The 2002 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of Helen Clark's Labour Party government, as well as the worst ever performance by the opposition National Party. Arguably the most controversial issue in the election campaign was the end of a moratorium on genetic engineering, strongly opposed by the Green Party. Some commentators have claimed that the tension between Labour and the Greens on this issue was a more notable part of the campaign than any tension between Labour and its traditional right-wing opponents.

Preceded by:
1999 election 		New Zealand elections Followed by:
2005 election

Table of contents
1 Background
2 The election
3 Summary of results
4 Detailed results
5 External link

Background

On the 12th of June, the government announced that the country would hold a general election on the 27th of July. This was several months earlier than was required, a fact which caused considerable comment. The Prime Minister, Helen Clark, claimed that an early poll was necessary due to the collapse of her junior coalition partner, the Alliance. Critics, however, claim that Clark could have continued to govern, and that the early election was called to take advantage of Labour's strong position in the polls. Some commentators believe that a mixture of these factors was responsible.

Before the election, Labour Party held forty-nine seats in parliament. It governed in coalition with the smaller (and more left-wing) Alliance, which had ten seats. It also relied on support from the Greens, but this was a largely informal arrangement, and the Greens were not a part of the administration itself. Opposing Labour were the National Party (centre-right), New Zealand First (radical centrist and nationalist), ACT New Zealand (strongly supportive of the free market), and the United Future (centrist). Many opinion polls, however, showed that Labour was popular enough that it might conceivably win an absolute majority, leaving it able to govern without the support of smaller parties. Labour's dominance over National was such that for many people, the question was not whether Labour would win, but whether Labour would receive the absolute majority it sought.

The election

The election was carried out on the 27th of July, as scheduled. At the time of the election, there were 2,670,030 registered voters, the highest number for any election in New Zealand. However, only 77.0% of these registered voters chose to cast a vote on election day, a considerable drop from previous elections. Many commentators cited Labour's dominance in the polls as a reason for this lack of voting - many people saw the outcome as inevitable, and so did not bother to vote.

Summary of results

As most people expected, Labour was victorious in the elections. It did not, however, receive an absolute majority, gaining only fifty-two seats (eight seats short of the half-way mark). Labour's former coalition partner, the Alliance (which had splintered shortly before the election), was not returned to parliament. However, the new Progressive Coalition (now the Progressive Party) started by former Alliance leader Jim Anderton won two seats, and remained allied with Labour. The Greens, who were now distanced from Labour over the genetic engineering controversy, gained nine seats (an increase of two).

In general, it was a bad election for the parties of the right. The National Party, once referred to as "the natural party of government", suffered its worst ever electoral defeat, gaining only twenty-one percent of the vote. ACT New Zealand, National's more right-wing neighbour, failed to capitalize on the exodus of National supporters, retaining the same number of seats as before. Instead, the most notable gains among opposition parties were made by two centrist parties. One of these was Winston Peters's New Zealand First party, a radical centrist and nationalist party opposed to immigration - strong campaigning by Peters allowed the party to return from its serious losses in the 1999 election. The other was United Future New Zealand party, a centrist party based on a merger of the United Party and the Future New Zealand party - primarily due to the performance of leader Peter Dunne, the party shot from having one seat to having eight seats.

Once the final distribution of seats was determined, it was clear that Labour would be at the centre of the government, and that it would be allied with the Progressives. However, this still left Labour needing support in matters of confidence and supply, as the two parties together fell short of an absolute majority. Labour expressed a preference for an "agreement" rather than a full coalition, hoping to establish an arrangement similar to the one that existed with the Greens prior to the election. Three realistic choices existed for a partner - the Greens, United Future, and New Zealand First. Labour had repeatedly ruled out deals with New Zealand First during the election campaign, and reaffirmed this soon after the election, leaving just the Greens and United Future as candidates. After a period of negotiation, Labour opted to ally with United Future, being unwilling to change their genetic engineering policies to secure the Green Party's support.

Labour and the Progressives remain in power, with support in confidence and supply votes from United Future.

