2005 New Zealand general election

The 2005 New Zealand general election on Saturday 17 September 2005 determined the membership of the 48th New Zealand Parliament. One hundred and twenty-one MPs were elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives: 69 from single-member electorates, including one overhang seat, and 52 from party lists (one extra due to the overhang).

2005 New Zealand general election

17 September 2005 (2005-09-17)
All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, including one overhang seat 61 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	2,304,005 (80.92%) 3.94%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Helen Clark Don Brash Winston Peters Party Labour National NZ First Leader since 1 December 1993 28 October 2003 18 July 1993 Leader's seat Mount Albert List List (lost Tauranga) Last election 52 seats, 41.26% 27 seats, 20.93% 13 seats, 10.38% Seats before 51 27 13 Seats won 50 48 7 Seat change 1 21 6 Electorate vote 902,072 40.35% 4.34 902,874 40.38% 9.80 78,117 3.49% 0.49 Party vote 935,319 41.10% 0.16 889,813 39.10% 18.17 130,115 5.72% 4.66   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Rod Donald Jeanette Fitzsimons Tariana Turia Pita Sharples Peter Dunne Party Green Māori Party United Future New Zealand Leader since 21 May 1995 7 July 2004 16 November 2000 Leader's seat List List Te Tai Hauāuru Tāmaki Makaurau Ohariu-Belmont Last election 9 seats, 7.00% – 8 seats, 6.69% Seats before 9 1 8 Seats won 6 4 3 Seat change 3 3 5 Electorate vote 92,164 4.12% 1.23 75,076 3.36% new 63,486 2.84% 1.52 Party vote 120,521 5.30% 1.70 48,263 2.12% new 60,860 2.67% 4.02   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Rodney Hide Jim Anderton Party ACT Progressive Leader since 13 June 2004 27 July 2002 Leader's seat Epsom Wigram Last election 9 seats, 7.14% 2 seats, 1.70% Seats before 9 2 Seats won 2 1 Seat change 7 1 Electorate vote 44,071 1.97% 1.58 36,638 1.64% 0.20 Party vote 34,469 1.51% 5.63 26,441 1.16% 0.54
Results by electorate, shaded by winning margin
Prime Minister before election Helen Clark Labour Subsequent Prime Minister Helen Clark Labour

No party won a majority, but the Labour Party of Prime Minister Helen Clark secured two more seats than nearest rival, the National Party of Dr Don Brash. With the exception of the newly formed Māori Party, which took four Māori electorates from Labour, most of the other parties polled lower than in the previous election, losing votes and seats.

Brash deferred conceding defeat until 1 October, when National's election-night 49 seats fell to 48 after special votes were counted. The official count increased the Māori Party share of the party vote above 2%, entitling them to three rather than two seats from the party vote. With four electorate seats, the election night overhang of two seats was reduced to one, and as National had the 120th seat allocated under the party vote, National lost one list seat (that of Katrina Shanks) that they appeared to have won on election night.

The election was a strong recovery for National which won 21 more seats than at the 2002 election, where it suffered its worst result in its history, and the highest party vote percentage for the party since 1990; indeed, National saw its first vote share gain since 1990. Despite its resurgence, National failed to displace Labour as the largest party in Parliament. National's gains apparently came mainly at the expense of smaller parties, while Labour won only two seats less than in 2002.

On 17 October, Clark announced a new coalition agreement that saw the return of her minority government coalition with the Progressive Party, with confidence and supply support from New Zealand First and from United Future. New Zealand First parliamentary leader Winston Peters and United Future parliamentary leader Peter Dunne became ministers of the Crown outside Cabinet, Peters as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Dunne as Minister of Revenue. The Green Party which had supported Labour before the election received no cabinet post (see below), but gained several concessions from the coalition on matters such as energy and transport, and agreed to support the government on matters of confidence and supply.

The election

The total votes cast in 2005 was 2,304,005 (2,164,595 & 139,510 Māori). Turnout was 80.92% of those on the rolls, or 77.05% of voting age population. Turnout was higher than in the previous 2002 election (72.5% and 76.98% respectively), and the Māori roll turnout at 67.07% was significantly higher than 2002 (57.5%).

In the election 739 candidates stood, and there were 19 registered parties with party lists. Of the candidates, 525 were electorate and list, 72 were electorate only and 142 were list only. All but 37 represented registered parties (on the list or in the electorate or both). Only 35 candidates from registered parties chose to stand as an electorate candidate only. 71% of candidates (523) were male and 29% (216) female; the same percentages as in 2002.

Labour had achieved a third term in office for the first time since 1943.

MPs retiring in 2005

Eight MPs intended to retire at the end of the 47th Parliament.

