4 August, 1990: Mike Moore declines to challenge incumbent New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer for the Labour leadership. Many think this is because, with Palmer's Labour getting crushed in the polls, Moore wants to avoid association with a crushing loss and views defeat as inevitable.
27 October, 1990: The 1990 New Zealand election is held. The result is an unprecedented landslide defeat for the governing Labour Party.
1990 NZ election
Jim Bolger-National: 86+46 52.82%
Geoffery Palmer-Labour: 9-48 28.34%
Jim Anderton-New Labour: 1+1 6.66%
Matiu Rata-Mana Motuhake: 1+1 0.90%
97 seats
49 for majority
Jim Bolger and the center-right National Party take government in New Zealand.