42nd New Zealand Parliament
The 42nd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. Its composition was determined by the 1987 election, and it sat until the 1990 election.
| 42nd Parliament of New Zealand | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
.JPG.webp) | |||||
| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | New Zealand Parliament | ||||
| Term | 16 September 1987 – 6 September 1990 | ||||
| Election | 1987 New Zealand general election | ||||
| Government | Fourth Labour Government | ||||
| House of Representatives | |||||
 | |||||
| Members | 97 | ||||
| Speaker of the House | Kerry Burke | ||||
| Leader of the House | Jonathan Hunt | ||||
| Prime Minister | Mike Moore — Geoffrey Palmer until 3 September 1990 — David Lange until 8 August 1989 | ||||
| Leader of the Opposition | Jim Bolger | ||||
| Sovereign | |||||
| Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||
| Governor-General | Paul Reeves | ||||
| Sessions | |||||
| |||||
The 42nd Parliament was the second (and final) term of the controversial fourth Labour Party government. Initially, the only other party in the 42nd Parliament was the National Party, with the Democratic Party having lost the two seats it held in the 41st Parliament. Later, a dissident Labour MP, Jim Anderton, would found the NewLabour Party in 1989.[1] Due to internal disputes within the Labour Party, there were three Prime Ministers during the 42nd Parliament: David Lange, Geoffrey Palmer, and Mike Moore.
The 42nd Parliament consisted of ninety-seven representatives. At the time, this was the highest number of representatives that Parliament had had, although it would later be exceeded. All of these representatives were chosen by single-member geographical electorates, including four Māori electorates.
Electoral boundaries for the 42nd Parliament
Overview of seats
The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1987 election and at dissolution:
| Affiliation | Members | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| At 1987 election | At dissolution | ||
| Labour | 57 | 56 | |
| Government total | |||
| National | 40 | 40 | |
| NewLabour | Not yet founded | 1 | |
| Opposition total | 40 | 41 | |
| Total |
97 | 97 | |
| Working Government majority | 17 | 15 | |
Notes
- The Working Government majority is calculated as all Government MPs less all other parties.
Initial composition of the 42nd Parliament
The tables below shows the results of the 1987 general election:
Key
Labour National Democrats Mana Motuhake
Table footnotes:
- Cox was first on election night for Manawatu, but lost when special votes were included
- Jim Anderton defected to New Labour in 1989.
- Creech was declared elected by the High Court after an Electoral Petition
Changes during term
There were no by-elections held during the term of the 42nd Parliament.
- Jim Anderton, the Labour MP for Sydenham, quit the Labour Party in protest in 1989 over the economic reforms, known as Rogernomics, of Roger Douglas, the Minister of Finance. He established the NewLabour Party.
Notes
- "Hon Jim Anderton". New Zealand Parliament. p. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
References
- Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.