Party		Name	Electorate
	ACT	Deborah Coddington	(List)
		Richard Prebble	(List)
	Green	Ian Ewen-Street	(List)
	National	Lynda Scott	Kaikoura
		Roger Sowry	(List)
	Labour	Helen Duncan	(List)
		Janet Mackey	East Coast
		Mark Peck	Invercargill

Detailed results

Parliamentary parties

Summary of the 17 September 2005 election for the House of Representatives

Party		Party vote			Electorate vote			Seats
		Votes	%	Change (pp)	Votes	%	Change (pp)	List	Electorate	Total	+/-
	Labour	935,319	41.10	0.16	902,072	40.35	4.34	19	31	50	2
	National	889,813	39.10	18.17	902,874	40.38	9.84	17	31	48	21
	NZ First	130,115	5.72	4.66	78,117	3.49	0.49	7	0	7	6
	Green	120,521	5.30	1.70	92,164	4.12	1.23	6	0	6	3
	Māori Party	48,263	2.12	new	75,076	3.36	new	0	4	4	new
	United Future	60,860	2.67	4.02	63,486	2.84	1.52	2	1	3	5
	ACT	34,469	1.51	5.63	44,071	1.97	1.58	1	1	2	7
	Progressive	26,441	1.16	0.54	36,638	1.64	0.20	0	1	1	1
	Destiny	14,210	0.62	new	17,608	0.79	new	0	0	0	new
	Legalise Cannabis	5,748	0.25	0.39	2,601	0.12	0.05	0	0	0
	Christian Heritage	2,821	0.12	1.23	1,296	0.06	1.99	0	0	0
	Alliance	1,641	0.07	1.20	1,901	0.09	1.60		0	0
	Family Rights	1,178	0.05	new	1,045	0.05	new	0	0	0	new
	Democrats	1,079	0.05	new	565	0.03	new	0	0	0	new
	Libertarianz	946	0.04	0.04	781	0.03		0	0	0
	Direct Democracy	782	0.03	new	1,934	0.09	new		0	0	new
	99 MP	601	0.03	new	—	—	—	0	0	0	new
	One NZ	478	0.02	0.07	214	0.01	0.12		0	0
	RONZ	344	0.02	new	131	0.01	new	0	0	0	new
	Unregistered parties	—	—	—	1,466	0.07	0.12	0	0	0
	Independent	—	—	—	11,829	0.53	0.22	0	0	0
Valid votes		2,275,629	98.77	0.07	2,235,869	97.04	0.05
Informal votes		10,561	0.46	0.04	24,801	1.08	0.21
Disallowed votes		17,815	0.77	0.03	43,335	1.88	0.26
Total		2,304,005	100		2,304,005	100		52	69	121	1
Eligible voters and Turnout		2,847,396	80.92	3.94	2,847,396	80.92	3.94

The election saw an 81% voter turnout.

The results of the election give a Gallagher index of disproportionality of 1.11.

Votes summary

Constituency Vote National   40.38% Labour   40.35% Green   4.12% NZ First   3.49% Māori   3.36% United Future   2.84% ACT   1.97% Progressive   1.64% Others   1.85%

Party Vote Labour   41.10% National   39.10% NZ First   5.72% Green   5.30% United Future   2.67% Māori   2.12% ACT   1.51% Progressive   1.16% Others   1.31%

Parliament seats Labour   41.32% National   39.67% NZ First   5.79% Green   4.96% Māori   3.31% United Future   2.48% ACT   1.65% Progressive   0.83%

Electorate results

Party affiliation of winning electorate candidates.

The table below shows the results of the 2005 general election:

Key:

