41st New Zealand Parliament

Term of the Parliament of New Zealand

The 41st New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Its composition was determined by the 1984 elections, and it sat until the 1987 elections.

The 41st Parliament was the first term of the fourth Labour Party government. It marked the end of three terms of National Party administration under Robert Muldoon. David Lange become Prime Minister and Roger Douglas became Minister of Finance — the economic reforms undertaken by Douglas, nicknamed Rogernomics, would prove to be a defining feature of the fourth Labour government, and were deeply unpopular with Labour's traditional support base. The National Party, now in opposition, experienced a number of leadership disputes, replacing Muldoon first with Jim McLay and then with Jim Bolger.

The 41st Parliament consisted of ninety-five representatives, the highest number since the 10th Parliament (elected in 1887). All of these representatives were chosen by single-member geographical electorates, including four Māori electorates.

Electoral boundaries for the 41st Parliament

Overview of seats

The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1984 election and at dissolution:

Notes

• The Working Government majority is calculated as all Government MPs less all other parties.

Initial composition of the 41st Parliament

The tables below shows the results of the 1984 general election:

Key

Table footnotes:

1. The candidate Doug Graham who contested the Lyttelton electorate for National is a different person from Doug Graham, who contested and won the Remuera seat.
2. Bob Jones came third for the New Zealand Party in Ohariu
3. In July 1983 Kirk said he would not stand in 1984: when Anderton was selected for Sydenham, Kirk (a Lange supporter) withdrew from the Labour caucus and was suspended by Labour, becoming an independent

By-elections during 41st Parliament

There were a number of changes during the term of the 41st Parliament.

Summary of changes during term

• Basil Arthur, the long-serving Labour MP for Timaru, died in 1985. The by-election in Timaru was won by Maurice McTigue of the National Party.

Notes

1. Norton 1988, pp. ?.
2. Gustafson 1986, p. 372.

References

• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.