Political history of New Zealand

The political history of New Zealand covers political events and trends related to the history of New Zealand, from the precolonial to the contemporary period, including significant milestones such as the attainment of self-government, transition to Dominion status, and ultimately, independence.

Prior to British colonisation, politics in New Zealand was dominated by Māori chiefs (rangatira) as leaders of iwi and hapu, utilising Māori customs as a political system. New Zealand became a British colony after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Subsequently, a series of conflicts between the colonial government and Māori forces resulted in the alienation and confiscation of large amounts of Māori land.

The Colony of New Zealand was initially directly ruled by the governor. Early settlers desired representative democracy, leading to the first nationwide parliamentary election in 1853. In the 1st Parliament, there was a debate over whether ministers should be chosen by the governor or be responsible to Parliament; parliamentarians prevailed, leading to the formation of the first responsible government in 1856. Similar to Britain, suffrage in New Zealand was initially limited to males over 21 who were British subjects and owned a certain amount of land, effectively excluding Māori from voting rights. In 1867, Māori seats were established, allowing Māori to vote without property qualification. New Zealand granted voting rights to women in 1893, becoming the first self-governing country to do so. The party system in New Zealand began to take shape in the 1890s, prior to which all members of parliament were independents. The Liberal Party, formed in 1891, passed many significant progressive social and economic measures during its 21-year period in government. It was the sole political party until the establishment of the conservative Reform Party in 1909. The Liberal Party declined in the 1920s and became the United Party.

The early 20th-century working class and trade unions, discontent with existing political representation, founded the Labour Party in 1916. After Labour won office in 1935, the United and Reform parties amalgamated to form the National Party, marking the start of a two-party system dominated by Labour and National. Labour expanded New Zealand's welfare state, which was largely maintained by alternating Labour and National governments, until the 1980s when Labour initiated free-market reforms, further advanced by the National government in the 1990s. Third parties did not gain significant power until the electoral system was reformed in 1993, transitioning to a proportional representation system known as mixed-member proportional (MMP). The new MMP system has resulted in a multi-party system, with New Zealand governments since consisting of various parties.