Party whip (New Zealand)

In the New Zealand Parliament, political parties appoint party whips to ensure party discipline and attendance, help manage legislative business, and carry out a variety of other functions on behalf of the party leadership. Whips also have an administrative role to prepare lists of members from their party to speak in debates and ask oral questions of ministers in the chamber.[1]

History

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In New Zealand, the concept of a whip was inherited from British parliamentary politics.[2] All political parties that have four or more members in Parliament have at least one party whip. Parties with 25 to 44 members are allowed two whips (one senior and one junior), and parties with 45 or more members are entitled to three whips (one senior and two junior).[3] Only four parties (Liberal, Reform, Labour and National) have ever had more than one whip.[4] A whip does not necessarily have to represent a single party and groups of MPs (of four of more) outside a party with a whip may appoint their own. This happened in 1983 when the Social Credit Party's two MPs (Bruce Beetham and Gary Knapp) combined with former Labour MPs turned independent (Brian MacDonell and John Kirk) to appoint their own whip (MacDonell) and boost their recognition in parliament.[5]

Whips act in an administrative role, making sure members of their party are in the debating chamber when required and organising members of their party to speak during debates. Since the introduction of proportional representation in 1996, divisions that require all members in the chamber to vote by taking sides (termed a personal vote) are rarely used, except for conscience votes. Instead, one of the party's whips votes on behalf of all the members of their party, by declaring how many members are in favour and/or how many members are opposed. They also cast proxy votes for single-member parties whose member is not in the chamber at the time of the vote, and also cast proxy votes during personal votes for absent members of their parties and for absent members of associated single-member parties.[3]

Some parties use an alternative title than whip, though the role is identical in all but name. The Alliance used the term 'parliamentary coordinator' rather than whip.[6] The Green Party uses the term 'musterer'.[7] Since 2020 Te Pāti Māori has referred to its whip as a 'mataura'.[8]

List of whips

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Current parties

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Labour

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Senior whip
Junior whip

The Labour Party is one of the parties that has qualified for second whip, known as a junior whip.[9]

No. Name Term of office
1 Ted Howard 10 March 1921 16 June 1926
2 James McCombs 16 June 1926 4 December 1928
(1) Ted Howard 4 December 1928 5 December 1935
3 Robert McKeen 5 December 1935 11 June 1936
4 Arthur Shapton Richards 11 June 1936 13 September 1937
5 James O'Brien 13 September 1937 11 May 1939
(4) Arthur Shapton Richards 11 May 1939 2 December 1942
6 David Coleman 2 December 1942 13 May 1947
7 Robert Macfarlane 13 May 1947 19 September 1947
8 Phil Connolly 19 September 1947 27 June 1951
9 Joe Cotterill 27 June 1951 10 July 1952
10 John Mathison 10 July 1952 9 January 1958
11 Ritchie Macdonald 9 January 1958 2 December 1966
12 Ron Bailey 2 December 1966 29 November 1972
13 Jonathan Hunt 29 November 1972 6 September 1974
14 Trevor Young 6 September 1974 5 May 1978
15 Richard Prebble 5 May 1978 13 February 1980
16 Stan Rodger 13 February 1980 19 July 1984
17 Fran Wilde 19 July 1984 18 August 1987
18 Trevor Mallard 18 August 1987 8 February 1990
19 Judy Keall 8 February 1990 31 October 1990
20 Elizabeth Tennet 31 October 1990 13 December 1993
21 Larry Sutherland 13 December 1993 20 December 1996
22 Rick Barker 20 December 1996 10 December 1999
23 Chris Carter 10 December 1999 27 July 2002
24 Jill Pettis 27 July 2002 26 February 2004
25 Darren Hughes 26 February 2004 5 November 2007
26 Sue Moroney 5 November 2007 11 November 2008
27 Steve Chadwick 11 November 2008 20 October 2011
28 Darien Fenton 20 December 2011 17 September 2013
29 Iain Lees-Galloway 23 September 2013 23 September 2014
30 Carmel Sepuloni 23 September 2014 27 September 2017
31 Poto Williams 27 September 2017 31 October 2017
32 Kieran McAnulty 7 November 2017 2 November 2020
33 Duncan Webb 2 November 2020 14 June 2022
34 Tangi Utikere 14 June 2022 31 January 2023
35 Shanan Halbert 31 January 2023 14 October 2023
36 Tracey McLellan 31 January 2023 14 October 2023
37 Camilla Belich 7 December 2023 present

National

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Senior whip
Junior whip

The National Party is one of the parties that has qualified for second whip, known as a junior whip.[10]

