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The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's Head Of Government consequent on being 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 .

The title "Prime Minister" had made its first formal appearance in the 1873 Schedule of the Civil List Act, but originally the Prime Minister was entitled Colonial Secretary or First Minister. This was formally changed in 1869 to "Premier". However, this title too did not last, being informally changed by Richard Seddon to "Prime Minister" in 1901 during his tenure in office, due to New Zealand's self-exclusion from the Federation Of Australia 1. Following the declaration of New Zealand as a Dominion in 1907, the term "Prime Minister" has been used exclusively.

The Prime Minister is supported by the Department Of The Prime Minister And Cabinet , their official residence is Premier House , Tinakori Road, Wellington.


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 co-ordinating 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; the Labour Party , for example, 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. Furthermore, The MMP Electoral System has complicated this, as the Prime Minister may have to consult with another party leader.

  • 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 can call elections by notifying the Governor-General to dissolve Parliament . The Governor-General may reject this advice should an alternative government exist, but so far none have done so.

The post of Prime Minister is, like other ministerial positions, an appointment by the Governor-General "during the Queen's pleasure". However, the convention has long since been established that the Prime Minister must have and retain the support of a majority of Members Of Parliament . Historically, this has meant that the Prime Minister is the parliamentary leader of the largest political party in the House Of Representatives .

The Prime Minister also indirectly holds the power to appoint and recall the Governor-General. By constitutional convention, only the Prime Minister has the right to tender advice to the Sovereign on nominations for the office, and so in effect the Prime Minister may appoint the Governor-General. The Prime Minister may also advise the Queen to recall (dismiss) the Governor-General, so long as the Prime Minister has the support of the House of Representatives, although this power has never been exercised by a Prime Minister in New Zealand (three of the first Governors, however, were recalled).

Within the last fifty years, a convention has also developed of appointing a Deputy Prime Minister . The Deputy typically holds important ministerial portfolios and becomes Acting Prime Minister in the absence or incapacitation of the Prime Minister. The Deputy is commonly a member of the same party as the Prime Minister, but not necessarily so; in coalition Governments, the parliamentary leader of a support party may be offered the post.


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 Second 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). The youngest to hold office was Edward Stafford , who was 37 years old when he became Premier in 1856. The oldest was Walter Nash , who was 75 years old in 1957.

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


See Also: List of New Zealand Prime Ministers by term




TIME LINE

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The dates in the below time line 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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PlotArea = left:0 right:0 bottom:60 top:10
Legend = columns:3 left:205 top:40 columnwidth:150
AlignBars = justify

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:07/03/1856 till:30/07/2007
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical

Colors=
id:canvas value:gray(0.5)
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

Define = align:right shift:(-25,-5)
Define = align:left shift:(25,-5)

Define = align:right shift:(-25,-1)
Define = align:left shift:(25,-1)

PlotData=
mark:(line,white) fontsize:S shift:(25,-5)

width:25 fontsize:S textcolor:black
from:start till:20/04/1856 color:Ind text:"___1856_ Henry Sewell "
from:20/04/1856 till:02/06/1856 color:Ind text:" William Fox 1856"
from:03/06/1856 till:12/07/1861 color:Ind text:"___1856-1861 Edward Stafford "
from:12/07/1861 till:06/08/1862 color:Ind text:" William Fox 1861-1862"
from:06/08/1862 till:30/10/1863 color:Ind text:"___1862-1863 Alfred Domett "
from:30/10/1863 till:24/11/1864 color:Ind text:" Frederick Whitaker 1863-1864"
from:24/11/1864 till:16/10/1865 color:Ind text:"___1864-1865 Frederick Weld "
from:16/10/1865 till:28/06/1869 color:Ind text:" Edward Stafford 1865-1869"
from:28/06/1869 till:10/08/1872 color:Ind text:"___1869-1872 William Fox "
from:10/08/1872 till:11/10/1872 color:Ind text:" Edward Stafford 1872"
from:11/10/1872 till:03/03/1873 color:Ind text:"___1872-1873 George Waterhouse "
from:03/03/1873 till:08/05/1873 color:Ind text:" William Fox 1873"
from:08/05/1873 till:06/07/1875 color:Ind text:"___1873-1875 Julius Vogel "
from:06/07/1875 till:15/02/1876 color:Ind text:" Daniel Pollen 1875-1876"
from:15/02/1876 till:01/09/1876 color:Ind text:"___1876 Julius Vogel "
from:01/09/1876 till:13/10/1877 color:Ind text:" Harry Atkinson 1876-1877"
from:13/10/1877 till:08/10/1879 color:Ind text:"___1877-1879 George Grey "
from:08/10/1879 till:21/04/1882 color:Ind text:" John Hall 1879-1882"
from:21/04/1882 till:25/09/1883 color:Ind text:"___1882-1883 Frederick Whitaker "
from:25/09/1883 till:05/06/1884 color:Ind text:" Harry Atkinson 1883-1884"
from:05/06/1884 till:28/07/1884 color:Ind text:"___1884 Robert Stout "
from:28/07/1884 till:03/09/1884 color:Ind text:" Harry Atkinson 1884"
from:03/09/1884 till:08/10/1887 color:Ind text:"___1884-1887 Robert Stout "
from:08/10/1887 till:24/01/1891 color:Ind text:" Harry Atkinson 1887-1891"
from:24/01/1891 till:27/04/1893 color:Lib text:"___1891-1893 John Ballance "
from:27/04/1893 till:10/06/1906 color:Lib text:" Richard Seddon 1893-1906"
from:10/06/1906 till:06/08/1906 color:Lib text:"___1906 William Hall-Jones "
from:06/08/1906 till:28/03/1912 color:Lib text:" Joseph Ward 1906-1912"
from:28/03/1912 till:10/07/1912 color:Lib text:"___1912 Thomas Mackenzie "
from:10/07/1912 till:10/04/1925 color:Ref text:" William Massey 1912-1925"
from:10/04/1925 till:30/05/1925 color:Ref text:"___1925 Francis Bell "
from:30/05/1925 till:10/12/1925 color:Ref text:" Gordon Coates 1925-1928"
from:10/12/1925 till:28/05/1930 color:Lib text:"___1925-1930 Joseph Ward "
from:28/05/1930 till:06/12/1935 color:Lib text:" George Forbes 1930-1935"
from:06/12/1935 till:27/03/1940 color:Lab text:"___1935-1940 Michael Joseph Savage "
from:27/03/1940 till:13/12/1949 color:Lab text:" Peter Fraser 1940-1949"
from:13/12/1949 till:20/09/1957 color:Nat text:"___1949-1957 Sidney Holland "
from:20/09/1957 till:12/12/1957 color:Nat text:" Keith Holyoake 1957-1957"
from:12/12/1957 till:12/12/1960 color:Lab text:"___1957-1960 Walter Nash "
from:12/12/1960 till:07/02/1972 color:Nat text:" Keith Holyoake 1960-1972"
from:07/02/1972 till:08/12/1972 color:Nat text:"___1972 Jack Marshall "
from:08/12/1972 till:06/09/1974 color:Lab text:" Norman Kirk 1972-1974"
from:06/09/1974 till:12/12/1975 color:Lab text:"___1974-1975 Bill Rowling "
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:"___1984-1989 David Lange "
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:"___1990 Mike Moore "
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:"___1997-1999_ Jenny Shipley "
from:05/12/1999 till:end color:Lab text:" Helen Clark _1999-present"



REFERENCES



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