Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand)

File:NZ House of Representatives seating infographic.png

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).<ref name="glossary">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="NZ_Parliament_People">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="radionz" />

Since 1936, the leader of the Opposition, as well as the prime minister, has invariably come from one of the two major parties, Labour or National. Therefore the leader of the Opposition has historically acquired that role by either losing a general election having previously been prime minister or by acquiring the leadership of the party that is already the Official Opposition. The rules on electing party leadership vary between parties.

Since the outcome of the 2023 general election, the current holder of the office is the leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and former prime minister Chris Hipkins.

Role

Template:Further The term "opposition" has a specific meaning in the parliamentary sense; it is an important component of the Westminster system, with the Official Opposition having the task of directing criticism towards the Government. The leader of the Opposition chairs a Shadow Cabinet, which scrutinises the policies and actions of the Cabinet led by the prime minister, and promotes alternative policies.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Directed by the leader, the Opposition may move no-confidence motions to test the Government's majority or the confidence of the House.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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).<ref name="parliament"/>

Apart from parliamentary duties, 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 of national security.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:As of the Leader of the Opposition's salary is NZ$288,900.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="radionz"/>Template:Update inline In addition, like all other members of parliament, the leader of the Opposition receives annual allowances for travel and lodging.

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 identified as the leader of the Opposition. Prominent members were sometimes informally dubbed as "Leader of the Opposition" – often facetiously by rival politicians.<ref name="parliament">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="parliament"/>

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. Their opponents gradually coalesced around a leader, William Massey, who became leader of the Opposition in 1903, and in 1909 became the first parliamentary leader of the new Reform Party.<ref name="Massey">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For the first time, an Opposition party came forward as an alternative government.<ref name="Massey"/> After this, the leader of the Opposition was typically the parliamentary leader of the largest party in the House of Representatives that had not undertaken to support the government of the day.Template:Citation needed

One exception to this was during World War I, when the opposition Liberal Party accepted the governing Reform Party's offer to form a wartime coalition. Prime Minister Massey also extended the offer to the new Labour Party who rejected it. This made Labour the largest party not in government, however their leader Alfred Hindmarsh was not officially recognised as the leader of the Opposition. Joseph Ward, who became deputy prime minister in the wartime cabinet, still retained the title, albeit in name only.<ref name="DNZB Ward">Template:DNZB</ref>

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.<ref name="DNZB Holland">Template:DNZB</ref>

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.<ref name="parliament"/>

With the introduction of the mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting system, first used in the 1996 general election, the nature of parliamentary 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 general election, 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 revival of the National Party in the 2005 general election, a more traditional relationship between Government and Opposition has been restored. According to Parliamentary Services, the leader of the Opposition formally represents and speaks for all parties that are outside Government.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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

