Editing Political realignment (section)

==Outside of North America==
{{more citations needed|section|date=August 2020}}

===Asia===
* [[1977 Indian general election]] - [[Janata Party]] victory, defeating the [[Indian National Congress]]
** The left-wing [[Indian National Congress]], which had led the country to independence from the United Kingdom in 1947 and had won every general election since the first post-independence election in 1952, lost power to the [[Janata Party]] led by [[Morarji Desai]], after the immensely unpopular imposition of [[The Emergency (India)|The Emergency]] by [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Indira Gandhi]] in 1975. Both Indira Gandhi and her son [[Sanjay Gandhi|Sanjay]] lost their seats.
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* [[2014 Indian general election]] - [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] victory, defeating the [[Indian National Congress]]
** The Congress party suffered a major decline on both the national and state level, with the BJP occupying the dominant position Congress used to have since.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How the Indian National Congress Lost India |url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/04/how-the-indian-national-congress-lost-india/ }}</ref> Congress was defeated by the BJP again in the [[2019 Indian general election|2019]] and [[2024 Indian general election|2024]] elections. Until 2019, Congress had never been out of power for two consecutive terms.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Decoding Congress failure in the 2019 general election |newspaper=Business Standard India |date=9 June 2019 |url=https://wap.business-standard.com/article-amp/news-ians/decoding-congress-failure-in-the-2019-general-election-comment-119060900163_1.html }}</ref>
* [[1977 Israeli legislative election]]
** [[Likud]] defeated the [[Alignment (political party)|Alignment]], led by the [[Israel Labor Party]], allowing Likud to lead a government for the first time ever. For the first 29 years of Israel's independence, politics had been dominated by the left-wing parties Labor and its predecessor, [[Mapai]]. The leadership of the right, especially Menachem Begin, were considered by the Left to be beyond the pale, and as Ben Gurion had said in the early years of the State, he would enter coalitions with any parties, except the communists and Begin. Prior to this election a hypothetical bloc of right-wing and religious parties would rarely ever approach the threshold of a majority government; however since 1977, a combination of these two blocs have made up the majority of Israel's electorate since then with exceptions of a few elections but no longer running far behind in comparison to pre-1977. Due to corruption in the Labor Party, many former Labor voters defected to the new [[Democratic Movement for Change]], which won 15 seats and finished in third place, behind the Likud with 46 seats and Alignment (Labor plus Mapam) with 32 seats. The DMC collapsed within three years, allowing Labor to rebound at the next election. Labor and Likud dominated Israeli politics until 2003 when Labor went into sudden decline due to a backlash against the failed [[Oslo Accords]] and the outbreak of the [[Second Intifada]].
* [[2000 Taiwanese presidential election]] — [[Chen Shui-bian]]
** Though more popular and consistently ranked higher in the polls, [[James Soong]] failed to gain the ruling [[Kuomintang]]'s (KMT) nomination over incumbent Vice President [[Lien Chan]]. As a result, he announced his candidacy as an independent candidate, and was consequently expelled from the party. The split in the KMT vote resulted in a victory for [[Chen Shui-bian]] of the [[Democratic Progressive Party]], even though he won only 39% of the popular vote. After the election, Soong founded the [[People First Party (Republic of China)|People First Party]], which attracted members from the KMT and the pro-unification [[New Party (Republic of China)|New Party]], which was by that time beginning to fade. Angry from the defeat, the KMT expelled chairman [[Lee Teng-hui]], who was president until 2000 and was widely suspected of causing the KMT split so that Chen would win. Lee then founded the pro-independence [[Taiwan Solidarity Union]]. The impact of these events changed the political landscape of Taiwan. Not only did the KMT lose the presidency for the first time in half a century, but its policies swung away from Lee's influence and it began intra-party reform. The two newly founded parties became far more viable than other minor parties in the past, and the multi-party nature of Taiwan's politics was confirmed by the [[2001 ROC legislative election|legislative elections of 2001]]. The KMT would not return to power until 2008 under the leadership of [[Ma Ying-jeou]].
* [[2002 Turkish general election]] — [[Justice and Development Party (Turkey)|Justice and Development Party]] victory
** This election was notable in that every party in the previous [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey]] was ejected from Parliament, as none of them crossed the 10% threshold. This not only included the governing coalition of the [[Democratic Left Party (Turkey)|Democratic Left Party]], [[Motherland Party (Turkey)|Motherland Party]] and [[Nationalist Movement Party]], but the largest opposition party, the [[True Path Party]]. The AKP, which formed the government following this election, has dominated Turkish politics ever since.
* [[2006 Palestinian legislative election]] ([[Palestinian National Authority]]) — [[Hamas]] victory; [[Ismail Haniyeh]] [[Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority|Prime Minister]]
** In January 2006 the militant [[Hamas]] organisation, classified as a terrorist group by the United States government and other groups, won a landslide victory over the ruling [[Fatah]] party which had been in power under the leadership of former PLO chairman [[Yasser Arafat]]. The [[George W. Bush administration|Bush Administration]], the [[Quartet on the Middle East|Quartet]], and [[Israel]] all threatened to cut off foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas refused to abandon terrorist tactics and recognise the right of the State of Israel to exist. This concession, though discussed in Hamas circles, did not come about soon enough to prevent a serious breakdown in services under Hamas government, and Western (especially American) support of Fatah paramilitaries eventually led to the breakout of the [[Fatah–Hamas conflict]] (termed a "Palestinian Civil War" by some) in December 2006. The Hamas government was suspended by PA President [[Mahmoud Abbas]], a member of Fatah, after some weeks of fighting, and installed a caretaker government under the leadership of [[Salam Fayyad]].