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:

Party Electorate
candidates 		List
candidates 		List
votes 		Percentage
of list votes 		Total seats won Seat breakdown

Labour Party 69 74 838,219 41.26% 52 45 electorate seats, 7 list seats

National Party 69 65 425,310 20.93% 27 21 electorate seats, 6 list seats

New Zealand First 24 22 210,912 10.38% 13 1 electorate seat, 12 list seats

ACT 56 60 145,078 7.14% 9 list seats only

Green Party 57 65 142,250 7.00% 9 list seats only

United Future 63 60 135,918 6.69% 8 1 electorate seat, 7 list seats

Progressive Coalition 61 61 34,524 1.70% 2 1 electorate seat, 1 list seat

Christian Heritage Party 69 20 27,492 1.35% - -

Outdoor Recreation NZ - 12 25,985 1.28% - -

Alliance 61 48 25,888 1.27% - -

Legalise Cannabis Party 7 12 12,987 0.64% - -

Mana Maori 5 12 4,980 0.25% - -

One New Zealand 9 10 1782 0.09% - -

NMP - 2 274 0.01% - -

In addition to the parties listed above, there were also smaller parties contesting the election. With the exception of the Libertarianz (a registered party that, for disputed reasons, did not submit a party list as it was entitled to), these parties were unregistered, lacking enough members to submit a list and receive party votes. They could, however, submit regular electorate candidates. Sixteen parties put forward electorate candidates without a party list - the most prominent of these were the aforementioned Libertarianz, the Equal Rights Party, Nga Iwi Morehu, and the Anti-Capitalist Alliance.

In addition, there were eighteen independent candidates. None were elected, but one (Mere Mangu) gained second place.

Aoraki:
Jim Sutton 		Manukau East:
Ross Robertson 		Rongotai:
Annette King

Auckland Central:
Judith Tizard 		Manurewa:
George Hawkins 		Rotorua:
Stephanie Chadwick

Banks Peninsula:
Ruth Dyson 		Maungakiekie:
Mark Gosche 		Tamaki:
Clem Simich

Bay of Plenty:
Tony Ryall 		Mount Albert:
Helen Clark 		Taranaki-King Country:
Shane Ardern

Christchurch Central:
Tim Barnett 		Mount Roskill:
Phil Goff 		Taupo:
Mark Burton

Christchurch East:
Lianne Dalziel 		Napier:
Russell Fairbrother 		Tauranga:
Winston Peters

Clevedon:
Judith Collins 		Nelson:
Nick Smith 		Te Atatu:
Chris Carter

Clutha-Southland:
Bill English 		New Lynn:
David Cunliffe 		Tukituki:
Rick Barker

Coromandel:
Sandra Goudie 		New Plymouth:
Harry Duynhoven 		Waimakariri:
Clayton Cosgrove

Dunedin North:
Pete Hodgson 		North Shore:
Wayne Mapp 		Wairarapa:
Georgina Beyer

Dunedin South:
David Benson-Pope 		Northcote:
Anne Hartley 		Waitakere:
Lynne Pillay

East Coast:
Janet Mackey 		Northland:
John Carter 		Wellington Central:
Marian Hobbs

East Coast Bays:
Murray McCully 		Ohariu-Belmont:
Peter Dunne 		West Coast-Tasman:
Damien O'Connor

Epsom:
Richard Worth 		Otago:
David Parker 		Wanganui:
Jill Pettis

Hamilton East:
Dianne Yates 		Otaki:
Darren Hughes 		Whangarei:
Phil Heatley

Hamilton West:
Martin Gallagher 		Pakuranga:
Maurice Williamson 		Wigram:
Jim Anderton

Of the sixty-nine electorates in the 2002 elections, a majority (forty-five) were won by the Labour Party. The opposition National Party won twenty-one electorate seats. As traditional patterns would predict, Labour dominated the urban areas, while National generally performed best in rural electorates. Labour also dominated in the seven Maori seats.

Of the minor parties, only three managed to win electorates, mostly due to the strong personal following of the incumbents. United Future leader Peter Dunne retained his strong support in the Wellington electorate of Ohariu-Belmont, while New Zealand First leader Winston Peters managed to retain Tauranga. Progressive leader Jim Anderton retained the Christchurch seat of Wigram.

 Helensville:
John Key 		Palmerston North:
Steve Maharey 		Ikaroa-Rawhiti:
Parekura Horomia

Hutt South:
Trevor Mallard 		Piako:
Lindsay Tisch 		Tainui:
Nanaia Mahuta

Ilam:
Gerry Brownlee 		Port Waikato:
Paul Hutchison 		Tamaki Makaurau:
John Tamihere

Invercargill:
Mark Peck 		Rakaia:
Brian Connell 		Te Tai Hauauru:
Tariana Turia

Kaikoura:
Lynda Scott

 Rangitikei:
Simon Power 		Te Tai Tokerau:
Dover Samuels

Mana:
Winnie Laban 		Rimutaka:
Paul Swain 		Te Tai Tonga:
Mahara Okeroa

Mangere:
Taito Philip Field 		Rodney:
Lockwood Smith 		Waiariki:
Mita Ririnui

External link