Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand)

New Zealand

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of New Zealand

Constitution Executive (The Crown) Sovereign (Elizabeth II) Governor General (Jerry Mateparae) Executive Council Cabinet Prime Minister (John Key) Public sector organisations Government of New Zealand Legislative (Parliament) Statute of Westminster 1931 Current Parliament (49th) House of Representatives Speaker of the House (Lockwood Smith) Official Opposition Leader of the Opposition (David Shearer) Referendums Elections Parliamentary constituencies Electoral system Electoral reform Last election (2011) Last local body election (2010) Judicial Supreme Court Chief Justice (Dame Sian Elias) Court of Appeal President (Mark O'Regan) High Court District Court Employment Court Environment Court Courts Martial Appeal Court Māori Land Court Waitangi Tribunal Other tribunals and authorities Regions and territories Realm of New Zealand Territorial authorities of New Zealand North Island South Island Stewart Island/Rakiura Chatham Islands General Regions Political culture Māori politics Foreign relations New Zealand's nuclear-free zone Political parties

Other countries · Atlas Politics portal

The Leader of the Opposition in New Zealand is the politician who, at least in theory, commands the support of the non-government bloc of members in the New Zealand Parliament. In the debating chamber the Leader of the Opposition sits directly opposite the Prime Minister. As of 2011 the Leader of the Opposition is David Shearer.

Role

By convention, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest party of the Opposition.

The Leader of the Opposition does not have a large official role, as most of the post's functions are ceremonial. Nevertheless, there are several ways in which the Leader of the Opposition participates directly in affairs of state. Often, these relate to national security matters, which are supposed to transcend party politics - the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, for example, is required to brief the Leader of the Opposition as well as the Prime Minister on certain matters.

The Leader of the Opposition also receives a higher salary than other members of the Opposition, being paid the same amount as a Cabinet Minister.

History

For much of the country's early history, the role was not a formal one. For most of the 19th century, there was rarely any one person who could be considered Leader of the Opposition — those figures who took leading roles in opposing the government of the day were merely "first among equals", and had no formal office. It was only when the Liberal Party was formed that any unified leadership appeared in Parliament, and the role of Leader of the Opposition is generally traced from this point. John Ballance, leader of the Liberals (and later Premier) is usually considered the first Leader of the Opposition in the modern sense.

When Ballance led the Liberals into government in 1891, they faced no formal opposition in a party sense, though certain MPs were styled Leader of the Opposition. However, their opponents gradually coalesced around a leader, William Massey, who became Opposition leader in 1903, and in 1909 became the first leader of the new Reform Party. After this, the Leader of the Opposition would always be the parliamentary leader of the largest party in the House of Representatives that had not undertaken to support the Government of the day.

During the 1910s and 1920s, the role of Opposition alternated between the Liberal and Reform parties. However, the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s, together with a gradual weakening in support for the Liberals, led to a three-party situation by the mid 1920s, with the Labour and Liberal parties having a similar number of seats. After the 1925 Election there was no official Leader of the Opposition until Rex Mason of Labour won the seat of Eden in the by-election held on 15 April 1926.

The 1928 General Election put United (formerly the Liberals) in government for the last time. Reform then became the Opposition, however in 1931 Reform entered into coalition with the Liberals, and Labour then became the Opposition, despite being the third party. The unity of the Coalition, culminating in the formation of the National Party in 1936, created a stable two-party system, with National and Labour alternating between Government and Opposition for much of the remainder of the century.

With the introduction of the MMP voting system, first used in 1996, the nature of opposition has changed. Now, though the leader of the largest non-Government party still becomes the Leader of the Opposition, there will usually be several parties who are "in opposition". An example of this arose after the 2002 elections, when the National Party gained only 27 seats, less than half the 58 seats held by opposition parties. This prompted calls from a number of parties, notably New Zealand First and the Greens, for the abolition or reform of the post. It was argued by these parties that the position had become an "anachronism" in the modern multi-party environment, and that the days of a united opposition bloc were gone. However, with the resurrection of the National Party in the recent 2005 general election, a more traditional relationship between Government and Opposition has been restored.

List of Leaders of the Opposition

A table of Leaders of the Opposition is below. The table begins in 1891, when the first real political party (the Liberals) was founded. Those who also served as Prime Minister, either before or after being Leader of the Opposition, are indicated.

	Name	Served as PM	Took office	Left office	Party
1	John Ballance	Yes	2 July 1889	23 January 1891	Liberal
2	John Bryce		23 January 1891	31 August 1891	None
3	William Rolleston		31 August 1891	8 November 1893	None
4	William Russell		26 June 1894	3 July 1901	None
5	William Massey	Yes	11 September 1903	February 1909	None
	William Massey, continued	Yes	February 1909	10 July 1912	Reform
6	Joseph Ward*, first time	Yes	11 September 1913	27 November 1919	Liberal
7	William MacDonald		21 January 1920	31 August 1920	Liberal
8	Thomas Wilford		8 September 1920	13 August 1925	Liberal
9	George William Forbes, first time	Yes	13 August 1925	4 November 1925	Liberal
Interregnum from 1925 election until after 1926 Eden by-election			4 November 1925	16 June 1926
10	Harry Holland, first time		16 June 1926	18 October 1928	Labour
	Joseph Ward, second time	Yes	4 December 1928	10 December 1928	United (Liberal)
11	Gordon Coates	Yes	10 December 1928	22 September 1931	Reform
	Harry Holland, second time		22 September 1931	8 October 1933	Labour
12	Michael Joseph Savage	Yes	12 October 1933	6 December 1935	Labour
	George William Forbes, second time	Yes	6 December 1935	2 November 1936	United & Reform / National
13	Adam Hamilton		2 November 1936	26 November 1940	National
14	Sidney Holland	Yes	26 November 1940	13 December 1949	National
15	Peter Fraser	Yes	13 December 1949	12 December 1950	Labour
16	Walter Nash, first time	Yes	17 January 1951	12 December 1957	Labour
17	Keith Holyoake	Yes	12 December 1957	12 December 1960	National
	Walter Nash, second time	Yes	12 December 1960	31 March 1963	Labour
18	Arnold Nordmeyer		1 April 1963	16 December 1965	Labour
19	Norman Kirk	Yes	16 December 1965	8 December 1972	Labour
20	Jack Marshall	Yes	8 December 1972	4 July 1974	National
21	Robert Muldoon, first time	Yes	4 July 1974	12 December 1975	National
22	Bill Rowling	Yes	12 December 1975	3 February 1982	Labour
23	David Lange	Yes	3 February 1982	26 July 1984	Labour
	Robert Muldoon, second time	Yes	26 July 1984	29 November 1984	National
24	Jim McLay		29 November 1984	26 March 1986	National
25	Jim Bolger	Yes	26 March 1986	2 November 1990	National
26	Mike Moore	Yes	2 November 1990	1 December 1993	Labour
27	Helen Clark	Yes	1 December 1993	5 December 1999	Labour
28	Jenny Shipley	Yes	5 December 1999	8 October 2001	National
29	Bill English		8 October 2001	28 October 2003	National
30	Don Brash		28 October 2003	27 November 2006	National
31	John Key	Yes	27 November 2006	19 November 2008	National
32	Phil Goff		19 November 2008	13 December 2011	Labour
33	David Shearer		13 December 2011	Present	Labour

* From 4 August 1915 to 21 August 1919, the Reform Party and the Liberal Party formed a joint wartime coalition. Joseph Ward of the Liberals officially remained "Leader of the Opposition", even though he was actually part of the government.