Labour	National	ACT	United Future
NZ First	Progressive	Māori Party

Electorate results for the 2005 New Zealand general election

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
Aoraki		Jim Sutton		Jo Goodhew	6,937		Jim Sutton
Auckland Central		Judith Tizard			3,884		Pansy Wong
Banks Peninsula		Ruth Dyson			1,923		David Carter
Bay of Plenty		Tony Ryall			13,584		Pauline Scott
Christchurch Central		Tim Barnett			7,836		Nicky Wagner
Christchurch East		Lianne Dalziel			11,973		David Round
Clevedon		Judith Collins			12,871		Dave Hereora
Clutha-Southland		Bill English			13,032		David Talbot
Coromandel		Sandra Goudie			10,578		Max Purnell
Dunedin North		Pete Hodgson			7,630		Katherine Rich
Dunedin South		David Benson-Pope			10,640		Conway Powell
East Coast		Janet Mackey		Anne Tolley	1,219		Moana Mackey
East Coast Bays		Murray McCully			7,286		Hamish McCracken
Epsom		Richard Worth		Rodney Hide	3,102		Richard Worth
Hamilton East		Dianne Yates		David Bennett	5,298		Dianne Yates
Hamilton West		Martin Gallagher			825		Tim Macindoe
Helensville		John Key			12,778		Judy Lawley
Hutt South		Trevor Mallard			5,740		Rosemarie Thomas
Ilam		Gerry Brownlee			7,821		Julian Blanchard
Invercargill		Mark Peck		Eric Roy	2,052		Wayne Harpur
Kaikoura		Lynda Scott		Colin King	4,675		Brendon Burns
Mana		Winnie Laban			6,734		Chris Finlayson
Mangere		Taito Phillip Field			16,020		Clem Simich
Manukau East		Ross Robertson			9,890		Ken Yee
Manurewa		George Hawkins			11,707		Fepulea'i Aiono
Maungakiekie		Mark Gosche			6,450		Paul Goldsmith
Mount Albert		Helen Clark			14,749		Ravi Musuku
Mount Roskill		Phil Goff			9,895		Jackie Blue
Napier		Russell Fairbrother		Chris Tremain	3,591		Russell Fairbrother
Nelson		Nick Smith			10,226		Jen McCutcheon
New Lynn		David Cunliffe			8,078		Mita Harris
New Plymouth		Harry Duynhoven			5,439		Moira Irving
North Shore		Wayne Mapp			9,701		Phil Twyford
Northcote		Ann Hartley		Jonathan Coleman	2,383		Ann Hartley
Northland		John Carter			9,275		Shane Jones
Ohariu-Belmont		Peter Dunne			7,702		Charles Chauvel
Otago		David Parker		Jacqui Dean	1,995		David Parker
Otaki		Darren Hughes			382		Nathan Guy
Pakuranga		Maurice Williamson			9,582		Michael Wood
Palmerston North		Steve Maharey			5,500		Malcolm Plimmer
Piako		Lindsay Tisch			8,351		Sue Moroney
Port Waikato		Paul Hutchison			13,498		Louisa Wall
Rakaia		Brian Connell			10,448		Tony Milne
Rangitikei		Simon Power			9,660		Marilyn Brown
Rimutaka		Paul Swain			8,277		Mike Leddy
Rodney		Lockwood Smith			11,536		Tony Dunlop
Rongotai		Annette King			12,638		Nicola Young
Rotorua		Steve Chadwick			662		Gil Stehbens
Tamaki		Clem Simich		Allan Peachey	9,510		Leila Boyle
Taranaki-King Country		Shane Ardern			13,118		Maryan Street
Taupo		Mark Burton			1,285		Weston Kirton
Tauranga		Winston Peters		Bob Clarkson	730		Winston Peters
Te Atatu		Chris Carter			10,447		Tau Henare
Tukituki		Rick Barker		Craig Foss	2,402		Rick Barker
Waimakariri		Clayton Cosgrove			5,606		Kate Wilkinson
Wairarapa		Georgina Beyer		John Hayes	2,752		Denise MacKenzie
Waitakere		Lynne Pillay			4,942		Paula Bennett
Wellington Central		Marian Hobbs			6,180		Mark Blumsky
West Coast-Tasman		Damien O'Connor			2,154		Chris Auchinvole
Whanganui		Jill Pettis		Chester Borrows	2,402		Jill Pettis
Whangarei		Phil Heatley			9,089		Paul Chalmers
Wigram		Jim Anderton			8,548		Allison Lomax
Māori electorates
Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
Ikaroa-Rāwhiti		Parekura Horomia			1,932		Atareta Poananga
Tainui		Nanaia Mahuta			1,860		Angeline Greensill
Tāmaki Makaurau		John Tamihere		Pita Sharples	2,127		John Tamihere
Te Tai Hauāuru		Tariana Turia			5,113		Errol Mason
Te Tai Tokerau		Dover Samuels		Hone Harawira	3,613		Dover Samuels
Te Tai Tonga		Mahara Okeroa			2,503		Monte Ohia
Waiariki		Mita Ririnui		Te Ururoa Flavell	2,871		Mita Ririnui

List results

Highest polling party in each electorate.

MPs returned via party lists, and unsuccessful candidates, were as follows:

