The 50th New Zealand Parliament was elected at the 2011 general election. It had 121 members (120 seats plus one overhang seat), and was in place from December 2011 until September 2014, followed by the 2014 general election. The first sitting of the 50th Parliament was held on 20 December 2011, where members were sworn in and Lockwood Smith was elected Speaker of the House. This was followed by the speech from the throne on 21 December. John Key continued to lead the Fifth National Government. Following the resignation of Smith, David Carter was elected Speaker.
The Parliament was elected using the mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) voting system. Members of Parliament (MPs) represent 70 geographical electorates: 16 in the South Island, 47 in the North Island and 7 Māori electorates. The remaining 51 members were elected from party lists using the Sainte-Laguë method to realise proportionality.
Electorate boundaries for 50th Parliament
The Representation Commission is tasked with reviewing electorate boundaries every five years following each New Zealand census. The last review was undertaken in 2007 following the 2006 census, and the electorate boundaries determined then were used in both the and 2011 general elections.
The next census was scheduled for 8 March 2011, but it was postponed due to the disruption caused by the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The new date for the census was 5 March 2013, and this allowed enough time to review the electoral boundaries for the 51st New Zealand Parliament prior to the . The Representation Commission undertook the review between October 2013 and April 2014 and changed the boundaries of 46 electorates, created two new electorates in the Auckland area, and abolished one electorate in Auckland. A total of twenty general and five Maori electorates remained unchanged.
2011 general election
The 2011 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2011 and determined the membership of the 50th New Zealand Parliament.
One hundred and twenty-one MPs were elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives, 70 from single-member electorates, including one overhang seat, and 51 from party lists. Since the , New Zealand has used the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system, giving voters two votes: one for a political party and the other for their local electorate MP. A referendum on the voting system was held at the same time as the election, in which 57.8% of voters voted to keep the MMP voting system.
A total of 3,070,847 people were registered to vote in the election, with over 2.2 million votes cast and a turnout of 73.83%—the lowest turnout since 1887. The poor turnout was partially explained with many voters expecting the outcome to be a foregone conclusion, and a similar attitude was observed in , when the Labour Party was well ahead in the polls and a low turnout resulted.
The preliminary results published on election night indicated that the incumbent National Party, led by John Key gained the plurality with 47.99% of the party vote and 60 seats, one seat short of holding a majority. The opposing Labour Party, led by Phil Goff, lost ground winning 27.13% of the vote and 34 seats, while the Green Party won 10.62% of the vote and 13 seats—the biggest share of the party vote for a minor party since 1996. New Zealand First, having won no seats in 2008 due to its failure to either reach the 5% threshold or win an electorate, made a comeback with 6.81% of the vote entitling them to eight seats.
National's confidence and supply partners in the 49th Parliament meanwhile suffered losses. Preliminary results indicated that ACT New Zealand won less than a third of the party vote it received in 2008, reducing from five seats to one. The Māori Party was reduced from five seats to three, as the party vote split between the Māori Party and former Māori Party MP Hone Harawira's Mana Party. United Future lost party votes, but retained their one seat in Parliament.
The poor results for both the Labour Party and ACT resulted in changes to their leaderships. Labour leader Phil Goff and deputy Annette King announced on 29 November 2011 that they had tendered their resignations from the party leadership effective 13 December 2011, with both keeping their electorate representations. ACT leader Don Brash failed to get re-elected to Parliament due to the poor party vote and resigned his party leadership on the night of the election.
On 10 December, the final results were published after the counting of the special votes. The main changes were that the National Party's vote share had decreased to 47.31%, resulting in 59 seats—one less than the 60 based on the preliminary results. The Green Party vote rose to 11.06%, which gained it one seat and is now eligible for 14 seats. The redistribution of the seats means that the lowest-placed National member who qualified based on the preliminary results, Aaron Gilmore (a member of the 49th Parliament), was not returned again. The next person on the Green Party list, Mojo Mathers (a new MP), took the seat.
The Christchurch Central electorate, where the incumbent Brendon Burns (Labour) and Nicky Wagner (National) had received the same number of votes on election night, was won by Wagner with a majority of 45 votes, with Burns thus out of Parliament, as his list position is not high enough. In the electorate, Labour's Carmel Sepuloni achieved a majority of 11 votes as opposed to a 349-vote majority for National's Paula Bennett as indicated by the preliminary results. Sepuloni would not have entered Parliament again without winning the electorate as her list placing was not high enough, meaning that she replaced the lowest-ranked Labour list candidate who qualified based on the preliminary results, Raymond Huo. However, both electorates were subject to a judicial recount at the request of the Labour and National Parties, respectively, due to the tightness of each result. As a result of the recount, Nicky Wagner was confirmed as the winner of Christchurch Central with a majority 47 votes on 14 December, while in Waitakere, the recount swung the seat back to Paula Bennett with a majority of nine votes on 17 December.
