Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index The 1999 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape 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. Preceded by: 1996 election New Zealand elections Followed by: 2002 election Table of contents 1 Background 2 The election 3 Summary of results 4 Detailed results 5 External links Background Before the election, the National Party had an unstable hold on power. After the 1996 elections, 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 however, 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 elections, 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 was carried out on the 27th of November. 2,509,365 people were registered to vote for the elections, 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 thirty-six parties. 760 candidates were put forward on party lists, representing twenty-two parties. Summary of results The 1999 election saw the Labour Party win forty-nine 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 station normally) 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 a total of thirty-nine seats, ten less 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 sixty-three votes). None of the MPs who deserted New Zealand First were returned to parliament. Detailed 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: The number of electorate candidates the party put forward. These are candidates that attempt to win a seat by gaining a majority within a specific voting district. The number of candidates on the party's list. These are candidates who will enter parliament to bring the party up to the number of seats that it is entitled to (as determined by its share of the vote - see below). Note that many list candidates are also electorate candidates, being removed from the list if they are successful in their electorate. After all electorate winners have taken their seats, each party is "topped up" to its level of entitlement with the highest candidates remaining on the party list. The number of party (or list) votes a party won. These votes determine how many seats in parliament a party is entitled to. A representation of these party votes as a percentage of the total number cast. The number of seats a party actually received. How many of the seats won were electorate seats, and how many were list seats used to bring the party up to its entitled strength. Party Electorate candidates List candidates List votes Percentage of list votes Total seats won Seat breakdown Labour Party 67 65 800,199 38.74% 49 41 electorate seats, 8 list seats National Party 65 64 629,932 30.50% 39 22 electorate seats, 17 list seats Alliance 66 60 159,859 7.74% 10 1 electorate seat, 9 list seats ACT 61 65 145,493 7.04% 9 list seats only Green Party 50 54 106,560 5.16% 7 1 electorate seat, 6 list seats New Zealand First 67 40 87,926 4.26% 5 1 electorate seat, 4 list seats Christian Heritage Party 65 64 49,154 2.38% - - Future New Zealand 36 25 23,033 1.12% - - Legalise Cannabis Party 11 17 22,687 1.10% - - United Party 22 12 11,065 0.54% 1 1 electorate seat Libertarianz 0 30 5,949 0.29% - - Mana Maori 7 28 5,190 0.25% - - Mauri Pacific 20 22 4,008 0.19% - - Animals First 16 65 3,244 0.16% - - McGillicuddy Serious Party 16 65 3,191 0.15% - - South Island Party 5 7 2,912 0.14% - - Natural Law Party 30 53 1,712 0.08% - - One New Zealand 1 1 1,311 0.06% - - NMP 15 19 936 0.05% - - Freedom Movement 5 40 454 0.02% - - Peoples Choice Party 2 2 387 0.02% - - Republican Party 5 7 292 0.01% - - 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, fourteen parties participated with 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 thirty-six independent candidates, also unsuccessful. Albany: Murray McCully Manukau East: Ross Robertson Tamaki: Clem Simich Aoraki: Jim Sutton Manurewa: George Hawkins Taranaki-King Country: Shane Ardern Auckland Central: Judith Tizard Maungakiekie: Mark Gosche Taupo: Mark Burton Banks Peninsula: Ruth Dyson Mount Albert: Helen Clark Tauranga: Winston Peters Bay of Plenty: Tony Ryall Mount Roskill: Phil Goff Te Atatu: Chris Carter Christchurch Central: Tim Barnett Napier: Geoff Braybrooke Titirangi: David Cunliffe Christchurch East: Lianne Dalziel Nelson: Nick Smith Tukituki: Rick Barker Clutha-Southland: Bill English New Plymouth: Harry Duynhoven Waimakariri: Clayton Cosgrove Coromandel: Jeanette Fitzsimons North Shore: Wayne Mapp Wairarapa: Georgina Beyer Dunedin North: Pete Hodgson Northcote: Anne Hartley Waitakere: Brian Neeson Dunedin South: David Benson-Pope Northland: John Carter Wellington Central: Marian Hobbs East Coast: Janet Mackey Ohariu-Belmont: Peter Dunne West Coast-Tasman: Damien O'Connor Epsom: Richard Worth Otago: Gavan Herlihy Wanganui: Jill Pettis Hamilton East: Tony Steel Otaki: Judy Keall Whangarei: Phil Heatley Hamilton West: Martin Gallagher Pakuranga: Maurice Williamson Wigram: Jim Anderton Hunua: Warren Kyd Palmerston North: Steve Maharey Hauraki: John Tamihere Of the sixty-seven electorates in the 1999 elections, a majority (forty-one) 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 elections. The governing National Party won twenty-two 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. Hutt South: Trevor Mallard Port Waikato: Paul Hutchison Ikaroa-Rawhiti: Parekura Horomia Ilam: Gerry Brownlee Rakaia: Jenny Shipley Te Tai Hauauru: Nanaia Mahuta Invercargill: Mark Peck Rangitikei: Simon Power Te Tai Tokerau: Dover Samuels Kaikoura: Lynda Scott Rimutaka: Paul Swain Te Tai Tonga: Mahara Okeroa Karapiro: Lindsay Tisch Rodney: Lockwood Smith Waiariki: Mita Ririnui Mana: Graham Kelly Rongotai: Annette King Mangere: Taito Philip Field Rotorua: Stephanie Chadwick External links Chief Electoral Office report New Zealand Election Survey report This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.