No.		Leader Template:Small Template:Small	Portrait	Term of office		Party	Prime Minister
Template:Party color cell	1	John Ballance Template:Small Template:Small	File:John Ballance 1880.jpg	2 July 1889	23 January 1891	Liberal	Template:Party color cell	Atkinson 1887–91
Template:Party color cell	2	John Bryce Template:Small Template:Small	File:JohnBryce.jpg	23 January 1891	31 August 1891	Conservative	rowspan=2 Template:Party color cell	Ballance 1891–93
rowspan=2 Template:Party color cell	3	William Rolleston Template:Small Template:Small	File:William Rolleston (cropped).jpg	31 August 1891	8 November 1893	Conservative
rowspan=2 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|							Seddon 1893–1906
Template:Party color cell	4	William Russell Template:Small Template:Small	File:William Russell Russell.jpg	26 June 1894	3 July 1901	Conservative
rowspan=3 Template:Party color cell	5	William Massey Template:Small Template:Small	File:William Ferguson Massey 1919.jpg	11 September 1903	February 1909	Conservative		height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|
Template:Party color cell							Hall-Jones 1906
rowspan=2 Template:Party color cell							Ward 1906–12
rowspan=2 Template:Party color cell				February 1909	10 July 1912	Reform
Template:Party color cell							Mackenzie 1912
Template:Party color cell	6	Joseph Ward Template:Small Template:Small	File:Joseph Ward c. 1906.jpg	11 September 1913	27 November 1919	Liberal	rowspan=2 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|	Massey 1912–25
Template:Party color cell	7	William MacDonald Template:Small Template:Small	File:William Donald Stuart Macdonald, circa 1910.jpg	21 January 1920	31 August 1920Template:Small	Liberal
rowspan=3 Template:Party color cell	8	Thomas Wilford Template:Small Template:Small	File:Thomas Wilford, 1928.jpg	8 September 1920	13 August 1925	Liberal	height=40 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|
height=5 style="background:Template:Party color;"|							Bell 1925
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|							Coates 1925–28
Template:Party color cell	9	George Forbes Template:Small Template:Small	File:George William Forbes.jpg	13 August 1925	4 November 1925	Liberal		rowspan=4 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|
Position vacant Template:Nowrap				4 November 1925	16 June 1926	—
Template:Party color cell	10	Harry Holland Template:Small Template:Small	File:Harry Holland (1925).jpg	16 June 1926	18 October 1928	Labour
Template:Party color cell	Template:Small	Joseph Ward Template:Small Template:Small	File:Joseph Ward c. 1906.jpg	4 December 1928	10 December 1928	United
rowspan=2 Template:Party color cell	11	Gordon Coates Template:Small Template:Small	File:Joseph Gordon Coates, 1931.jpg	10 December 1928	22 September 1931	Reform	height=50 style="background:Template:Party color;"|	Ward 1928–30
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|							Forbes 1930–35
Template:Party color cell	Template:Small	Harry Holland Template:Small Template:Small	File:Harry Holland (1925).jpg	22 September 1931	8 October 1933Template:Small	Labour		rowspan=2 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|
Template:Party color cell	12	Michael Joseph Savage Template:Small Template:Small	File:Michael Joseph Savage Portrait (cropped).jpg	12 October 1933	6 December 1935	Labour
Template:Party color cell	Template:Small	George Forbes Template:Small Template:Small	File:George William Forbes.jpg	6 December 1935	14 May 1936	United	rowspan=3 Template:Party color cell	Savage 1935–40
Template:Party color cell				14 May 1936	2 November 1936	National
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|	13	Adam Hamilton Template:Small Template:Small	File:Adam Hamilton, 1930s.jpg	2 November 1936	26 November 1940	National
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|							rowspan=2 Template:Party color cell	Fraser 1940–49
Template:Party color cell	14	Sidney Holland Template:Small Template:Nowrap Template:Nowrap	File:Sidney George Holland (1953) 2.png	26 November 1940	13 December 1949	National
Template:Party color cell	15	Peter Fraser Template:Small Template:Small	File:Peter Fraser.jpg	13 December 1949	12 December 1950Template:Small	Labour	style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|	Holland 1949–57
rowspan=2 Template:Party color cell	16	Walter Nash Template:Small Template:Small	File:Walter Nash (ca 1940s).jpg	17 January 1951	12 December 1957	Labour	height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|
height=15 style="background:Template:Party color;"|							Holyoake 1957
Template:Party color cell	17	Keith Holyoake Template:Small Template:Small	File:Keith Holyoake (crop).jpg	12 December 1957	12 December 1960	National	Template:Party color cell	Nash 1957–60
Template:Party color cell	Template:Small	Walter Nash Template:Small Template:Small	File:Walter Nash (ca 1940s).jpg	12 December 1960	31 March 1963	Labour	rowspan=2 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|	Holyoake 1960–72
Template:Party color cell	18	Arnold Nordmeyer Template:Small Template:Small	File:Arnold Nordmeyer (1950).jpg	1 April 1963	16 December 1965	Labour
rowspan=2 Template:Party color cell	19	Norman Kirk Template:Small Template:Nowrap Template:Nowrap	File:Norman Kirk, crop.jpg	16 December 1965	8 December 1972	Labour	height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|