Main article: Party lists in the 2005 New Zealand general election

Labour	Michael Cullen Margaret Wilson Dover Samuels Jim Sutton2 Mita Ririnui Rick Barker Jill Pettis Ashraf Choudhary Shane Jones Dianne Yates2 Ann Hartley2 Georgina Beyer2 Maryan Street David Parker Russell Fairbrother Dave Hereora Moana Mackey Sue Moroney Darien Fenton
	Unsuccessful: Charles Chauvel1, Lesley Soper1, Louisa Wall1, William Sio1, Brendon Burns, Hamish McCracken, Denise MacKenzie, Max Purnell, Thomas Harpur, Leila Boyle, Dinesh Tailor, Phil Twyford, Jennifer McCutcheon, Chris Yoo, Michael Wood, Linda Hudson, Stuart Nash, Tony Milne, David Talbot, Marilyn Brown, Anjum Rahman, Eamon Daly, Judy Lawley, Michael Mora, Erin Ebborn-Gillespie, Ailian Su, Ghazala Anwar, Paul Gibson, Kelly-Ann Harvey, Camille Nakhid, Ola Kamel, Andrea Bather
National	Don Brash2 David Carter Katherine Rich Tim Groser Richard Worth Clem Simich Georgina te Heuheu Pansy Wong Chris Finlayson Nicky Wagner Tau Henare Chris Auchinvole Mark Blumsky Kate Wilkinson Nathan Guy Jackie Blue Paula Bennett
	Unsuccessful: Katrina Shanks1, Fepulea'i Aiono, Ravi Musuku, Moira Irving, Mita Harris, Michael Leddy, Conway Powell, David Round, Gilbert Stehbens, Kenneth Yee, Paul Goldsmith, Malcolm Plimmer, Nicola Young, Tim Macindoe, Allison Lomax, Weston Kirton, Rosemarie Thomas
New Zealand First	Winston Peters Peter Brown Brian Donnelly2 Ron Mark Doug Woolerton Barbara Stewart Pita Paraone
	Unsuccessful: Susan Baragwanath, Jim Peters, Dail Jones1, Craig McNair, Edwin Perry, Bill Gudgeon, Brent Catchpole, Joe Williams, John Foote, Fletcher Tabuteau, Alan Heward, Kristin Campbell Smith, Bryan Lundy, David Fowler, Brendan Stewart, Brett Webster, Bob Daw, Murray Strawbridge, Moetu Davis, Toa Greening, David Mackie, Anne Martin, Julian Batchelor, Chis Perry, Lindy Palmer, Brian Roswell, Matua Glen, James Mist, Howard Levarko, Paul Manning, Timothy Manu, Kevin Gardener, Graham Odering
Greens	Jeanette Fitzsimons Rod Donald2 Sue Bradford Sue Kedgley Keith Locke Metiria Turei
	Unsuccessful: Nándor Tánczos12, Mike Ward, Catherine Delahunty, Russel Norman1, Steffan Browning, David Clendon, Lucinda Highfield, Jonathan Carapiet, Roland Sapsford, Mojo Mathers, Mikaere Curtis, Paul Bruce, Jeanette Elley, Muamua Strickson-Pua, Richard Davies, Lois Griffiths, Natalie Cutler-Welsh, Jane Pearce, Lawrence O'Halloran, Richard Green, Claire Bleakley, Irene Bentley, Craig Carson, Nicola Harvey, Moea Armstrong, Steve Bayliss, Laura Beck, Sarah Brown, Terence Creighton, John Davis, Katherine Dewar, James Diack, Ruth Earth, Kathryn Elsen, Graham Evans, Nicholas Fisher, Robert Guyton, Daniel Howard, Philippa Jamieson, Stephen Lee, Alan Liefting, Mary McCammon, John Milnes, Michael Morris, Noel Peterson, Paul Qualtrough, Jacob Rawls, Raewyn Saville, Ian Stephens, Richard Suggate, Peter Thomlinson
Māori	Unsuccessful: Atareta Poananga, Simon Wi Rutene, Glenis Philip-Barbara, Robert Consedine, Pakake Winiata, Te Whiti Love, Angeline Greensill, William Maea, Monte Ohia, Te Orohi Paul, Bronwyn Yates, Charles Joe, Teremoananuiakiwa Tahere, Malcolm Peri, Anthony Ruakere, Ratapu Te Awa, Brett Cowan, Josephine Peita, Anne Fitzsimon, Abraham Hepi, Ngahiwi Tomoana, Tureiti Moxon, Aroha Reriti-Crofts, John Harré, Rangi McLean, Tell Kuka, Bill Puru, Mere Rawiri-Tau, Richard Orzecki, Maraea Ropata, Robert Hosking, Daryl Gregory, Rangi Tawhiao, Andre Meihana, Solomon Matthews, Adell Dick, Georgina Haremate-Crawford, Raewyn Harrison, Cecilia Hotene, Alice Hudson, Reimana Johnson, Rahuia Kapa, David King, Aaron Makutu, Kelvin Martin, Merehora Taurua, Frances Waaka, Henrietta Walker
United Future	Judy Turner Gordon Copeland
	Unsuccessful: Marc Alexander, Larry Baldock, Murray Smith, Paul Check, Janet Tuck, Bernie Ogilvy, Graeme Reeves, Russell Judd, Hannah Baral, Joy Lietze, Neville Wilson, Richard Barter, Stephen Taylor, Ian McInnes, Ross Tizard, Fiona McKenzie, Andrew Barr, John Walker, Ram Parkash, Ralph Kennard, Jayati Prasad, Vanessa Roberts, Gerald Telford, Robin Loomes, Robyn Jackson, Anthony Gordon, Gregory Graydon, Martyn Seddon, Bernard McClelland, Beth Stone, Robin Westley, Rosemary Drake, Gordon Hinton, Michael Satur, Diane Brown, Steven Dromgool, Andrea Deeth, Mark Peters, Mary Moffat, Dennis Wells, Milton Osborne, Garry Pedersen, William Pickering, Adam Archer, Neil Linscott, Barry Hayes, Janita Stuart, Dianne Wilson, James Rudd, Peter Mountain, Stuart Robertson, John van Buren, Jeffrey Leigh, Matthew Collier
ACT	Heather Roy