===Europe===

==== United Kingdom ====
* [[1918 United Kingdom general election in Ireland]] — [[Sinn Féin]] victory
** For the previous four decades, Irish politics had been dominated by the moderate [[nationalist]] [[Irish Parliamentary Party]], which sought [[Home Rule]] within the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]. The 1918 general election was a landslide victory for the [[Irish Republicanism|republican]] [[Sinn Féin]] party, which won nearly 70% of the seats. The new Sinn Féin MPs refused to take their seats in the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], and instead set up their own republican assembly called [[First Dáil|Dáil Éireann]]. This assembly issued a [[unilateral declaration of independence]], which led to the start of the [[Irish War of Independence|War of Independence]] and eventually led to Irish independence from the United Kingdom in 1922. The Irish Parliamentary Party never recovered from this defeat. The two largest parties in Ireland, [[Fianna Fáil]] and [[Fine Gael]], originated from splits in the Sinn Féin party which won the election of 1918.
* [[1922 United Kingdom general election]] – [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] forms Loyal Opposition
** For over 200 years, the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]]s and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]s (and their antecedents) had been the UK's two major parties; however, the 1922 general election saw [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] overtake the Liberals in the political landscape. Labour and the Conservatives have been the UK's two major parties since then, and government has alternated only between the two parties ever since.
* [[1979 United Kingdom general election]] – [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] victory; [[Margaret Thatcher]] Prime Minister
** This election brought the Conservatives into government where they remained for eighteen uninterrupted years. Thatcher's policies of [[monetarism]] and [[privatisation]] represented a very different strand of Conservatism to that of previous governments and a bold shift from the [[post-war consensus]] that had existed since 1945. The shockwaves led to a new centrist party being formed by some disenchanted Labour MPs (the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|SDP]]) in 1981, and a long period in opposition for [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]], during which they abandoned many socialist policies (notably [[Clause IV]] which advocated [[nationalisation|common ownership]]) and were transformed into "[[New Labour]]" before they returned to government in a landslide victory at the 1997 general election under the leadership of [[Tony Blair]]. At a more base level, it led to a shift in voting patterns as the traditional class-based voting started to break down and many of the working classes (in particular skilled workers, homeowners and those in southern England) voted Conservative, whilst at the same time many public sector professionals shifted their support to Labour.
* [[2015 United Kingdom general election]]
**The election saw [[Euroscepticism]] and [[Scottish Nationalism]] emerge as major forces in the UK political discourse, with the [[UK Independence Party]] and [[Scottish National Party]] finishing third in the popular vote and seat count respectively, and the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], the country's traditional third-party, losing 49 of the 57 seats it had won at the previous general election. The SNP's victories, largely at the expense of the Scottish Labour and Liberal Democrat parties, established them as the dominant party in Scotland's electoral politics, a position they have since maintained. UKIP did not continue to enjoy electoral success (in part because they only won a single seat despite finishing third in the popular vote) and rapidly declined thereafter, but many of their policies were subsequently adopted by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], who formed a majority government for the first time since 1992.
* [[2019 United Kingdom general election]] – Conservative victory; [[Boris Johnson]] Prime Minister
** The [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] won a [[landslide victory]] over the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], winning many seats in the [[Red wall (British politics)|red wall]], including seats that have never voted Conservative for over a century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Results of the 2019 General Election |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2019/results |access-date=2021-01-02 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> This was repeated again in 2021 local elections for mayoral and council elections, where the Conservatives made large gains in red wall areas but Labour (along with the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] and the [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]]) made gains in the south of England, with more educated voters.

