Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party

Leader of the Labour Party
Incumbent Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern since 1 August 2017
Precursor	Andrew Little
Inaugural holder	Alfred Hindmarsh
Formation	7 July 1916
Deputy	Kelvin Davis
Website	Labour Party profile

The Leader of the Labour Party is the highest ranked politician within the Labour Party in New Zealand. The officeholder serves as the parliamentary leader and leading spokesperson of the party. Since 1 August 2017, the office has been held by Jacinda Ardern, who is the MP for Mount Albert.^[1]

Kelvin Davis is the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, elected on 1 August 2017.^[1]

History

The post of Leader of the Labour Party was officially created upon the party's inception in 1916, though the title "Leader" was often substituted and/or complimented with the title "Chairman". In 1935, Michael Joseph Savage became the first ever Labour Prime Minister, following a landslide victory. In 1963, Arnold Nordmeyer became the first Leader of the Labour Party to have been born in New Zealand. Prior to this, three Leaders had been born in Australia and one each in England and Scotland. The most electorally successful Labour Leader to date is Helen Clark, who won three elections in 1999, 2002 and 2005. Clark is also the Labour Party's longest-serving leader, having served for 14 years, 346 days between 1993 and 2008.^[2] Peter Fraser is the longest-serving Labour Prime Minister, serving 9 years, 261 days between 1940 and 1949.

Selection

A new leader is elected whenever a vacancy arises, whether due to resignation, incapacitation, or following a motion of no confidence by the parliamentary caucus.^[3] A shortlist of candidates is nominated from within the caucus. When the position is contested, the Leader is elected in a vote split among the party's caucus, party members and party affiliates (unions) in a 40/40/20 split respectively.^[4] Prior to 2013, the Leader was elected solely by the caucus (this practice remains for the Deputy Leadership). No later than three months following a general election, there must be a caucus vote to endorse the Leader; if the Leader fails to receive endorsement then an election is triggered.^[3]

Role

When the Labour Party forms the Parliamentary Opposition, the Leader of the Party usually acts as the Leader of the Opposition, and chairs a Shadow Cabinet. Concordantly, when the party is in Government, as it currently is, the Leader generally becomes the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Unique to Labour, the party's caucus possesses the right to elect MPs to Cabinet, rather than the Leader choosing them. The practice began following the 1940 leadership election.^[5] Michael Joseph Savage was the only leader to solely appoint his own cabinet following the election victories in 1935 and 1938.

List of leaders

The following is a complete list of Labour Party leaders (including Acting Leaders):

Key:
  Labour   Reform   United   National
PM: Prime Minister
LO: Leader of the Opposition
†: Died in office

No.		Leader (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Electorate	Term Began	Term Ended	Time in Office	Position	Prime Minister
	1	Alfred Hindmarsh (1860–1918)		Wellington South	7 July 1916	13 November 1918†	2 years, 4 months and 6 days	—		Massey
	2	Harry Holland (1868–1933)		Grey (1918–19) Buller (1919-33)	27 August 1919	8 October 1933†	14 years, 1 month and 11 days	—
										Bell
								LO 1926–1928		Coates
								Junior coalition partner 1928–1931		Ward
								LO 1931–1933		Forbes
	3	Michael Joseph Savage (1872–1940)		Auckland West	12 October 1933	27 March 1940†	6 years, 5 months and 15 days	LO 1933–1935
								PM 1935–1940		Savage
	4	Peter Fraser (1884–1950)		Wellington Central (1918–46) Brooklyn (1946-50)	1 April 1940	12 December 1950†	10 years, 8 months and 11 days	PM 1940–1949		Fraser
								LO 1949–1950		Holland
	5	Walter Nash (1882–1968)		Hutt	17 January 1951	31 March 1963	12 years, 2 months and 14 days	LO 1951–1957
										Holyoake
								PM 1957–1960		Nash
								LO 1960–1963		Holyoake
	6	Arnold Nordmeyer (1901–1989)		Island Bay	1 April 1963	16 December 1965	2 years, 8 months and 15 days	LO 1963–1965
	7	Norman Kirk (1923–1974)		Lyttelton (1957–69) Sydenham (1969-74)	16 December 1965	31 August 1974†	8 years, 8 months and 15 days	LO 1965–1972
										Marshall
								PM 1972–1974		Kirk
	-	Hugh Watt(note 1) (1912–1980)		Onehunga	31 August 1974	6 September 1974	7 days	PM 1974		Watt
	8	Bill Rowling (1927–1995)		Tasman	6 September 1974	3 February 1983	8 years, 4 months and 28 days	PM 1974–1975		Rowling
								LO 1975–1983		Muldoon
	9	David Lange (1942–2005)		Mangere	3 February 1983	8 August 1989	6 years, 6 months and 5 days	LO 1983–1984
								PM 1984–1989		Lange
	10	Geoffrey Palmer (1942–)		Christchurch Central	8 August 1989	4 September 1990	1 year and 27 days	PM 1989–1990		Palmer
	11	Mike Moore (1949–)		Christchurch North	4 September 1990	1 December 1993	3 years, 2 months and 27 days	PM 1990		Moore
								LO 1990–1993		Bolger
	12	Helen Clark (1950–)		Mount Albert	1 December 1993	19 November 2008	14 years, 11 months and 18 days	LO 1993–1999
										Shipley
								PM 1999–2008		Clark
	13	Phil Goff (1953–)		Mount Roskill	19 November 2008	13 December 2011	3 years and 24 days	LO 2008–2011		Key
	14	David Shearer (1957–)		Mount Albert	13 December 2011	15 September 2013	1 year, 9 months and 2 days	LO 2011–2013
	15	David Cunliffe (1963–)		New Lynn	15 September 2013	30 September 2014	1 year and 15 days	LO 2013–2014
	-	David Parker(note 1) (1960–)		List MP	30 September 2014	18 November 2014	1 month and 19 days	LO 2014
	16	Andrew Little (1965–)		List MP	18 November 2014	1 August 2017	2 years, 8 months and 14 days	LO 2014–2017
										English
	17	Jacinda Ardern (1980–)		Mount Albert	1 August 2017	Incumbent	1 year, 73 days	LO 2017
								PM 2017–present		Ardern

note 1: Deputy leaders who assumed the role of party leader temporarily because of the death or resignation of the incumbent, serving until the election of a new leader.

See also

• Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party
• Leader of the New Zealand National Party

References