Since the adoption of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 , which granted New Zealand self-governance from Britain, New Zealand has had its own parliament . Regular elections to the New Zealand House of Representatives have been held since the first in 1853 .
This page lists every parliament of New Zealand along with:[ 1] [ 2]
its corresponding general election and the date(s) of that election;
the term for which that parliament met; and
the partisan makeup of each parliament after the introduction of political parties (this does not include later changes to parliamentary composition).
Note that it was not until the election of members of the 8th Parliament in 1881 that all positions were filled on the same day. Until then, polls were held in individual electorates on different days within an election period. Elections for members of Māori electorates , which commenced with supplementary elections in 1868 , were held separately from elections for general electorates until the election of the 30th Parliament in 1951 .
List of parliaments
Key for political party colours (see also: List of political parties in New Zealand )
Parliaments of New Zealand
Parliament
Election
Term of Parliament
Parliamentary makeup (as at date of election)
Year
Date (General)
Date (Māori)
Turnout
Start
End
1st
1853
14 July 1853 – 1 October 1853
—
—
24 May 1854
15 September 1855
37 : In 37
2nd
1855
26 October 1855 – 28 December 1855
—
—
15 April 1856
5 November 1860
37 : In 37
3rd
1860/61
12 December 1860 – 28 March 1861
—
—
3 June 1861
30 October 1865
53 : In 53
4th
1866/1868
12 February 1866 – 6 April 1866
15 April 1868 – 20 June 1868
—
30 June 1866
13 September 1870
70 : In 70
5th
1871
14 January 1871 – 23 February 1871
1 February 1871 – 15 February 1871
—
14 August 1871
21 October 1875
78 : In 78
6th
1875/76
20 December 1875 – 29 January 1876
4 January 1876 – 15 January 1876
—
15 June 1876
11 August 1879
88 : In 88
7th
1879
28 August 1879 – 15 September 1879
8 September 1879
66.50%
24 September 1879
24 September 1881
88 : In 88
8th
1881
8 December 1881
9 December 1881
66.50%
18 May 1882
24 June 1884
95 : In 95
9th
1884
21 July 1884
22 July 1884
60.60%
7 August 1884
10 June 1887
95 : In 95
10th
1887
7 September 1887
26 September 1887
67.10%
6 October 1887
17 September 1890
95 : In 95
11th
1890
27 November 1890
5 December 1890
80.40%
23 January 1891
6 October 1893
74 : Li 40 Co 25 In 9
12th
1893
28 November 1893
20 December 1893
75.20%
21 June 1894
17 October 1896
74 : Li 51 Co 13 In 10
13th
1896
4 December 1896
19 December 1896
76.10%
6 April 1897
23 October 1899
74 : Li 39 Co 26 In 9
14th
1899
6 December 1899
19 December 1899
77.60%
21 June 1900
3 October 1902
74 : Li 49 Co 19 In 6
15th
1902
5 November 1902
22 December 1902
76.70%
29 June 1903
30 October 1905
80 : Li 47 Co 19 In 14
16th
1905
6 December 1905
20 December 1905
83.30%
27 June 1906
10 October 1908
80 : Li 58 Co 16 In 4 _ 2
17th
1908
17 November 1908
2 December 1908
79.80%
10 June 1909
28 October 1911
80 : Li 50 Co 26 _ 1 In 3
18th
1911
7 December 1911
19 December 1911
83.50%
15 February 1912
5 November 1914
80 : Re 37 Li 33 In 6 _ 4
19th
1914
10 December 1914
11 December 1914
84.70%
24 June 1915
5 November 1919
80 : Re 40 Li 34 _ 5 In 1
20th
1919
16 December 1919[ fn 1]
17 December 1919
80.50%
24 June 1920
31 October 1922
80 : Re 45 Li 19 La 8 In 8
21st
1922
6 December 1922
7 December 1922
88.70%
7 February 1923
1 October 1925
80 : Re 37 Li 22 La 17 In 4
22nd
1925
3 November 1925
4 November 1925
90.90%
16 June 1926
9 October 1928
80 : Re 55 La 12 Li 11 In 2
23rd
1928
13 October 1928
14 October 1928
88.10%
4 December 1928
11 November 1931
80 : Un 27 Re 27 La 19 In 6 Co 1
