Here is my submission for leaders of New Zealand up to the year 2000.
History of New Zealand: 1980-2000
List of Prime Ministers of New Zealand
Sir William Fox (No Party) (1861-1862)
Alfred Domett (No Party) (1862-1863)
Sir Frederick Whitaker (No Party) (1863-1864)
Sir Edward Stafford (No Party) (1864-1869)
Sir William Fox (No Party) (1869-1872) *
Sir Francis Dillon Bell (No Party) (1872-1875)
Sir David Monro (No Party) (1875-1877)+
Sir Charles Clifford, 1st Baronet (No Party) (1877)
Sir William Fitzherbet (No Party (1877-1878)
Sir Charles Clifford, 1st Baronet (No Party) (1878-1886)
Sir George Maurice O'Rorke (No Party) (1886-1889)
Sir William Steward (Liberal) (1889-1892) **
Sir George Maurice O'Rorke (Liberal) (1892-1897)
Sir Robert Arthur Guiness (Liberal) (1897-1901)
Richard Seddon (Liberal) (1901-1906) +
Sir Robert Arthur Guiness (Liberal) (1906-1911) ***
Sir Frederick Lang (Reform) (1911-1920) ****
Sir William Newport (Reform) (1920)
Sir Rupert Scrivener (Liberal) (1920-1922)
Vincent Brimble (NZ Whig) (1922-1923) *****, V*
Nigel Plaskitt (Liberal) (1923-1926)
Malcom Terris (Reform) (1926-1934)
Nigel Plaskitt (Liberal) (1934-1937)
Malcom Terris (National) (1937-1940) V**
Terrance Dicks (Liberal) (1940-1950)
Richard Irvine Hurst (National) (1950-61) +
Lawrence Williams (National) (1961-1963) V***
John Robinson (National) (1963-1964)
Margaret Lewis (Liberal) (1964-1968) V****
Sir Nigel Hughes (Liberal) (1968- 1976) X
Sir Robert Irvine Hurst (National) (1976-1983) X*, X**
John Partridge (Liberal) (1983-1990) X***
Ronald Levin (Liberal) (1990-1993) X****, XV
Jacob Hewit (Liberal) (1993)
Audrey Bevin (Social Democrat) (1993-1995) XV*, XV**
Jacob Hewit (Liberal) (1995)
Jonathan Braxton (National) (1995-2000)
Michael Mateparae (National) (2000-) XV***
*Title officially changed from "Colonial Secretary" to "Premier"
** First Official Political Party, the Liberal Party, Founded in 1891
*** Title officially changed from "Premier" to "Prime Minister" after New Zealand Achieved the status of Dominion
**** The Second Official Political Party, the Reform Party, Founded in 1911
***** The Third Official Political Party, the New Zealand Whig Party, Founded in 1921
V* This is the first coalition government, NZ Whigs and Reform Party
V** The Reform and NZ Whigs combined to form the National Party
V*** Forced out of office by vote of no confidence
V**** First female Prime Minister
X Lost an election due to his opposition to New Zealand's involvement in the war in India
X* The son of former Prime Minister Richard Irvine Hurst
X** In 1980 Prime Minister Robert Irvine Hurst along with a number of other Commonwealth leaders are knighted
X*** Legislature Reform Act of 1984 passed
X**** First Jewish Prime Minister
XV Stepped down after scandal
XV* First Social-Democrat Prime Minister
XV** Removed by a vote of no confidence
XV*** First Ethnic Maori Prime Minister
+ Died in Office
The National Party was very popular after the Pacific War, with Prime Minister Robert Irvine Hurst being Knighted along with other PMs. However this popularity would fade fairly quick due to a post war recession. After the war the National Party was concerned about the state of government debt. In order to bring it back under control after the war the National Party made drastic cuts spending, both social and military. The fairly small economy of New Zealand had become dependent on government spending during the war. After the spending cuts occurred a recession was triggered. A large number of veterans became unemployed and the military was slimmed down the bare necessities to defend the country if attacked. By 1981 unemployment reached 12%, and the Nationals were heavily attacked by the press. PM Hurst hoped to ride out the recession and call for an election when the economy improved. However by the end of 1982 it had not improved, and upon the advice of his cabinet the PM called for an election in April of 1983.
