Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand)

thumb|upright=1.25|In parliament, the leader of the Opposition sits near the front to the left of the speaker's chair (annotated)

In New Zealand, the leader of the Official Opposition, commonly described as the leader of the Opposition, is the politician who heads the Official Opposition. Conventionally, they are the leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives that is not in Government (nor provides confidence and supply). This is usually the parliamentary leader of the second-largest caucus in the House of Representatives.

When in the debating chamber the leader of the Opposition sits on the left-hand side of the centre table, in front of the Opposition and directly opposite the prime minister.

The role of the leader of the Opposition dates to the late 19th century, with the first organised political parties, and the office was formally recognised by law in 1933. Although currently mentioned in a number of statutes, the office is not formally established by any act of Parliament, just like the prime minister's role; it is simply a product of the conventions of the Westminster-style parliamentary system. The leader of the Opposition is paid a special salary by virtue of the office, equivalent to that of a Cabinet minister. Directed by the leader, the Opposition may move no-confidence motions to test the Government's majority or the confidence of the House. The leader of the Opposition may be asked by the governor-general to form a new government if the incumbent government is unable to continue in office (e.g. upon a successful no-confidence motion).

Salary

The leader of the Opposition receives a higher salary than other members of the Opposition, being paid the same amount as a Cabinet minister. the Leader of the Opposition's salary is NZ$288,900. It was only when the Liberal Party was formed that any unified leadership appeared in Parliament, and the role of Opposition leader 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. For the first time, an Opposition party came forward as an alternative government.

During the 1910s and 1920s, the role of Official 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. Labour superseded the Liberals as the Official Opposition, and their leader Harry Holland became the leader of the Opposition.

The 1928 general election put the United Party (a remnant of 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 Official 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.

Modern office

The office was first officially recognised by an Act of Parliament in 1933, when a special allowance was conferred on the holder.

List of leaders of the Opposition

A table of leaders is below. Those who also served as prime minister, either before or after being leader of the Opposition, are indicated.

;Key

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan=2|No.

! Leader

! width="75" |Portrait

! colspan=2|Term of office

! Party

! colspan=2|Prime Minister

! 1

| John Ballance

| 75px

| 2 July 1889

| 23 January 1891

| Liberal

| Atkinson 1887–91

! 2

| John Bryce

| 75px

| 23 January 1891

| 31 August 1891

| Conservative

| rowspan=2

| rowspan=2|Ballance 1891–93

! rowspan=2

! rowspan=2|3

| rowspan=2|William Rolleston

| rowspan=2|75px

| rowspan=2|31 August 1891

| rowspan=2|8 November 1893

| rowspan=2|Conservative

| rowspan=2 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| rowspan=3|Seddon 1893–1906

! 4

| William Russell

| 75px

| 26 June 1894

| 3 July 1901

| Conservative

! rowspan=3

! rowspan=5|5

| rowspan=5|William Massey

| rowspan=5|75px

| rowspan=3|11 September 1903

| rowspan=3|February 1909

| rowspan=3|Conservative

| height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| Hall-Jones 1906

| rowspan=2

| rowspan=2|Ward 1906–12

! rowspan=2

| rowspan=2|February 1909

| rowspan=2|10 July 1912

| rowspan=2|Reform

| Mackenzie 1912

! 6

| Joseph Ward

| 75px

| 11 September 1913

| 27 November 1919

| Liberal

| rowspan=2 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| rowspan=3|Massey 1912–25

! 7

| William MacDonald

| 75px

| 21 January 1920

| 31 August 1920

| Liberal

! rowspan=3

! rowspan=3|8

| rowspan=3|Thomas Wilford

| rowspan=3|75px

| rowspan=3|8 September 1920

| rowspan=3|13 August 1925

| rowspan=3|Liberal

| height=40 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| height=5 style="background:;"|

| Bell 1925

| height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| rowspan=5|Coates 1925–28

! 9

| George Forbes

| 75px

| 13 August 1925

| 4 November 1925

| Liberal

| rowspan=4 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

|- bgcolor=white

| colspan=4 align=center| Position vacant

|4 November 1925

|16 June 1926

|—

! 10

| Harry Holland

| 75px

| 16 June 1926

| 18 October 1928

| Labour

| Joseph Ward

| 75px

| 4 December 1928

| 10 December 1928

| United

! rowspan=2

! rowspan=2|11

| rowspan=2|Gordon Coates

| rowspan=2|75px

| rowspan=2|10 December 1928

| rowspan=2|22 September 1931

| rowspan=2|Reform

| height=50 style="background:;"|

| Ward 1928–30

| height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| rowspan=3|Forbes 1930–35

| Harry Holland

| 75px

| 22 September 1931

| 8 October 1933

| Labour

| rowspan=2 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

! 12

| Michael Joseph Savage

| 75px

| 12 October 1933

| 6 December 1935

| Labour

! rowspan=2|

| rowspan=2|George Forbes

| rowspan=2|75px

| 6 December 1935

| 14 May 1936

| United

| rowspan=3

| rowspan=3|Savage 1935–40

| 14 May 1936

| 2 November 1936

| National

| height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

! rowspan=2|13

| rowspan=2|Adam Hamilton

| rowspan=2|75px

| rowspan=2|2 November 1936

| rowspan=2|26 November 1940

| rowspan=2|National

| height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| rowspan=2

| rowspan=2|Fraser 1940–49

! 14

| Sidney Holland

| 75px

| 26 November 1940

| 13 December 1949

| National

! 15

| Peter Fraser

| 75px

| 13 December 1949

| 12 December 1950

| Labour

| style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| rowspan=2|Holland 1949–57

