced its hostility towards Labour, but it was not until shortly before the 1999 election that a formal understanding was reached regarding a possible left-wing coalition. This agreement was deemed a necessary step towards building a credible alternative to the National Party. THE ELECTION The election took place on 27 November. 2,509,365 people were registered to vote, and turnout was 84.1%. This was the lowest turnout for some time, although it would drop further in the 2002 Elections . A total of 679 candidates stood for electorate seats, representing 36 parties. 760 candidates were put forward on party lists, representing 22 parties. SUMMARY OF RESULTS Labour Party won 49 seats in parliament. When combined with the ten seats won by the Alliance, the coalition was two seats short of an absolute majority. It was able to form a government with support from the Green Party , which entered parliament for the first time as an independent party (having previously been a part of the Alliance). The Green Party's entry to parliament was by a narrow margin, however - in order to gain seats, it needed to either win 5% of the party vote or win an electorate seat, neither of which the party appeared likely to do. However, when all special votes (that is, votes cast by people who were not able to attend a polling place on the day of the election) were counted, the Greens had narrowly reached not one but both targets - the party's co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons won the electorate of Coromandel , and the party gained 5.16% of the vote. The National Party, while not performing exceptionally poorly, failed to gain enough support to keep it in power. It won 39 seats, ten fewer than the Labour Party. ACT New Zealand , a potential coalition partner for National, gained nine seats. While this was an increase on ACT's previous achievements, it would not have been sufficient to give National victory. National's former coalition partner, New Zealand First, performed poorly, with voters punishing it for the problems in the last government. The party gained less than 5% of the vote, and so would have been removed from parliament had Winston Peters not retained his electorate of Tauranga (something he did by only 63 votes). None of the MPs who deserted New Zealand First were returned to parliament. DETAILED RESULTS National results The table below displays data on the performance of all registered parties which 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, some groups participated in the election without submitting party lists. Many of these were unregistered parties, lacking the necessary membership numbers for submitting a party list. There were, however, three registered ones that did not, for whatever reason, submit a party list. In total, 14 parties nominated electorate candidates only. By number of votes received, the most significant parties to do this were Te Tawharau (registered), Mana Wahine Te Ira Tangata (registered), the Equal Rights Party (unregistered), the Piri Wiri Tua Movement (unregistered), and the Asia Pacific United Party (registered). None of these parties were successful. There were also 36 independent candidates, also unsuccessful. The Mauri Pacific Party , established by a group of defectors from New Zealand First, failed to place even second in the electorates they held. Te Tawharau, which held a seat in parliament thanks to another New Zealand First defector, failed to retain its seat. Electorate results Of the 67 electorates in the 1999 election, a majority (41) were won by the opposition Labour Party. Included in Labour's total are the Maori seats, which it managed to regain after losing them to New Zealand First in the previous election. The governing National Party won 22 electorate seats, slightly less than a third of the total. Four minor parties managed to win electorate seats. This proved important for some - neither New Zealand First nor United would have entered parliament if not for Winston Peters and Peter Dunne retaining their seats. Jim Anderton also retained his seat. The Greens won their first (and, so far, only) electorate seat when Jeanette Fitzsimons took Coromandel, although since the Greens crossed the 5% threshold, this was of less importance than originally thought. List results Summary of seat changes
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