The National Party retained a plurality of seats, but had lost its governing majority. PM Hurst and the leaders of the National Party tried to form a coalition with the Maoris and the Independents, plus any Liberal who would be willing to join. However Liberal Leader, John Partridge, managed to keep his party in line, preventing the Nationals from forming their own coalition government. Partridge formed a coalition government between the Liberals, Social Democrats, and the Maori parties, with himself being elected Prime Minister. The Liberal Party had campaigned on restarting a number of welfare and economic programs shut down by the Nationals. Their two biggest campaign promises were to enact legislature reform, and to begin the biggest infrastructure project in the nations history, an underwater tunnel across the Cook Strait, connecting the north and south islands together, allowing transport between the islands other than sea or air travel.
Legislature reform was enacted in 1984 with the Legislature Reform Act, or LRA. There had been frequent complaints among Kiwis that the Parliament was not representative of the people in its current form. The Legislature had been unicameral since 1950, when it was abolished by an act of Parliament under the government of Richard Irvine Hurst. The LRA would re-establish the senate. It would create 7 senatorial districts across the country, and each district would elect 5 senators, for a total of 35. And each senate district would have 1 seat reserved for the Maori. The LRA also expanded the number of seats in what would become the lower house, referred to as the Assembly, from 93 seats to 125. 5 of these new seats would be reserved for the Maori. The new legislature would come into effect after the next election, which the bill set for 1985.
The 1985 election would increase the numbers of every party, but the Liberals wold gain the most, winning 17 additional seats, and obtaining a plurality. PM Partridge formed another coalition government with the Social Democrats, obtaining 6 more seats than necessary to form a government. The Maori were excluded from this new government because the were no longer needed for a coalition. The Maori party tended to be fiscally liberal, in line with the Liberals and Social Democrats, but socially conservative, which went against both parties.
The Partridge government of 1985 to 1990 would see drastic expansion of government spending. The Social Democrats would push for the restoration of full Universal Health Care, which had been undone in the 1950s, and the introduction of Universal Higher Education. The Liberal-Social Democrat government would get full Universal Health Care restored for New Zealand, but Universal Higher Education was not achieved. In place of that they introduced a lottery scholarship system for lower income families. In this system students from lower income families in Secondary School can sign up to be in a scholarship lottery. Every year a number of these students are chosen to receive full ride scholarships to Universities in New Zealand. This made the Partridge government very popular. However in December, 1989 PM Partridge was diagnosed with Renkin's Disease. Instead of trying to hide it, he called for an election to be held in February 1990, in which he would not seek re-election to his seat. His chosen successor for leadership of the Liberal Party was his Finance Minister, Ronald Levin. This was somewhat controversial because Ronald Levin was Jewish, and numerous conspiracies about international Jewish Bankers plagued the ministry. However this did not seem to faze the New Zealand Public because the Liberal Party would again win a Plurality in 1990, and Ronald Levin would become the first Jewish Prime Minister.
The 1990s saw vast economic growth. At the time, many in New Zealand attributed the economic growth to the programs of the Partridge government. 1991 saw the beginning of the Cook Straight Tunnel Project, or CSTP, which created a large number of construction jobs, and was projected to be finished in 1997. The tech industry grew in New Zealand due to a large number of programmers who were educated in the 1980s, a fair number of whom were helped by the Scholarship Lottery. At first PM Levin was very popular, and his election was seen as a big step for progress. But in 1992 a scandal would erupt around PM Levin. He was connected to a number of money laundering schemes in Europe, where he had a bank account in Switzerland with millions of dollars that had never been taxed or accounted for in New Zealand. In 1993 Ronald Levin stepped down, and was replaced by the Party's deputy leader Jacob Hewit, who immediately called an election.
The election of 1993 saw the National Party win a Plurality of seats for the first time since 1983. The public image of the Liberal Party was tarnished, but they wanted to remain in power. So they agreed to form another coalition government with the Social Democrats and offered them the Prime Ministership, but only on the condition that this Prime Minister calls an election by 1996. The Social-Democrats agreed, and their party leader, Audrey Bevan, became the second female Prime Minister.