	Unsuccessful: Muriel Newman, Stephen Franks, Graham Scott, Ken Shirley, Kenneth Wang, Gerry Eckhoff, Lindsay Mitchell, Bronwyn Jacobsen, Simon Ewing-Jarvie, Jo Giles, Willie Martin, David Olsen, Hamish Stevens, Andrew Jollands, Hardev Singh Brar, Lech Beltowski, Ian Beker, Christopher Brown, Kevin Gill, John Waugh, Dianne Dawson, Kevin Murray, Stephen Langford-Tebby, Gavin Middleton, John Fraser, Frances Denz, Elizabeth Barkla, Nigel Chetty, Scott Clune, Michael Collins, Tetauru Emile, Andrew Falloon, Michael Heine, Kerry O'Connor, David Seymour, Helen Simpson, Philip White, Alan Wilden, Andrew Stone, Barbara Steinijans, John Riddell, Carl Peterson, Andre Peters, Julie Pepper, Thomas McClelland, Alexander Mann, Michelle Lorenz, Nigel Kearney, Nicholas Kearney, Mark Davies, Stephen Cox, Raymond Bassett, Brian Davidson, Rebekah Holdaway, Shirley Marshall, Patrick O'Sullivan, Garry Mallett
Progressive	Unsuccessful: Matt Robson, Grant Gillon, Megan Woods, John Wright, Sione Fonua, Vivienne Shepherd, Ngov Ly, Fatima Ashrafi, Barry Wilson, Fale Leleisiuao, Russell Franklin, Paula Gillon, Philip Clearwater, Trevor Barnard, Raghbir Singh, Brenda Hill, Fiona Beazley, Russell Caldwell, David Reeks, John Maurice, Seyed Kazemi Yazdi, Heka Heker, Veronique Stewart-Ward, Zemin Zhang, Julian Aaron, Sukerna Amirapu, Annette Anderson, Sukhdev Bains, Peter Banks, James Boyack, Ian Donald, Lewis Holland, Karandeep Lall, Jacqueline McAlpine, Claire Main, Philippa Main, James Palmer, Max Panirau, David Parkyn, Elizabeth Patchett, Talatala Po'e, Pavitra Roy, Elspeth Sandys, Anthony Sharrock, Barry Silcock, Karen Silcock, David Somerset, Petronella Townsend, Martin Vaughan, Jennifer Wilson
Destiny	Unsuccessful: Richard Lewis, David Jesze, Elaine Herbert, Hayden Solomon, Nigel Heslop, Etuate Saafi, Anita Breach, Charles Te Kowhai, David Knight, Hawea Vercoe, Neils Jensen, Sophie Hemahema-Tamati, Rodney Gabb, James Te Wano, Stephen Sinnott, Frances Williamson, Kerin Roberts, Peter Johnston, John Kotoisuva, Karen Penney, Colin Ranby, Tala Leiasamaivao, Paul Hubble, Roberta Maxwell, Tony Harrison, David Daglish, Jason Thomson, Maru Samuel, Stephen Brown, William Sadler, Patrick Morton, Ned So'e, David Isaachsen, Mason Lee, Stanley Green, Patrick Komene, Anthony Ford, Maureen Vincent, Albert Wipani, Brian Ane, Tauha Te Kani, Douglas Keven
Legalise Cannabis	Unsuccessful: Michael Appleby, Michael Britnell, Judy Daniels, Paula Lambert, Irinka Britnell, Kevin O'Connell, Paul McMullan, Steven Wilkinson, Judy Matangi, Jason Baker-Sherman, Peter Green, Neville Yates, Phillip Pophristoff
Christian Heritage	Unsuccessful: Ewen McQueen, Derek Blight, Nicholas Barber, Betty Jenkins, Mark Jones, Joy Jones
Alliance	Unsuccessful: Jill Ovens, Paul Piesse, Andrew McKenzie, Julie Fairey, Kane O'Connell, Leonard Richards, Jim Flynn, Victor Billot, Margaret Jeune, Robert van Ruyssevelt, Thomas Dowie, Christopher Ford, Quentin Findlay, Kelly Buchanan, Joseph Hendren, Gail Marmont, Alexander Protheroe, Gregory Kleis, Sandra Ethell, Colin Pounder, Robert Harrison, Peta Knibb, Marvin Hubbard, Shirley Haslemore, Norman MacRitchie, Eric Gamble, Lynda Boyd, Jocelyn Brooks, Nicholas Corlett, Nicolas Scullin
Family Rights Protection	Unsuccessful: Tafe Williams, Tapu Po-Wihongi, Christine Reid, Lale Ene-Ulugia, John Ulberg, Anne Kerisome Zekaria Strickland, Siniva Papali'i, Amelia Fepulea'i, Tangata Greig, Te Paeru Browne-Knowles, Papali'i Malietoa, Edward Ulberg, Etevise Fuiava, Souvenir Sanerivi, Manogitulua Livapulu-Head, Kearlene Ulberg, Christie Greig, Rafaele Vaifale
Democrats for Social Credit	Unsuccessful: Stephnie de Ruyter, John Pemberton, David Wilson, Richard Prosser, John Steemson, Katherine Ransom, John Kilbride, Graham Atkin, Heather Smith, David Tranter, Edgar Goodhue, Malcolm Murchie, Ross Weddell, David Espin, Ross Hayward, Bruce Stirling, Karl Hewlett, Ronald England, Kelly Pemberton, Robert Warren, David Wood, Mary Weddell, Allen Cookson, Barry Pulford, Hessel van Wieren, Alida Steemson, Edward Fox, Coralie Leyland, John Rawson
Libertarianz	Unsuccessful: Bernard Darnton, Julian Pistorius, Timothy Wikiriwhi, Susan Ryder, Peter Cresswell, Colin Cross, Helen Hughes, Russell Watkins, Peter Linton, Michael Webber, Robin Thomsen, Philip Howison, Michael Murphy, Faustina White, Andrew Bates, Richard Goode, Luke Howison, Christopher Robertson, Peter Osborne, Barry Cole, Donald Rowberry, Willem Verhoeven, Elliot Smith, Nikolas Haden, Terence Verhoeven, Keith Patterson, Kenneth Riddle, Robert Palmer
Direct Democracy	Unsuccessful: Kelvyn Alp, Paul Teio, Dilip Rupa, Patrick Fahy, Michael Francis-Roberson, Simon Guy, Gary Burch, Kevin Smith, Kevin Moore, Kyle Chapman, Rex Newey, Gregory Trichon, Alona Covich, Eugene Opai, Seira Perese, Tin Yau Chan, Helen Koster, Craig Stratton, Alastair Anderson, Anton Foljambe, Robert T Atack, Leanne Martinovich, Grant Burch, Howard Ponga, Edward Sullivan, Colin Punter, Mel Whaanga, Jason Anderson, Jason Orme, Barry Scott, Scott Burch, Craig Guy
99MP	Unsuccessful: Margaret Robertson, Ramasmy Ramanathan
One NZ	Unsuccessful: Ian Brougham, Richard Fisher, James White, John Porter, Janet Walters, Lanya Murray
Republic of NZ	Unsuccessful: Kerry James, Wayne Hawkins, Debra Potroz, Jack Gielen, Steven Hart, Gilbert Parker