height=15 style="background:Template:Party color;"|							Marshall 1972
Template:Party color cell	20	Jack Marshall Template:Small Template:Small	File:Jack Marshall, 1972.jpg	8 December 1972	9 July 1974	National	style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|	Kirk 1972–74
rowspan=2 Template:Party color cell	21	Robert Muldoon Template:Small Template:Small	File:Muldoon 1978.jpg	9 July 1974	12 December 1975	National	height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|
height=15 style="background:Template:Party color;"|							Rowling 1974–75
Template:Party color cell	22	Bill Rowling Template:Small Template:Small	File:Bill Rowling, 1974 (crop).jpg	12 December 1975	3 February 1983	Labour	rowspan=2 Template:Party color cell	Muldoon 1975–84
Template:Party color cell	23	David Lange Template:Small Template:Small	File:David Lange (cropped).jpg	3 February 1983	26 July 1984	Labour
Template:Party color cell	Template:Small	Robert Muldoon Template:Small Template:Small	File:Muldoon 1978.jpg	26 July 1984	29 November 1984	National	rowspan=2 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|	Lange 1984–89
Template:Party color cell	24	Jim McLay Template:Small Template:Small	File:Jim McLay (cropped).jpg	29 November 1984	26 March 1986	National
rowspan=3 Template:Party color cell	25	Jim Bolger Template:Small Template:Small	File:Bolger, 1992.jpg	26 March 1986	2 November 1990	National	height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|
height=15 style="background:Template:Party color;"|							Palmer 1989–90
height=15 style="background:Template:Party color;"|							Moore 1990
Template:Party color cell	26	Mike Moore Template:Small Template:Small	File:Mike Moore.jpg	2 November 1990	1 December 1993	Labour	style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|	Bolger 1990–97
rowspan=2 Template:Party color cell	27	Helen Clark Template:Small Template:Small	File:Helen Clark UNDP 2010.jpg	1 December 1993	10 December 1999	Labour	height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|
height=15 style="background:Template:Party color;"|							Shipley 1997–99
Template:Party color cell	28	Jenny Shipley Template:Small Template:Small	File:Jenny Shipley 2013 (crop).jpg	10 December 1999	8 October 2001	National	rowspan=4 Template:Party color cell	Clark 1999–2008
Template:Party color cell	29	Bill English Template:Small Template:Small	File:Bill English KNZM (cropped).jpg	8 October 2001	28 October 2003	National
Template:Party color cell	30	Don Brash Template:Small Template:Small	File:Don.Brash.jpg	28 October 2003	27 November 2006	National
Template:Party color cell	31	John Key Template:Small Template:Small	File:John Key headshot.jpg	27 November 2006	19 November 2008	National
Template:Party color cell	32	Phil Goff Template:Small Template:Small	File:Phil Goff.jpg	19 November 2008	13 December 2011	Labour	rowspan="5" Template:Party color cell	Key 2008–16
Template:Party color cell	33	David Shearer Template:Small Template:Small	File:David Shearer.jpg	13 December 2011	15 September 2013	Labour
Template:Party color cell	34	David Cunliffe Template:Small Template:Small	File:David Cunliffe, 2008.jpg	15 September 2013	27 September 2014	Labour
Template:Party color cell	—	David ParkerTemplate:Efn Template:Small Template:Small Template:Small	File:David Parker.jpg	30 September 2014	18 November 2014	Labour
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|	35	Andrew Little Template:Small Template:Small	File:Andrew Little, 2017.jpg	18 November 2014	1 August 2017	Labour
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|							rowspan=2 height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 gray; background:Template:Party color;"|	English 2016–17
Template:Party color cell	36	Jacinda Ardern Template:Small Template:Small	File:New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in 2018.jpg	1 August 2017	26 October 2017	Labour
Template:Party color cell	(29)	Bill English Template:Small Template:Small	File:Bill English KNZM (cropped).jpg	26 October 2017	27 February 2018	National	rowspan=6 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|	Ardern 2017–23
Template:Party color cell	37	Simon Bridges Template:Small Template:Small	File:Simon-Bridges-Free-Crop.jpg	27 February 2018	22 May 2020	National
Template:Party color cell	38	Todd Muller Template:Small Template:Small	File:Todd Muller.jpg	22 May 2020	14 July 2020	National
Template:Party color cell	39	Judith Collins Template:Small Template:Small	File:Judith Collins.png	14 July 2020	25 November 2021	National
Template:Party color cell	—	Shane RetiTemplate:Efn Template:Small Template:Small Template:Small	File:Shane Reti lays wreath 2021 (cropped).jpg	25 November 2021	30 November 2021	National
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|	40	Christopher Luxon Template:Small Template:Small	File:LUXON, Christopher - Botany (cropped).png	30 November 2021	27 November 2023	National
height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|							style="background:Template:Party color;"|	Hipkins 2023
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|	41	Chris Hipkins Template:Small Template:Small	File:Chris Hipkins NZ Labour (2).jpg	27 November 2023	Incumbent	Labour	style="background:Template:Party color;"|	Luxon 2023–present

Notes

See also

• List of prime ministers of New Zealand

External links

• People of Parliament – New Zealand Parliament