==== Ireland ====
* [[1932 Irish general election]] – [[Fianna Fáil]] victory; [[Éamon de Valera]] [[President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State|President of the Executive Council]]
** This election resulted in Fianna Fáil, led by Éamon de Valera, becoming the largest party in [[Dáil Éireann]] for the first time. Fianna Fáil remained in power for the next sixteen years and remained the largest party in the Dáil for the next 79 years, serving as the government more than 58 of those years.
* [[2011 Irish general election]]
** [[Fianna Fáil]], who had governed Ireland for most of the post-independence era, were heavily defeated at the election following anger over the Irish financial crisis. For the first time, [[Fine Gael]] overtook Fianna Fáil to win the most votes and seats, while Fianna Fáil fell from first place to third place, in terms of both votes and seats. Fine Gael and the second largest party in the [[Dáil Éireann|Dáil]], the [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] formed a coalition government.
* [[2020 Irish general election]]
**This election resulted in the three largest parties each winning a share of the vote between 20% and 25%, along with the best result for [[Sinn Féin]] since 1923 (37 of the 160 seats) (before the formation of [[Fianna Fáil]]). Along with the two dominant parties [[Fine Gael]] and [[Fianna Fáil]] not having enough seats between them (38 and 35 respectively) to have a majority (at least 80 seats needed out of 160 seats), this election resulted in a break from a two-party dominant legislature, with something closer to a three party result.

==== Denmark ====
*[[1973 Danish general election]] – [[Poul Hartling]] [[Prime Minister of Denmark|Prime Minister]]
** The 1973 Danish general election is referred to as the ''Landslide Election'' ({{langx|da|Jordskredsvalget}}), as five new or previously unrepresented parties won seats, and more than half the members of the parliament were replaced. The [[Social Democrats (Denmark)|Social Democratic Party]], which had led a minority government until this election, lost one-third of their seats. After the election, [[Poul Hartling]], the leader of the liberal [[Venstre (Denmark)|Venstre]], formed the smallest minority government in Danish history with only 22 seats, supported by the [[Progress Party (Denmark)|Progress Party]], the [[Conservative People's Party (Denmark)|Conservative People's Party]], the [[Social Liberal Party (Denmark)|Social Liberal Party]], the [[Centrum-Demokraterne|Centre Democrats]] and the [[Christian People's Party (Denmark)|Christian People's Party]].

==== Spain ====
* [[1982 Spanish general election]] – [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]] (PSOE) victory
** This election saw the ruling [[Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain)|Union of the Democratic Centre]] (UCD), the party that had shepherded the country through its [[Spanish transition to democracy|transition to democracy]], nearly wiped out. The UCD fell to only 11 seats, being replaced as the main non-socialist party by the [[People's Alliance (Spain)|People's Alliance]] (AP), and would dissolve itself as a party shortly after the election. The PSOE and AP – later transformed into the [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]] (PP) – would go on to dominate Spanish politics for the next three decades. At the same time, the PSOE would establish itself as the [[Dominant-party system|dominant party]] of Spanish politics until the [[1996 Spanish general election|1996 general election]].

==== Italy ====
*[[1994 Italian general election]] – [[Forza Italia]]/[[Pole of Freedoms]] victory
** This election resulted in the near-destruction of the [[Italian People's Party (1994)|Italian People's Party]] (the renamed [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]]), which had been the largest party in the country since 1946. The [[Italian Socialist Party]], a major coalition partner for the last thirty years, was decimated as well. The other parties of the [[Pentapartito]] fell into obscurity.