On election night, 25 new MPs entered Parliament. With the changes in seats for National and the Green Party once the final count was released, this increased to 26 new MPs, with Mathers having joined the newcomers. The final turnout of enrolled electors was 74.21%.
Members The tables below show the members of the 50th Parliament based on preliminary counts of the 2011 general election.
Overview The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 2011 election and at dissolution:
Affiliation Members At 2011 election At dissolution 59 59 3 3 1 1 1 1Government total 64 64 34 34 14 14 8 7 1 1 Not yet founded 1 Opposition total 57 57 Total 121121 Working Government majority 7 7
New Zealand National Party (59) The National Party won 47.31% of the vote, entitling it to 59 seats. As it won 42 electorates, an additional 17 members were taken from the party list.
Nine new National Party members were elected, six from electorates and three from the party list. Fifty members from the 49th Parliament were returned.
NameElectorate (list if blank)Term in officePortfolios & ResponsibilitiesDavid Carter 1994– Speaker of the House (Jan 2013 onwards) Chairperson, Business Committee (Jan 2013 onwards) Chairperson, Officers of Parliament Committee (Jan 2013 onwards) Minister of Primary Industries (until Jan 2013) Minister of Local Government (Apr 2012 – Jan 2013) Eric RoyInvercargill 1993–2002; 2005– Deputy Speaker of the House Lindsay TischWaikato 1999– Assistant Speaker of the House Ministers in Cabinet John Key Helensville 2002– Prime Minister Minister of Tourism Minister Responsible for Ministerial Services Minister in Charge of the NZ Security Intelligence Service Minister in Charge of the Government Communications Security Bureau Leader of the National PartyBill English Clutha-Southland 1990– Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Finance Deputy Leader of the National PartyGerry Brownlee Ilam 1996– Leader of the House Minister for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority Minister of Transport Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission Steven Joyce 2008– Minister for Economic Development Minister of Science and Innovation Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Associate Minister of FinanceJudith Collins Papakura 2002– Minister of Justice Minister for ACC Minister for Ethnic Affairs Tony Ryall Bay of Plenty 1990– Minister of Health Minister for State Owned Enterprises Hekia Parata 2008– Minister of Education Minister of Pacific Island AffairsChris Finlayson 2005– Attorney-General Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Associate Minister of Maori Affairs Chairperson, Privileges Committee Paula Bennett Waitakere 2005– Minister for Social Development Associate Minister for Housing Minister of Youth Affairs (until Jan 2013) Jonathan Coleman Northcote 2005– Minister of Defence Minister of State Services Associate Minister of Finance Murray McCully East Coast Bays 1987– Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister for Sport and Recreation Anne Tolley East Coast 1999–2002; 2005– Minister of Police Minister of Corrections Deputy Leader of the House Nick Smith Nelson 1990– Minister of Conservation Minister for Housing Tim Groser 2005– Minister of Trade Minister Responsible for International Climate Change Negotiations Minister for Climate Change Issues Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs Amy Adams Selwyn 2008– Minister for Communications and Information Technology Minister for the Environment Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Nathan Guy Ōtaki 2005– Minister for Racing Minister for Primary Industries Craig Foss Tukituki 2005– Minister of Commerce Minister of Broadcasting Associate Minister for ACC Minister of Consumer Affairs Chris Tremain Napier 2005– Minister of Local Government Minister of Internal Affairs Associate Minister of Tourism Simon Bridges Tauranga 2008– Minister of Labour Minister for Energy and Resources Associate Minister for Climate Change Issues Nikki Kaye 2008– Minister for Food Safety Minister of Civil Defence Minister of Youth Affairs Associate Minister of Education Associate Minister of Immigration Ministers outside Cabinet Maurice Williamson Pakuranga 1987– Minister for Building and Construction Minister of Customs Minister for Land Information Minister of Statistics Jo Goodhew 2005– Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector Minister for Senior Citizens Minister of Women's Affairs Associate Minister of Health Associate Minister for Primary Industries Chester Borrows Whanganui 2005– Minister of Courts Associate Minister of Justice Associate Minister of Social Development Michael Woodhouse 2008– Minister of Immigration Minister for Veteran's Affairs Associate Minister of Transport Todd McClay Rotorua 2008– Minister of Revenue Associate Minister of Health Members of Parliament Louise Upston Taupō 2008– Senior Whip Caucus Representative to the National Board of Directors Tim Macindoe Hamilton West 2008– Junior Whip Chairperson, Justice and Electoral Committee Jami-Lee Ross Botany 2011– Junior Whip (Third Whip) Baby of the House (Youngest MP) Deputy-Chairperson, Law and Order Committee Deputy-Chairperson, Transport and Industrial Relations Committee Melissa Lee 2008– Parliamentary Private Secretary for Ethnic Affairs Deputy-Chairperson, Social Services Committee John Hayes Wairarapa 2005– Parliamentary Private Secretary of Foreign Affairs Chairperson, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade CommitteeShane Ardern Taranaki-King Country 1998– Chairperson, Primary Production Committee Chris Auchinvole 2005–