! rowspan=2

! rowspan=2|16

| rowspan=2|Walter Nash

| rowspan=2|75px

| rowspan=2|17 January 1951

| rowspan=2|12 December 1957

| rowspan=2|Labour

| height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| height=15 style="background:;"|

| Holyoake 1957

! 17

| Keith Holyoake

| 75px

| 12 December 1957

| 12 December 1960

| National

| Nash 1957–60

| Walter Nash

| 75px

| 12 December 1960

| 31 March 1963

| Labour

| rowspan=2 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| rowspan=3|Holyoake 1960–72

! 18

| Arnold Nordmeyer

| 75px

| 1 April 1963

| 16 December 1965

| Labour

! rowspan=2

! rowspan=2|19

| rowspan=2|Norman Kirk

| rowspan=2|75px

| rowspan=2|16 December 1965

| rowspan=2|8 December 1972

| rowspan=2|Labour

| height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| height=15 style="background:;"|

| Marshall 1972

! 20

| Jack Marshall

| 75px

| 8 December 1972

| 9 July 1974

| National

| style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| rowspan=2|Kirk 1972–74

! rowspan=2

! rowspan=2|21

| rowspan=2|Robert Muldoon

| rowspan=2|75px

| rowspan=2|9 July 1974

| rowspan=2|12 December 1975

| rowspan=2|National

| height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| height=15 style="background:;"|

| Rowling 1974–75

! 22

| Bill Rowling

| 75px

| 12 December 1975

| 3 February 1983

| Labour

| rowspan=2

| rowspan=2|Muldoon 1975–84

! 23

| David Lange

| 75px

| 3 February 1983

| 26 July 1984

| Labour

| Robert Muldoon

| 75px

| 26 July 1984

| 29 November 1984

| National

| rowspan=2 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| rowspan=3|Lange 1984–89

! 24

| Jim McLay

| 75px

| 29 November 1984

| 26 March 1986

| National

! rowspan=3

! rowspan=3|25

| rowspan=3|Jim Bolger

| rowspan=3|75px

| rowspan=3|26 March 1986

| rowspan=3|2 November 1990

| rowspan=3|National

| height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| height=15 style="background:;"|

| Palmer 1989–90

| height=15 style="background:;"|

| Moore 1990

! 26

| Mike Moore

| 75px

| 2 November 1990

| 1 December 1993

| Labour

| style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| rowspan=2|Bolger 1990–97

! rowspan=2

! rowspan=2|27

| rowspan=2|Helen Clark

| rowspan=2|75px

| rowspan=2|1 December 1993

| rowspan=2|10 December 1999

| rowspan=2|Labour

| height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| height=15 style="background:;"|

| Shipley 1997–99

! 28

| Jenny Shipley

| 75px

| 10 December 1999

| 8 October 2001

| National

| rowspan=4

| rowspan=4|Clark 1999–2008

! 29

| Bill English

| 75px

| 8 October 2001

| 28 October 2003

| National

! 30

| Don Brash

| 75px

| 28 October 2003

| 27 November 2006

| National

! 31

| John Key

| 75px

| 27 November 2006

| 19 November 2008

| National

! 32

| Phil Goff

| 75px

| 19 November 2008

| 13 December 2011

| Labour

| rowspan="5"

| rowspan="5" |Key 2008–16

! 33

| David Shearer

| 75px

| 13 December 2011

| 15 September 2013

| Labour

! 34

| David Cunliffe

| 75px

| 15 September 2013

| 27 September 2014

| Labour

! —

|David Parker

| 75px

| 30 September 2014

| 18 November 2014

| Labour

! height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

! rowspan=2|35

| rowspan=2|Andrew Little

| rowspan=2|75px

| rowspan=2|18 November 2014

| rowspan=2|1 August 2017

| rowspan=2|Labour

! height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| rowspan=2 height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 gray; background:;"|

| rowspan=2|English 2016–17

! 36

| Jacinda Ardern

| 75px

| 1 August 2017

| 26 October 2017

| Labour

! (29)

| Bill English

| 75px

| 26 October 2017

| 27 February 2018

| National

| rowspan=6 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| rowspan=6|Ardern 2017–23

! 37

| Simon Bridges

| 75px

| 27 February 2018

| 22 May 2020

| National

! 38

| Todd Muller

| 75px

| 22 May 2020

| 14 July 2020

| National

! 39

| Judith Collins

| 75px

| 14 July 2020

| 25 November 2021

| National

! —

| Shane Reti

| 75px

| 25 November 2021

| 30 November 2021

| National

! height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

! rowspan=2|40

| rowspan=2|Christopher Luxon

| rowspan=2|75px

| rowspan=2|30 November 2021

| rowspan=2|27 November 2023

| rowspan=2|National

! height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

| style="background:;"|

| Hipkins 2023

! height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:;"|

! 41

| Chris Hipkins

| 75px

| 27 November 2023

| Incumbent

| Labour

! style="background:;"|

| Luxon 2023–present

;Notes

References

External links

People of Parliament – New Zealand Parliament

Salary

Modern office

List of leaders of the Opposition

See also

References

External links