Editing Political realignment (section)

====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.