Notes

1. These party list members later entered parliament in the term as other list MPs elected resigned from parliament.
2. These party list members later resigned during the parliamentary term.

Changes during parliamentary term

Party		New MP	Term started	Seat	Previous MP
	Green	Nándor Tánczos	6 November 2005	List	Rod Donald1
	Labour	Charles Chauvel	1 August 2006	List	Jim Sutton
	National	Katrina Shanks	7 February 2007	List	Don Brash
	Labour	Lesley Soper	15 February 2007	List	Georgina Beyer
	NZ First	Dail Jones	15 February 2008	List	Brian Donnelly2
	Labour	Louisa Wall	4 March 2008	List	Ann Hartley
	Labour	William Sio	29 March 2008	List	Dianne Yates
	Green	Russel Norman	26 June 2008	List	Nándor Tánczos
	National	(vacant)	31 August 2008	Rakaia	Brian Connell3
1 Rod Donald died before being sworn in as MP. 2 Brian Donnelly was appointed as New Zealand's High Commissioner to the Cook Islands. 3 Brian Connell retired from Parliament effective 31 August 2008, leaving his seat of Rakaia vacant.
Taito Phillip Field, Labour MP for Māngere, quit the Labour party after being threatened with expulsion on 16 February 2007. He continued to serve as an MP, and formed the New Zealand Pacific Party in January 2008. Gordon Copeland, a United Future list MP, left the party to become an independent MP in May 2007, and contested the 2008 election as a candidate for The Kiwi Party.

Party vote by electorate

Further information: List of electorates in the 2005 New Zealand general election by party vote

Analysis of results

Going into the election, Labour had assurances of support from the Greens (six seats in 2005, down three from 2002) and from the Progressives (one seat, down one). This three-party bloc won 57 seats, leaving Clark four seats short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 121-seat Parliament (decreased from the expected 122 because the final results gave the Māori Party only one overhang seat, after it appeared to win two overhang seats on election night). On 5 October the Māori Party began a series of hui to decide whom to support. That same day reports emerged that a meeting between Helen Clark and Māori co-leader Tariana Turia on 3 October had already ruled out a formal coalition between Labour and the Māori Party. Māori Party representatives also held discussions with National representatives, but most New Zealanders thought the Māori Party more likely to give confidence-supply support to a Labour-dominated government because its supporters apparently heavily backed Labour in the party vote.

