51st New Zealand Parliament
The 51st New Zealand Parliament was elected at the 2014 general election. This Parliament consists of 121 members and was in place from September 2014 until August 2017, followed by the 2017 New Zealand general election. Following the final vote count John Key was able to continue to lead the Fifth National Government.
The Parliament was elected using a mixed-member proportional representation voting system. Members of Parliament represent 71 geographical electorates: 16 in the South Island, 48 in the North Island and 7 Māori electorates. The remaining members were elected from party lists using the Sainte-Laguë method to realise proportionality. The number of geographical electorates was increased from 70 at the previous election, to account for New Zealand's increasing population.
Electorate boundaries for 51st Parliament
The Representation Commission is tasked with reviewing electorate boundaries every five years following each New Zealand census. The last review was undertaken in 2007 following the 2006 census, and the electorate boundaries determined then were used in both the and general elections.The next census was scheduled for 8 March 2011, but it was postponed due to the disruption caused by the 2011 Christchurch earthquake on 22 February. The census was formally conducted on 5 March 2013 with additional data collection over the following several weeks, Following the census it was determined there would be sufficient time to conduct a boundary review of all electorates.
The boundaries were redrawn based on population distribution and the Māori electoral option, where people of Māori descent can opt to be either on the general or the Māori roll. By law, the South Island must have 16 general electorates, with the number of North Island general and Māori electorates being the respective population in each group divided by one-sixteenth of the South Island general electorate population, within a tolerance of five percent. At the 2011 election, there were 47 North Island general electorates and seven Māori electorates, totalling 70 electorates across the country.
Following significant consultation final boundaries were released by the Representation Commission on 17 April 2014. The 2014 general election was conducted under these boundaries on 20 September 2014. The increase in population in the Auckland region as recorded in the 2013 census meant an extra electorate was required to keep all electorates within five percent of their quota. To accommodate an extra electorate the Electoral Commission proposed major changes in west Auckland by abolishing the Waitakere electorate and establishing two new electorates, namely Kelston and Upper Harbour. Boundaries within Christchurch changed substantially, with several electorates growing and decreasing due to population movement around the city since the 2010–11 Christchurch earthquakes. In particular a dramatic change was seen in the electorates of, and with lesser changes in, and.
2014 general election
Officeholders
Speakers
- Speaker of the House of Representatives: Rt. Hon. David Carter
Party leaders
- Prime Minister of New Zealand :
- * Rt. Hon. John Key
- * Rt. Hon. Bill English :
- *** Hon. Bill English
- *** Hon. Paula Bennett
- Leader of the Opposition :
- * Andrew Little
- * Jacinda Ardern
- ** Deputy Leader of the Opposition :
- *** Annette King
- *** Jacinda Ardern
- *** Kelvin Davis
- Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand:
- * Male Co-leader:
- ** Russel Norman
- ** James Shaw
- * Female Co-leader:
- ** Metiria Turei
- ** Vacant
- New Zealand First: Rt. Hon. Winston Peters
- Māori Party:
- * Male co-leader of the Party: Te Ururoa Flavell
- * Female co-leader of the Party: Marama Fox
- ACT New Zealand: David Seymour
- United Future:
- ** Peter Dunne
- ** Damian Light
Floor leaders
- Leader of the House :
- * Hon. Gerry Brownlee
- * Hon. Simon Bridges
- Shadow Leader of the House : Chris Hipkins
Members
Overview
The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 2014 election and at dissolution:Notes
- The Māori Party, United Future and ACT once again entered into confidence and supply agreements to form a majority, as they did in the previous two parliaments.
- The Working Government majority is calculated as all Government MPs less all other parties.
New Zealand National Party (60)
15 new National Party members were elected, nine from electorates and six from the list. 45 members from the 50th Parliament were returned.
New Zealand Labour Party (32)
The Labour Party won 25.13% of the vote, entitling it to 32 seats. As it won 27 electorates, an additional 5 members were taken from the party list. After the resignation of David Shearer in December 2016, the party's share of seats was reduced to 31 until Raymond Huo was sworn in in March 2017.Three new Labour Party members were elected from the list. 29 members from the 50th Parliament were returned.
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand (14)
The Green Party won 10.7% of the vote, entitling it to 14 seats. As it did not win any electorate, all members were taken from the party list.One new Green Party members were elected, with thirteen members from the 50th Parliament returning.
New Zealand First (11)
won 8.66% of the vote, entitling it to eleven seats from the party list. An additional seat was gained for the party when Winston Peters won the Northland by-election.| Name | Electorate | Term in office | Portfolios & Responsibilities | |
| Winston Peters | 1978–1981; 1984–2008; 2011– |
| ||
| Ron Mark | 1996–2008; 2014– | |||
| Barbara Stewart | 2002–2008; 2011– | |||
| Clayton Mitchell | 2014– | |||
| Darroch Ball | 2014– | |||
| Denis O'Rourke | 2011– | |||
| Fletcher Tabuteau | 2014– | |||
| Mahesh Bindra | 2014– | |||
| Tracey Martin | 2011– | |||
| Pita Paraone | 2002–2008; 2014– | |||
| Richard Prosser | 2011– | |||
| Ria Bond | 2015– |
Māori Party (2)
The Māori Party won 1.32% of the vote, which is short of the 5% threshold. However, the Māori Party won an electorate and will thus be represented by one electorate MP. The 1.32% party vote share entitles the party to two seats, including an MP from the party list.| Name | Electorate | Term in office | Portfolios & Responsibilities | |
| Marama Fox | 2014– |
| ||
| Te Ururoa Flavell | 2005– |
United Future (1)
won 0.22% of the vote, which is short of the 5% threshold. United Future won one electorate and will thus be represented by one electorate MP. Because the 0.22% party vote share would not entitle United Future to any seats, the size of the 51st Parliament was increased to 121 seats.| Name | Electorate | Term in office | Portfolios & Responsibilities | |
| Peter Dunne | 1984– |
|
ACT New Zealand (1)
won 0.69% of the vote, which is short of the 5% threshold. ACT won one electorate and was thus represented by one electorate MP. The 0.69% party vote share entitled the party to one seat.| Name | Electorate | Term in office | Portfolios & Responsibilities | |
| David Seymour | 2014– |
|
Summary of changes during term
The following changes occurred in the 51st Parliament:These changes occurred as a result of the elevation of Winston Peters and Jacinda Ardern from their respective party lists to being elected to an electorate seat.
The resignations of John Key and David Cunliffe took place less than six months before the next general election and therefore by-elections to fill the vacancies were not required.