==== Germany ====
*[[1998 German federal election]] – first federal level [[red-green coalition]] victory
** The election resulted in the first left of center majority in Germany on the federal level ever. The [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] came in first place for the first time since 1972 and the second time overall since the war. The election unseated [[Helmut Kohl]] after 16 years in office and having presided over [[German reunification]] and with five factions achieving more than the five percent [[electoral threshold]] of votes, it gave a first indication of the more fractious political landscape of the [[Berlin Republic]]. The [[Free Democratic Party of Germany|FDP]] was removed from government after 29 consecutive years.

==== Lithuania ====
* [[2000 Lithuanian parliamentary election]]
** In these elections both electoral blocs (one led by the [[Communist Party of Lithuania]]/[[Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania]] and another led by the [[Sąjūdis]]/[[Homeland Union]]), which dominated political landscape since 1990, lost out to the populist [[New Union (Social Liberals)|New Union]] and the liberal [[Liberal Union of Lithuania]] parties. Those parties (and their successors, the [[Labour Party (Lithuania)|Labour Party]], [[Liberal Democratic Party (Lithuania)|Liberal Democratic Party]], [[Liberal and Centre Union]], [[Liberals' Movement (Lithuania)|Liberal Movement]]) would become vital players to coalitions' after that. Since then Lithuania saw the rise of many short-lived populist parties.

==== Poland ====
* [[2005 Polish parliamentary election]]
** The elections resulted in a widely expected heavy defeat for the post-Communist [[Democratic Left Alliance (Poland)|Democratic Left Alliance]] government, with conservative parties such as [[Law and Justice]] and [[Civic Platform]] emerging as the dominant parties (and coalitions led by them) in Poland.

==== Estonia ====
* [[2007 Estonian parliamentary election]]
** The elections resulted the [[Estonian Reform Party]] becoming the largest party on national level, the position which is retained ever since.

==== Hungary ====
* [[2010 Hungarian parliamentary election]]
** The election resulted the landslide victory of the [[Fidesz]], gaining a two-thirds majority in parliament, while long-time rival, the [[Hungarian Socialist Party]] (MSZP) had drastically weakened, ending the ''de facto'' two-party system that existed since 1998. Two major parties of the "[[End of communism in Hungary (1989)|regime change]]", the [[Hungarian Democratic Forum|MDF]] and the [[Alliance of Free Democrats|SZDSZ]], lost their all parliamentary seats. Two new parties, [[Jobbik]] and [[Politics Can Be Different|LMP]], emerged. After 2010, under the Fidesz government led by [[Viktor Orbán]], Hungary was reclassified by [[Freedom House]] from a [[democracy]] to a transitional or [[hybrid regime]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hungary |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/hungary/nations-transit/2020 |date=2020 |website=Freedom House |language=en |access-date=2020-05-06}}</ref>

==== Greece ====
* [[May 2012 Greek legislative election]]
** Greece's two main political parties since the restoration of democracy in 1974, [[New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy]] and the [[Panhellenic Socialist Movement]] (PASOK), saw a combined fall in support from nearly 80% in 2009 to just one-third for their role in supporting austerity measures to alleviate the [[Greek government-debt crisis]]. At this election, PASOK fell dramatically from first place to third place. This election also saw the shift of left-leaning support to the Eurosceptic [[Coalition of the Radical Left]] (SYRIZA) which has been at the forefront of opposition to the austerity measures and to the neoliberal economic policies of the [[European Union]].

==== France ====
* [[2017 French presidential election]]
** Neither the mainstream left [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist Party]] nor the mainstream right [[The Republicans (France)|Republicans]] made the second round of voting, the first time since the [[Second World War]] that both of the formerly dominant strands of French politics have not been represented. Instead, the two leading candidates – the eventual winner, [[centrism|centrist]] liberal [[pro-European]] [[Emmanuel Macron]] of [[En Marche]] and [[far-right]] [[Eurosceptic]] [[Marine Le Pen]] of the [[National Front (France)|National Front]] – were identified by many analysts as representing a new [[open–closed political spectrum]] between conservative protectionism and liberal globalism.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/04/what-pundits-are-saying-about-the-french-election.html|title=What Pundits Are Saying About the Next Phase of the French Election|first=Chas|last=Danner |newspaper=New York Magazine|date=23 April 2017|access-date=24 April 2017}}</ref> A similar realignment happened in the concurrent [[2017 French legislative election|2017 legislative election]].