Had Turia and her co-leader Pita Sharples opted to join a Labour-Progressive-Green coalition, Clark would have had sufficient support to govern with support from a grouping of four parties (Labour, Green, Māori and Progressive). Without the Māori Party, Labour needed the support of New Zealand First (seven seats, down six) and United Future (three seats, down five) to form a government. New Zealand First said it would support (or at least abstain from opposing in confidence-motions) the party with the most seats. Clark sought from New Zealand First a positive commitment rather than abstention. United Future, which had supported the previous Labour-Progressive minority government in confidence and supply, said it would talk first to the party with the most seats about support or coalition. Both New Zealand First and United Future said they would not support a Labour-led coalition which included Greens in Cabinet posts. However, United Future indicated it could support a government where the Greens gave supply-and-confidence votes.

Brash had only one possible scenario to become Prime Minister: a centre-right coalition with United Future and ACT (two seats, down seven). Given the election results, however, such a coalition would have required the confidence-and-supply votes of both New Zealand First and the Māori Party. This appeared highly unlikely on several counts. New Zealand First's involvement in such a coalition would have run counter to Peters' promise to deal with the biggest party, and Turia and Sharples would have had difficulty in justifying supporting National after their supporters' overwhelming support for Labour in the party vote. Turia and Sharples probably remembered the severe mauling New Zealand First suffered in the 1999 election. (Many of its supporters in 1996 believed they had voted to get rid of National, only to have Peters go into coalition with National; New Zealand First has never really recovered.) Even without this to consider, National had indicated it would abolish the Maori seats if it won power.

The new government as eventually formed consisted of Labour and Progressive in coalition, while New Zealand First and United Future entered agreements of support on confidence and supply motions. In an unprecedented move, Peters and Dunne became Foreign Affairs Minister and Revenue Minister, respectively, but remained outside cabinet and had no obligatory cabinet collective responsibility on votes outside their respective portfolios.

Possible government setups

Background

Election billboards advertise the parties and candidates standing nationwide and in each electorate

The governing Labour Party retained office at 2002 election. However, its junior coalition partner, the Alliance, lost most of its support after internal conflict and disagreement and failed to win parliamentary representation. Labour formed a coalition with the new Progressive Coalition, formed by former Alliance leader Jim Anderton. The Labour-Progressive coalition then obtained an agreement of support ("confidence and supply") from United Future, enabling it to form a stable minority government. The National Party, Labour's main opponents, suffered a major defeat, winning only 21% of the vote (22.5% of the seats).

The collapse of National's vote led ultimately to the replacement of its Parliamentary party leader Bill English with parliamentary newcomer Don Brash on 28 October 2003. Brash began an aggressive campaign against the Labour-dominated government. A major boost to this campaign came with his "Orewa speech" (27 January 2004), in which he attacked the Labour-dominated government for giving "special treatment" to the Māori population, particularly over the foreshore and seabed controversy. This resulted in a surge of support for the National Party, although most polls indicated that this subsequently subsided. National also announced it would not stand candidates in the Māori electorates, with some smaller parties following suit.

The foreshore-and-seabed controversy also resulted in the establishment of the Māori Party in July 2004. The Māori Party hoped to break Labour's traditional (and then current) dominance in the Māori electorates, just as New Zealand First had done in the 1996 election.

A large number of so-called "minor" parties also contested the election. These included Destiny New Zealand (the political branch of the Destiny Church) and the Direct Democracy Party.

Polls

Local regression of poll results from 27 July 2002 to 17 September 2005, with each line corresponding to a political party.

  Labour

  National

  NZ First

  ACT

  Green

  United Future

  Māori

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2005 New Zealand general election

A series of opinion polls published in June 2005 indicated that the National Party had moved ahead of Labour for the first time since June 2004. Commentators speculated that a prominent billboard campaign may have contributed to this. Some said the National Party had peaked too early. The polls released throughout July showed once more an upward trend for Labour, with Labour polling about 6% above National. The release by the National Party of a series of tax-reform proposals in August 2005 appeared to correlate with an increase in its ratings in the polls.

