| Election | Major parties [1] | Independents and other parties | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | % of votes | Seats | % of votes | Seats | % of votes | Seats [2] | % of votes | |
| 1890 | Liberal [3] 38 | 56.2 | 'Conservative' [4] 25 | 28.9 | independents 7 others 4 |
15.0 | ||
| 1893 | 51 | 57.8 | 13 | 24.5 | independents 6 others 4 |
17.7 | ||
| 1896 | 39 | 46.0 | 25 | 37.4 | independents 6 others 4 |
16.6 | ||
| 1899 | 49 | 52.7 | 19 | 36.6 | independents 2 others 4 |
10.7 | ||
| 1902 | 47 | 51.8 | 19 | 20.6 | independents 10 others 4 |
27.7 | ||
| 1905 | 58 | 53.1 | 16 | 29.7 | independents 6 others 0 |
17.2 | ||
| 1908 | 50 | 58.7 | 26 | 27.8 | 'Labour' [5] 1 | 4.1 | independents 3 others 0 |
9.4 |
| 1911 | 33 | 40.7 | Reform Party 37 | 34.6 | 4 | 8.5 | independents 6 others 0 |
16.2 |
| 1914 | 33 | 43.1 | 41 | 46.9 | 6 | 9.3 | independents 0 others 0 |
0.8 |
| 1919 | 21 | 28.2 | 47 | 36.0 | Labour Party 8 | 23.8 | independents 4 others 0 |
12.1 |
| 1922 | 22 | 26.3 | 37 | 39.4 | 17 | 23.7 | independents 4 others 0 |
10.7 |
| 1925 | 11 | 20.4 | 55 | 46.5 | 12 | 27.3 | independents 2 others 0 |
5.9 |
| 1928 | United Party 27 | 29.8 | 27 | 34.8 | 19 | 26.2 | Country Party 1 independents 6 others 0 |
9.2 |
| 1931 | United-Reform Coalition 51 | 55.4 | 24 | 34.3 | Country Party 1 independents 4, others 0 |
2.3 8.0 |
||
| 1935 | United-Reform ('National') 19 |
32.9 | 53 +Ratana 2 [6] | 46.1 1.0 | Country Party 2 Democrat Party 0 independents 4, others 0 |
2.5 7.8 9.7 |
||
| 1938 | National Party 25 | 40.3 | 53 | 55.8 | independents 2 others 0 |
3.9 | ||
| 1943 | 34 | 42.8 | 45 | 47.6 | Democratic Labour 0 independents 1 others 0 |
4.3 5.4 |
||
| 1946 | 38 | 48.4 | 42 | 51.3 | others 0 | 0.3 | ||
| 1949 | 46 | 51.9 | 34 | 47.2 | others 0 | 1.0 | ||
| 1951 | 50 | 54.0 | 30 | 45.8 | others 0 | 0.2 | ||
| 1954 | 45 | 44.3 | 35 | 44.1 | Social Credit 0 others 0 |
11.1 0.5 |
||
| 1957 | 39 | 44.2 | 41 | 48.3 | Social Credit 0 others 0 |
7.2 0.3 |
||
| 1960 | 46 | 47.6 | 34 | 43.4 | Social Credit 0 others 0 |
8.6 0.4 |
||
| 1963 | 45 | 47.1 | 35 | 43.7 | Social Credit 0 others 0 |
7.9 1.3 |
||
| 1966 | 44 | 43.6 | 35 | 41.4 | Social Credit 1 others 0 |
14.5 0.4 |
||
| 1969 | 45 | 45.2 | 39 | 44.2 | Social Credit 0 others 0 |
9.1 1.5 |
||
| 1972 | 32 | 41.5 | 55 | 48.4 | Social Credit 0 Values 0 others 0 |
6.7 2.0 1.6 |
||
| 1975 | 55 | 47.6 | 32 | 39.6 | Social Credit 0 Values 0 others 0 |
7.4 5.2 0.2 |
||
| 1978 | 51 | 39.8 | 40 | 40.4 | Social Credit 1 Values 0 others 0 |
16.1 2.4 1.3 |
||
| 1981 | 47 | 38.8 | 43 | 39.0 | Social Credit 2 Values 0 others 0 |
20.7 0.2 1.4 |
||
| 1984 | 37 | 35.9 | 56 | 43.0 | Social Credit 2 NZ Party 0 Values 0 others 0 |
7.6 12.3 0.2 1.0 |
||
| 1987 | 40 | 44.0 | 57 | 48.0 | Democrats [7] 0 NZ Party 0 Values 0 Mana Motuhake 0 others 0 |
5.7 0.3 0.1 0.5 1.4 |
||
| 1990 | 67 | 47.8 | 29 | 35.1 | Democrats 0 Mana Motuhake 0 Greens 0 NewLabour 1 others 0 |
1.7 0.6 6.8 5.2 2.8 |
||
| 1993 | 50 | 35.1 | 45 | 34.7 | Alliance [8] 2 NZ First 2 others 0 |
18.2 8.4 3.7 |
||
Table reference notes
[1] Party allegiances and labels were relatively fluid until the late 1930s. The figures from 1890 to 1935 are approximate only. Party allegiances were not included in official election returns until 1957.
[2] It’s difficult to determine the allegiances of the MPs representing the four Māori electorates from 1890 to 1902. We’ve listed these MPs as 'Others' in this column until 1902 and included them in the party figures from 1905.
[3] The Liberal 'Party' was loosely organised (especially at the national level) until at least 1899, and then fragmented in the 1920s. Some members contested the 1922 election as Liberal-Labour, and the 1925 election as National, while others still called themselves Liberals. These factions, joined by some Reform supporters, combined to fight the 1928 election as the United Party.
[4] ‘Conservative’ is the label Liberals gave to their opponents. Some ‘Conservatives’ described themselves as 'Reform' before the Reform Party became an organised national party in 1909.
[5] Seats and votes from 1908 to 1914 are approximate. Before the establishment of the second New Zealand Labour Party in 1916, various 'labour' candidates stood for the Socialist Party (first formed in 1901 to 1902), the Independent Political Labour League (established in 1905), local Labour Representation Committees, the first New Zealand Labour Party (1910 to 1912), the United Labour Party (1912 to 1914), the Social Democratic Party (1913 to 1916), or as 'independent labour'.
[6] The Ratana MPs formally joined Labour's caucus in 1936.
[7] Name changed from Social Credit.
[8] A coalition of the New Labour, Democrat, Green and Mana Motuhake parties.