Leader of the New Zealand National Party

The Leader of the National Party is the highest ranked politician within the New Zealand National Party. Under the constitution of the party, they are required to be a member of the House of Representatives.

Leader of the National Party
Incumbent
Judith Collins
since 14 July 2020
Member ofNew Zealand House of Representatives
Term lengthNo fixed term
Inaugural holderAdam Hamilton
Formation2 November 1936
DeputyShane Reti

The current leader of the National Party is Judith Collins.[1]

The previous leader was Todd Muller, who served since his election on 22 May 2020 until his resignation on 14 July 2020.[2] He replaced Simon Bridges.[3]

Selection

Following a general election, or when a vacancy arises, the Parliamentary Section of the National Party (the Caucus) elects a Leader of the Parliamentary Section (that is, the parliamentary leader). After receiving approval by the Board of Directors (the governing body of the Party), the Leader of the Parliamentary Section becomes the Leader of the Party.[4]

Role

The leader organises the business of the party in Parliament. He or she also outwardly represents the party to the general public. Within the party organisation, they must ensure political consensus; the constitution of the National Party states that the leader has "the right to attend any Party meeting or committee meeting and shall be an ex officio member of the Board".[4]

When the National Party is in Government the leader generally becomes the prime minister. In 1949, party leader Sidney Holland became the first prime minister from the National Party.[5]

List of leaders

Of the fourteen people to officially hold the leadership, eight have served as prime minister.

Key:
  National   Labour
PM: Prime Minister
LO: Leader of the Opposition

No. Leader Portrait Electorate Term start Term end Time in office Position Prime Minister
1 Adam Hamilton Wallace 2 November 1936 26 November 1940 4 years, 24 days LO 1936–1940 Savage
2 Sidney Holland Fendalton 26 November 1940 20 September 1957 16 years, 298 days LO 1940–1949 Fraser
PM 1949–1957 Holland
3 Keith Holyoake Pahiatua 20 September 1957 7 February 1972 14 years, 140 days PM 1957 Holyoake
LO 1957–1960 Nash
PM 1960–1972 Holyoake
4 Jack Marshall Karori 7 February 1972 4 July 1974 2 years, 147 days PM 1972 Marshall
LO 1972–1974 Kirk
5 Robert Muldoon Tamaki 4 July 1974 29 November 1984 10 years, 148 days LO 1974–1975 Rowling
PM 1975–1984 Muldoon
LO 1984 Lange
6 Jim McLay Birkenhead 29 November 1984 26 March 1986 1 year, 117 days LO 1984–1986
7 Jim Bolger King Country (1972–96)
Taranaki-King Country (1996–98)		 26 March 1986 8 December 1997 11 years, 257 days LO 1986–1990
Palmer
Moore
PM 1990–1997 Bolger
8 Jenny Shipley Rakaia 8 December 1997 8 October 2001 3 years, 304 days PM 1997–1999 Shipley
LO 1999–2001 Clark
9 Bill English Clutha-Southland 8 October 2001 28 October 2003 2 years, 20 days LO 2001–2003
10 Don Brash List MP 28 October 2003 27 November 2006 3 years and 30 days LO 2003–2006
11 John Key Helensville 27 November 2006 12 December 2016 10 years, 15 days LO 2006–2008
PM 2008–2016 Key
(9) Bill English List MP 12 December 2016 27 February 2018 1 year, 77 days PM 2016–2017 English
LO 2017–2018 Ardern
12 Simon Bridges Tauranga 27 February 2018 22 May 2020 2 years, 85 days LO 2018–2020
13 Todd Muller Bay of Plenty 22 May 2020 14 July 2020 53 days LO 2020
— Nikki Kaye[note 1] Auckland Central 14 July 2020 <1 day Acting LO[6] 2020
14 Judith Collins Papakura 14 July 2020 Incumbent 211 days LO 2020

Notes
  1. Deputy leader who assumed the role of party leader temporarily because of the resignation of the incumbent, serving until the election of a new leader.

See also

References
  1. Sadler, Rachel (14 July 2020). "Judith Collins announced as new National Party leader". Newshub. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  2. Manch, Thomas (13 July 2020). "Todd Muller resigns as leader of the National Party". Stuff. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  3. Kirk, Stacey (27 February 2018). "Simon Bridges emerges as next National Party leader, Nikki Kaye his deputy". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  4. "Constitution and Rules of the New Zealand National Party" (PDF) (26th ed.). New Zealand National Party. 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2020 – via New Zealand Electoral Commission.
  5. "Sidney Holland". nzhistory.govt.nz. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  6. "Nikki Kaye to serve as acting leader of National as MPs rush to Wellington following Muller bombshell". 1 News. TVNZ. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.