==== Czech Republic ====
* [[2017 Czech parliamentary election]]
** Populist [[ANO (political party)|ANO]] saw massive gains at the expense of the traditional left-wing parties [[Czech Social Democratic Party|ČSSD]] and [[Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia|KSČM]], replacing the former as the main rival to the [[Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)|Civic Democratic Party]] (ODS) which had suffered massive loses in the election before. The election also saw the rise of the [[Czech Pirate Party]] and the right-wing populist [[Freedom and Direct Democracy]], both outperformed most traditional parties but ODS.

==== Slovakia ====
{{multiple images
|image1=2014 Slovak presidential election - Second Round Vote Strength.svg
|image2=2024 Slovak Presidential election 2nd round.svg
|footer=2014 (Left) with [[Andrej Kiska]] winning 80% in the south; 2024 (Right) with Pellegrini winning the south
}}
* [[2024 Slovak presidential election]]
** The [[Upper Hungary#Modern usage|Hungarian-majority communities in the South]] had been stronghold for the liberal-leaning candidates, who ran against the candidates endorsed by the nationalist [[People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia|HZDS]], [[Direction – Social Democracy|Smer]] and [[Slovak National Party|SNS]] parties, up to that election. In the run-off, the majority of the Hungarians supported [[Peter Pellegrini]] who was supported by Smer over [[Ivan Korčok]] who was backed by most liberal parties and by sitting president [[Zuzana Čaputová]] who won the Hungarian vote herself in [[2019 Slovak presidential election|2019]]. Pellegrini was also the first nationalist-backed candidate to win since [[2009 Slovak presidential election|2009]].

===Latin America===
* [[2002 Brazilian general election]] — [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]] [[President of Brazil|President]]
** According to political theorist and former spokesman of the Brazilian Presidency (2003–2007) André Singer, the rise to power of the [[Workers' Party (Brazil)|Worker's Party (PT)]] and the subsequent creation and expansion of income redistribution policies ([[Bolsa Família]], minimum wage increases, etc.) has realigned the Brazilian political scene. Even in the event of an PT's electoral defeat, it is argued, no president would risk reverting Lula's programs, for fear of the reaction of the lower classes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3pWTbGqrL8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/y3pWTbGqrL8| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|website=[[YouTube]] |title=Entrevista Record - 14/09/2012: André Singer fala sobre o "lulismo" |date=31 December 2012 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> Lula's victory in 2002 marked the beginning of the first left-wing government since [[1964 Brazilian coup d'état|1964]].
* [[1930 Colombian presidential election]] - [[Enrique Olaya Herrera]] [[President of Colombia|President]]
** After a 44-year domination in national politics by the [[Colombian Conservative Party|Conservative Party]] (since 1886), the division of the conservative ticket (along with the economic crisis and the [[Banana massacre|Banana Massacre]]) caused the first victory of the [[Colombian Liberal Party|Liberal Party]] in half a century. This was the start of the period known as "Liberal Republic", in which the liberals kept the presidency for 16 years. Furthermore, this also started a winning-strike in legislative elections that would last until 2006, with the liberals winning in all elections they participated in with either a majority or plurality, being the first force in [[Congress of Colombia|Congress]] in 68 out of 75 years.
* [[1998 Venezuelan presidential election]] — [[Hugo Chávez Frías]] [[President of Venezuela|President]]
**The result meant the end of the [[Puntofijismo]] that had dominated the political atmosphere of the country in the last 40 years and the beginning of the dominance of the new [[Movimiento Quinta Republica|MVR]] party, later reformed as the [[PSUV]].
* [[2018 Brazilian general election]] — [[Jair Bolsonaro]] was elected [[President of Brazil|president]], ending 13 years of [[Workers Party (Brazil)|Workers Party]] rule.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2621821.stm|title = Brazil's Lula promises change|date = 2 January 2003}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/world/americas/brazil-dilma-rousseff-impeached-removed-president.html|title = Dilma Rousseff is Ousted as Brazil's President in Impeachment Vote|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 31 August 2016|last1 = Romero|first1 = Simon}}</ref> Anger over the previous administration's failure to tackle widespread corruption and other crises engulfing Brazil handed the conservative politician victory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/jair-bolsonaro-brazil-presidential-candidate-181007020716337.html|title = Profile: Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's far-right president}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/far-right-jair-bolsonaro-wins-brazils-presidential-election/a-46065594|title = Far-right Jair Bolsonaro wins Brazil's presidential election &#124; DW &#124; 28.10.2018| website=[[Deutsche Welle]] }}</ref>