Direct comparisons between the following polls have no statistical validity:

poll	date	Labour	National	NZ First	Greens
One News Colmar Brunton	29 August	43%	40%	5%	7%
3 News TNS	1 September	39%	41%	6%	6%
Herald DigiPoll	2 September	43.4%	39.1%	6.6%	5%
Fairfax NZ/ACNeilsen	3 September	41%	44%	<5%	5%
One News Colmar Brunton	4 September	38%	46%	4.6%	6%
3 News TNS	7 September	45%	36%	5%	7%
Herald Digipoll	8 September	40.6%	40.1%	7.1%	5.6%
Herald Digipoll	11 September	42.1%	38.5%	5%	6%
ACNielsen-Sunday Star-Times	11 September	37%	44%	5%	6%
One News Colmar Brunton	11 September	39%	41%	6%	6%
Fairfax ACNielsen	14 September	37%	43%	7%	6%
3 News TNS	15 September	40.5%	38.7%	6.8%	6.9%
TVNZ Colmar Brunton	15 September	38%	41%	5.5%	5.1%
Herald Digipoll	16 September	44.6%	37.4%	4.5%	4.6%

No single political event can explain the significant differences between most of these polls over the period between them. They show either volatility in the electorate and/or flaws in the methods of polling. In the later polls, the issue of National's knowledge of a series of pamphlets (distributed by members of the Exclusive Brethren and attacking the Green and Labour parties) appeared not to have reduced National Party support.

Candidates

For lists of candidates in the 2005 election see:

• Candidates grouped by electorate
• Candidates grouped by party list

Major policy platforms

Labour Party

The Labour Party platform included:

• student loans: writing off interest if the recipient stays in New Zealand
• health: a pledge of extra public-hospital operations
• Treaty of Waitangi: accepting no lodgements for Treaty-claims after 1 September 2008
• increasing rates-rebates
• a "KiwiSaver" program, aimed at getting first homeowners into their own homes
• sponsoring 5,000 new apprenticeships
• increasing community police-force numbers by 250.
• a "Working for Families" tax-relief/benefit programme aimed at lower to middle-income families

National Party

The National Party campaigned on the platform of (National Party Press Release):

• taxation: lowering income-tax rates. The party ran a television advertisement parodying the telethons aired by TVNZ in the 1980s, rewording the telethon theme song "Thank you very much for your kind donation" (itself a cover of the 1967 The Scaffolds song "Thank U Very Much") to "Thank you very much for your high taxation"
• removing references to the Treaty of Waitangi from existing legislation; and resolving all treaty claims amicably by 2010
• by 1 April 2006, make student-loan repayments and $5000 of pre-school childcare costs recoupable to mainstream New Zealanders
• "reworking" the New Zealand Resource Management Act 1991 to make development easier
• "removing excessive bureaucracy" in the education system, in particular by overhauling the NCEA, and by re-introducing "bulk funding" of schools
• abolishing early parole for violent criminals. (As of 2005 most prisoners became eligible for parole after serving one-third of their sentence)
• a return to "market rents" for state-housing tenants, including a system of paying housing-subsidies (for the poorest tenants) directly to private landlords
• increase Nationwide Maths and English standards
• welfare Reform – reduce the waste of having 300,000 working age New Zealand adults on benefits and to ensure all of those on benefits really need the help
• a "work-for-the-dole" scheme
• abolishing the Maori electorates

Voting

Postal voting for New Zealanders abroad began on 31 August. Ballot voting took place on Saturday 17 September, from 9 am to 7 pm. The Chief Electoral Office released a provisional result at 12:05 am on 18 September.

Party funding

New Zealand operates on a system whereby the Electoral Commission allocates funding for advertising on television and on radio. Parties must use their own money for all other forms of advertising, but may not use any of their own money for television or radio advertising.

Party	Funding in 2005 Election
Labour	$1,100,000
National	$900,000
ACT	$200,000
Greens	$200,000
NZ First	$200,000
United Future	$200,000
Māori Party	$125,000
Progressives	$75,000
Alliance	$20,000
Christian Heritage NZ	$20,000
Destiny NZ	$20,000
Libertarianz	$20,000
99 MP Party*	$10,000
Beneficiaries Party*	$10,000
Democrats	$10,000
National Front*	$10,000
New Zealand F.R.P.P.*	$10,000
Patriot Party*	$10,000
The Republic of New Zealand Party	$10,000

*Must register for funding
Source: Electoral Commission

Controversies

Main article: 2005 New Zealand election funding controversy

Police investigated six political parties for alleged breaches of election-spending rules relating to the 2005 election, but brought no prosecutions, determining that "there was insufficient evidence to indicate that an offence under s214b of the Electoral Act had been committed."

The Auditor-General has also investigated publicly funded party-advertising for the 2005 election, with a leaked preliminary finding of much of the spending as unlawful. Observers expected the release of a final report in October 2006.

Further reading

• Levine, Stephen; Roberts, Nigel S., eds. (2007). The Baubles of Office: The New Zealand General Election of 2005. Wellington: Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-0-86473-539-3.

External links

• Elections New Zealand, joint website of the Electoral Enrolment Centre, Chief Electoral Office, and Electoral Commission.
• 2005 General Election Results from the Chief Electoral Office, Ministry of Justice
• nzvotes.org, comparative information on parties, candidates and electorates
• New Zealand Herald Election 2005 website
• Stuff.co.nz Election 2005 website
• Scoop Election 2005 website
• Scoop Election 2005 campaign diary