The first major action of the Bevan Ministry was to enact a long time goal of the Social Democrats, and implement Universal Higher Education. Their next big action was to nationalize transportation and energy industries. This was not popular with owners of these industries and there was an immediate outcry from the private sector. Many New Zealanders were upset that the Prime Minister was not only from a party that didn't posses a plurality, but wasn't even the second largest party. The national debt began to rise as more and more welfare programs were expanded. In January of 1995 numerous international lending institutions downgraded New Zealand's credit rating, which resulted in its interest rates on debt to nearly double. The economy had been growing in the early 90s, but by 1995 the economy had begun to slow down, but still growing. Despite increased tax revenue from increased economic growth the Social-Democrat lead government continued to spend beyond tax revenues. In the summer of 1995 a number of creditors gave the New Zealand government an ultimatum: either get your finances in order, or no more credit will be given. PM Bevan threatened reneg on the debt, and in private contemplated monetizing it. The Liberal Party left the governing coalition and called for a vote of no confidence, which removed Audrey Bevan from the Prime Ministership. Liberal Leader Jacob Hewit was elected again as PM and called another election.
The election brought the National Party back into the government for the first time in 12 years. National Party Leader, Jonathan Braxton, was elected as Prime Minister. He and the National Party campaigned on restoring the free market and "Fiscal Sanity" to New Zealand. They privatized the industries that had been nationalized under Audrey Bevan, and walked back other programs that had been expanded under the Liberal-Social Democrat coalition governments. They abolished Universal Higher Education, and reduced the number of winners from the Lower Income Scholarship Lottery. They began a gradual plan to privatize the health industry, hoping to have it completely privatized by 2005. One project that the Nationals kept from the Partridge Government was the Cook Straight Tunnel. After new assessments it was determined that it would not be finished until the year 2001. Despite the increased costs of doing so the Nationals kept the project. The late 90s was a period of calm recovery for the New Zealand Economy, and in the year 2000 the Nationals called an election. This election gave the nationals majority in the parliament, but they kept the Maori in the government along with a few independents.
The biggest development that came out of the 2000 election was Prime Minister Jonathan Braxton stepping down, choosing not the run again. He was the oldest member of the National Party, and was initially given the leadership of the party as an honorary thing. They than gave him the Prime Ministership because he was the least controversial. But he stepped down to retire from politics, and his chosen successor was Michael Mateparae, a 40 year old, ethnic Maori, who was elected outside of the reserved Maori seats. He became the first Maori Prime Minister.
1980 Election
National: 61
Liberal: 17
Social Democrats: 8
Maori: 5
Independent: 2
Governing Party: National
1983 Election
National: 38
Liberal: 32
Social Democrats: 15
Maori: 5
Independent: 3
Governing Coalition: (Liberal-Social Democrat-Maori)
1985 Election
Assembly
Liberal: 49
National: 40
Social Democrats: 20
Maori: 10
Independent: 6
Senate
Liberal: 10
National: 10
Social Democrats: 7
Maori: 7
Independent: 1
Governing Coalition: (Liberal-Social Democrat)
1990 Election
Assembly
Liberal: 51
National: 40
Social Democrats: 21
Maori: 10
Independent: 3
Senate
Liberal: 11
National: 9
Social Democrats: 8
Maori: 7
Governing Coalition: (Liberal-Social Democrat)
1993 Election
Assembly
National: 45
Liberal: 42
Social Democrats: 28
Maori: 10
Independent: 3
Senate
National: 12
Liberal: 8
Social Democrats: 8
Maori: 7
Governing Coalition: (Social Democrat-Liberal)
1995 Election
Assembly
National: 55
Liberal: 40
Social Democrats: 14
Maori: 10
Independent: 6
Senate
National: 16
Liberal: 10
Maori: 7
Social Democrats: 2
Governing Coalition: (National-Maori-Independent)
2000 Election
Assembly
National: 65
Liberal: 40
Maori: 10
Social Democrats: 7
Independent: 3
Senate
National: 18
Liberal: 9
Maori: 7
Social Democrats: 1
Governing Coalition: (National-Maori-Independent)