24th
1931
1 December 1931
2 December 1931
83.30%
23 February 1932
26 October 1935
80 : Re 28 La 24 Un 19 In 8 Co 1
25th
1935
26 November 1935[ fn 2]
27 November 1935
90.80%
25 March 1936
16 September 1938
80 : La 53 Re 9 Un 7 In 7 Co 2 _ 2
26th
1938
14 October 1938
15 October 1938
92.90%
27 June 1939
26 August 1943
80 : La 53 Na 25 In 2
27th
1943
24 September 1943[ fn 3]
25 September 1943
82.80%
22 February 1944
12 October 1946
80 : La 45 Na 34 In 1
28th
1946
26 November 1946
27 November 1946
93.50%
24 June 1947
21 October 1949
80 : La 42 Na 38
29th
1949
29 November 1949
30 November 1949
93.50%
27 June 1950
13 July 1951
80 : Na 46 La 34
30th
1951
1 September 1951[ fn 4]
89.10%
25 September 1951
1 October 1954
80 : Na 50 La 30
31st
1954
13 November 1954
91.40%
22 March 1955
25 October 1957
80 : Na 45 La 35
32nd
1957
30 November 1957[ fn 5]
92.90%
21 January 1958
28 October 1960
80 : La 41 Na 39
33rd
1960
26 November 1960[ fn 5]
89.80%
29 June 1961
25 October 1963
80 : Na 46 La 34
34th
1963
30 November 1963[ fn 5]
89.60%
10 June 1964
29 October 1966
80 : Na 45 La 35
35th
1966
26 November 1966[ fn 5]
86.00%
26 April 1967
24 October 1969
80 : Na 44 La 35 Sc 1
36th
1969
29 November 1969[ fn 5]
88.90%
12 March 1970
5 July 1974
84 : Na 45 La 39
37th
1972
25 November 1972[ fn 5]
89.10%
14 February 1973
10 October 1975
87 : La 55 Na 32
38th
1975
29 November 1975[ fn 5]
82.50%
22 June 1976
6 October 1978
87 : Na 55 La 32
39th
1978
25 November 1978[ fn 5]
69.20%[ fn 6]
16 May 1979
23 October 1981
92 : Na 51 La 40 Sc 1
40th
1981
28 November 1981[ fn 5]
91.40%
6 April 1982
14 June 1984
92 : Na 47 La 43 Sc 2
41st
1984
14 July 1984[ fn 7]
93.70%
15 August 1984
29 July 1987
95 : La 56 Na 37 Sc 2
42nd
1987
15 August 1987
89.10%
16 September 1987
6 September 1990
97 : La 57 Na 40
43rd
1990
27 October 1990
85.20%
28 November 1990
23 September 1993
97 : Na 67 La 29 _ 1
44th
1993
6 November 1993
85.20%
21 December 1993
27 August 1996
99 : Na 50 La 45 Al 2 Fi 2
45th
1996
12 October 1996[ fn 8]
88.30%
12 December 1996
5 October 1999
120 : Na 44 La 37 Fi 17 Al 13 Ac 8 _ 1
46th
1999
27 November 1999[ fn 5]
84.10%
20 December 1999
11 June 2002
120 : La 49 Na 39 Al 10 Ac 9 Gr 7 Fi 5 _ 1
47th
2002
27 July 2002[ fn 9]
77.00%
26 August 2002
2 August 2005
120 : La 52 Na 27 Fi 13 Ac 9 Gr 9 Uf 8 Pr 2
48th
2005
17 September 2005
80.90%
7 November 2005
23 September 2008
121 : La 50 Na 48 Fi 7 Gr 6 Mi 4 Uf 3 Ac 2 Pr 1
49th
2008
8 November 2008
78.70%
8 December 2008
6 October 2011
122 : Na 58 La 43 Gr 9 Mi 5 Ac 5 Uf 1 Pr 1
50th
2011
26 November 2011[ fn 5]
74.20%
20 December 2011
31 July 2014
121 : Na 59 La 34 Gr 14 Fi 8 Mi 3 Ac 1 Uf 1 _ 1
51st
2014
20 September 2014
77.90%
20 October 2014
18 August 2017
121 : Na 60 La 32 Gr 14 Fi 11 Mi 2 Ac 1 Uf 1
52nd
2017
23 September 2017
79.80%
7 November 2017
6 September 2020
120 : Na 56 La 46 Fi 9 Gr 8 Ac 1
53rd
2020
17 October 2020
82.50%
25 November 2020
8 September 2023
120 : La 65 Na 33 Gr 10 Ac 10 Mi 2
54th
2023
14 October 2023
78.20%
5 December 2023
Current
123 : Na 49 La 34 Gr 15 Ac 11 Fi 8 Mi 6
See also
References
^ Delayed due to World War I .
^ Delayed in hopes of better economic conditions.
^ Delayed due to World War II .
^ Snap election due to waterfront strike .
^ a b c d e f g h i j k General election held on last Saturday of November.
^ Due to major problems with the enrolment process, commentators generally consider that the 1978 election had a significantly higher turnout than official figures indicate.[ 1]
^ Muldoon 's snap election.
^ Called early to circumvent a by-election in Hawkes Bay .
^ Clark 's snap election.
Components Parliamentary officers
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