===Oceania===

====Australia====
* [[1910 Australian federal election]] — [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] victory; [[Andrew Fisher]] [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] 
** The unification of the [[Protectionist Party]] and the Anti-Socialist Party (originally the [[Free Trade Party]]) into the [[Commonwealth Liberal Party]] earlier in 1909 made this election the first under what would become a [[two-party system]], between the democratic socialist Labor Party versus a non-Labor, conservative party as the nation's two main parties. It also marked the first elected [[majority government]] federally.
* [[1922 Australian federal election]] — [[Nationalist Party (Australia)|Nationalist]]-[[National Party of Australia|Country]] coalition victory 
** This was the first time a conservative party formed the [[Coalition (Australia)|Coalition]] with the Country Party which represented graziers, farmers, and regional voters in the aftermath of the 1922 election. Despite some interruptions in Coalition agreements such as in 1931, 1939 and 1987, this coalition has existed until today, now between the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]] (successor to the Nationalists) and National party (which was renamed from the Country party). The Liberal/National coalition alternates in power with their main opponents, the Australian Labor Party to form the federal government of Australia at every federal election. 
* [[1949 Australian federal election]] — [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]] victory; [[Robert Menzies]] [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]]<ref>{{cite web|date= 18 June 2020|title= 'The time has come to say something of the forgotten class': how Menzies transformed Australian political debate|url= https://theconversation.com/the-time-has-come-to-say-something-of-the-forgotten-class-how-menzies-transformed-australian-political-debate-131383|access-date= 25 May 2022}}</ref>
** Previously, the [[United Australia Party]] (UAP) was seen as close to big business and the upper class, while their opponents, the [[Australian Labor Party]] appealed to trade unionists, and working and lower classes. By founding the Liberal Party to replace the UAP after its 1943 election defeat, Menzies began selling his party's appeal to middle-classes which he famously called “[[The Forgotten People]]” in the class conflict between the upper and lower social classes. Forming a coalition with the Country Party (now the [[National Party of Australia|National Party]] which represented rural graziers and farmers), this resulted in a coalition of liberals, conservatives and rural interests against the democratic socialists of the [[Australian Labor Party]]. Menzies kept free-traders and economic moderates; hard-line conservatives and social liberals united under one party, the Liberal party, by focusing on Labor's “socialism” and the international threat of communism amidst the [[Cold War]].
** During his 17 years in power from 1949 to 1966, the Menzies government presided over the longest period of economic prosperity in Australia's history, lasting from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. Continued economic growth, rising standards of living, and his widening of government support for education and universities led to the vast expansion of the Australian middle class and changed the Australian workforce from manual labour towards service, science and new technology industries; the [[ANZUS Treaty]] of 1951 and voting rights for [[Aboriginal Australians]] are legacies which still stand today.<ref>{{cite web|date= 29 October 2019|title= The Enduring Legacy|url= https://www.menziesrc.org/members-news/the-enduring-legacy|access-date= 25 May 2022}}</ref> Arguably, Labor was forced to modernise and adopt a more [[social democrat]]ic approach (away from [[democratic socialism]] and nationalisation of industry) to appeal to the expanded middle class, under [[Gough Whitlam]].
* [[1972 Australian federal election]] – [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] victory; [[Gough Whitlam]] [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hughes|first1=Colin A.|title=The 1972 Australian Federal Election|date=April 1973|publisher=Australian Journal of Politics and History, Volume 19, Issue 1|pages=11}}</ref>
** After twenty-three years of [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]] rule under Menzies, [[Harold Holt]], [[John Gorton]] and [[William McMahon]], the Labor Party took power in 1972, with the slogan, '[[It's Time (Australian campaign)|It's Time]]'. The significance of this election was broader than merely a change of partisan rule; elections would be no longer decided only on economic issues, but also, new issues such as the environment, Aboriginal affairs, abortion, multiculturalism, and a broader acceptance of state spending, resulted from the [[Gough Whitlam|Whitlam]] government, which in many respects created a bipartisan consensus on major issues of social policy. Although the Whitlam government was relatively brief, its policy legacy—in creating new government policies for society and culture—lasted in many respects to the [[1996 Australian federal election|1996 election]], and even to the present day.

====New Zealand====
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2020}}

* [[1890 New Zealand general election]] – [[New Zealand Liberal Party|Liberal]] victory; [[John Ballance]] Prime Minister
** The coming to power of the [[New Zealand Liberal Party|Liberal Party]] is heralded as a major milestone in New Zealand history. It marked the beginning of proper party politics in New Zealand. While groupings of 'Liberal' and 'Conservative' politicians date back to the 1870s they were more akin to loose factions rather than properly organised parties. Massive economic and social reforms took place following 1890 with a progressive land tax partnered with leasehold sponsorship to stimulate agriculture which recovered the country from the [[Long Depression]]. Ballance's successor [[Richard Seddon]] carried on reforms concentrating largely on establishing welfare. Arguably the Liberal's most famous and important achievement was the enfranchisement of women, a major social upheaval which saw New Zealand become the first country in the world to allow women to vote.
* [[1935 New Zealand general election]] – [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]] victory; [[Michael Joseph Savage]] Prime Minister
** The 1935 election brought Labour to power for the first time. Huge economic change resulted from their entry into office at the height of the [[Great Depression]] which was to remain in place for half a century. A generous welfare system labeled as "[[Social Security Act 1938|social security]]" was instigated and the country's existing free market economy was completely abandoned in favour of a [[Keynesian]] based system with higher tariffs, guaranteed prices for producers and emphasis on local manufacturing to create jobs. The government was praised for their policies resulting in another landslide victory in [[1938 New Zealand general election|1938]]. The political landscape was also to change. The three-party era of the early 20th century ended with the [[United Party (New Zealand)|United]] and [[New Zealand Reform Party|Reform]] parties (who had formed a coalition between 1931 and 1935) completely merging a year later into the new [[New Zealand National Party|National Party]], who remain Labour's main rival to the present day, both occupying either government or opposition ever since.
* [[1984 New Zealand general election]] – [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]] victory; [[David Lange]] [[Prime Minister of New Zealand|Prime Minister]]
** The election of the [[Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand|Labour Government]] under the leadership of David Lange and [[Roger Douglas]], brought about [[Rogernomics|radical economic reform]], moving New Zealand from what had probably been one of the most protected, regulated and state-dominated system of any capitalist democracy to an extreme position at the open, competitive, free-market end of the spectrum. Social policies also took a dramatic change with New Zealand's largely socially conservative outlook being reshaped with more liberal outlooks in the Lange government's policy epitomised by policies such as the passing of [[New Zealand nuclear-free zone|anti-nuclear legislation]] and the [[Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986|legalisation of homosexuality]]. Foreign relations also changed dramatically with New Zealand abandoning their allegiances with the United States, largely over the issue of anti-nuclear policy, culminating in their exclusion from [[ANZUS]] by both the US and Australia. [[New Zealand Party]] won 12% of the vote in their first election, it was the first time since 1935 that any party other than Labour, the National and [[Social Credit Party (New Zealand)|Social Credit Party]] won more than 10% of the vote.
* [[1996 New Zealand general election]] – [[New Zealand National Party|National]]–[[New Zealand First]] coalition victory; [[Jim Bolger]] [[Prime Minister of New Zealand|Prime Minister]]
** The 1996 election was the first held under the new [[mixed-member proportional]] (MMP) voting system, introduced after two referendums in 1992 and 1993, and signalled the transition from the two-party era to a new multi-party era.