No. Name Term of office
1 Walter Broadfoot 14 May 1936 12 March 1941
1941–1944: office not in use
2 Tom Macdonald 20 January 1944 4 March 1950
3 Geoff Gerard 4 March 1950 24 November 1954
4 Ernest Aderman 24 November 1954 8 February 1957
5 John Rae 8 February 1957 26 September 1957
6 Jim Barnes 26 September 1957 21 January 1958
7 Jack George 21 January 1958 10 June 1964
8 Alf Allen 10 June 1964 11 February 1967
9 Gordon Grieve 11 February 1967 5 February 1970
10 Richard Harrison 5 February 1970 25 February 1972
11 Venn Young 25 February 1972 7 December 1972
12 Colin McLachlan 7 December 1972 11 July 1974
13 Bill Birch 11 July 1974 22 January 1976
14 Jack Luxton 22 January 1976 1 February 1979
15 Dail Jones 1 February 1979 24 October 1980
16 Don McKinnon 24 October 1980 2 February 1982
17 Michael Cox 2 February 1982 8 August 1985
18 Robin Gray 8 August 1985 11 September 1987
19 Maurice McTigue 11 September 1987 11 February 1990
20 Roger McClay 11 February 1990 28 November 1990
21 John Carter 28 November 1990 30 November 1993
22 Roger Sowry 30 November 1993 3 April 1995
23 Eric Roy 6 April 1995 19 December 1996
24 David Carter 19 December 1996 8 September 1998
25 Gerry Brownlee 8 September 1998 31 January 2001
26 Alec Neill 31 January 2001 12 October 2001
27 Tony Steel 12 October 2001 15 August 2002
28 Lindsay Tisch 15 August 2002 17 September 2005
29 Anne Tolley 11 October 2005 5 December 2006
30 Nathan Guy 5 December 2006 13 February 2008
31 Chris Tremain 13 February 2008 15 June 2009
32 Jo Goodhew 16 June 2009 20 October 2011
33 Louise Upston 20 December 2011 28 January 2013
34 Tim Macindoe 29 January 2013 20 September 2014
35 Jami-Lee Ross 20 September 2014 2 May 2017
36 Barbara Kuriger 2 May 2017 20 March 2018
37 Matt Doocey 20 March 2018 10 November 2020
38 Maureen Pugh 10 November 2020 5 December 2023
39 Suze Redmayne 5 December 2023 present

New Zealand First

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No. Name Term of office
1 Ron Mark 16 December 1996 28 August 2002
2 Peter Brown 28 August 2002 8 November 2008
2008–2011: office not in use
3 Barbara Stewart 16 December 2011 23 September 2017
4 Clayton Mitchell 31 October 2017 17 October 2020
2020–2023: office not in use
5 Jamie Arbuckle 12 December 2023 present

ACT New Zealand

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No. Name Term of office
1 Ken Shirley 1996 19 February 2002
2 Muriel Newman 19 February 2002 14 June 2004
(1) Ken Shirley 14 June 2004 11 October 2005
3 Heather Roy 11 October 2005 24 November 2009
4 David Garrett 24 November 2009 21 September 2010
5 John Boscawen 21 September 2010 2 May 2011
6 Hilary Calvert 2 May 2011 26 November 2011
2011–2020: office not in use
7 Brooke van Velden 2020 24 November 2023
8 Todd Stephenson 24 November 2023 present

Greens

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No. Name Term of office
1 Ian Ewen-Street 14 December 1999 22 August 2002
2 Rod Donald 22 August 2002 4 November 2005
3 Metiria Turei 4 November 2005 28 March 2009
4 Kennedy Graham 30 March 2009 20 October 2011
5 Gareth Hughes 14 December 2011 7 October 2014
6 David Clendon 7 October 2014 8 August 2017
7 Eugenie Sage 8 August 2017 24 October 2017
(5) Gareth Hughes 24 October 2017 18 November 2019
8 Chlöe Swarbrick 18 November 2019 23 November 2020
9 Jan Logie 23 November 2020 14 October 2023
10 Ricardo Menéndez March 19 November 2023 present

Te Pāti Māori

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No. Name Term of office
1 Te Ururoa Flavell 7 November 2005 26 November 2011
2011–2020: office not in use
2 Debbie Ngarewa-Packer 16 November 2020 27 November 2023
3 Mariameno Kapa-Kingi 4 December 2023 present

Defunct parties

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Liberal

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Senior whip
Junior whip

The Liberal Party is one of the parties that has qualified for second whip, known as a junior whip.[11]

No. Name Term of office
1 Frederick Fitchett 19 June 1890 26 January 1891
2 William Cowper Smith 26 January 1891 15 June 1891
3 William Hall-Jones 15 June 1891 15 September 1891
4 Charles H. Mills 15 September 1891 29 October 1894
5 Benjamin Harris 29 October 1894 4 December 1896
6 James McGowan 8 October 1897 25 June 1900
7 Arthur Morrison 25 June 1900 23 October 1900
8 John Stevens 25 June 1900 20 October 1900
9 Walter Carncross 16 July 1901 30 June 1903
10 Frederick Flatman 30 June 1903 3 July 1904
12 Alexander Hogg 20 July 1904 24 June 1905
13 Alfred Kidd 24 June 1905 3 September 1906
14 James Colvin 3 September 1906 10 December 1909
15 William MacDonald 10 December 1909 30 June 1910
16 Harry Ell 30 June 1910 29 August 1912
17 Āpirana Ngata 29 August 1912 2 July 1915
18 William Dickie 2 July 1915 17 December 1919
1919–1923: office not in use
19 James Horn 7 February 1923 16 July 1924
20 Alfred Ransom 16 July 1924 16 June 1926
1926–1928: office not in use
21 George Black 11 December 1928 17 May 1930
22 Edward Healy 27 June 1930 1 November 1935

Reform

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Senior whip
No. Name Term of office
1 Charles Hardy 11 February 1909 15 February 1912
2 Heaton Rhodes 15 February 1912 10 July 1912
3 David Guthrie 10 July 1912 18 February 1918
4 William Nosworthy 27 February 1918 4 September 1919
5 Richard Bollard 10 September 1919 21 July 1923
6 James Dickson 21 July 1923 18 October 1928
7 John Bitchener 18 October 1928 22 September 1933
8 Jimmy Nash 22 September 1933 15 February 1935
9 Bert Kyle 15 February 1935 14 May 1936
Junior whip

The Reform Party is one of the parties that has qualified for second whip, known as a junior whip.[12]

No. Name Term of office
1 Heaton Rhodes 7 October 1909 15 February 1912
2 David Guthrie 15 February 1912 10 July 1912
3 William Nosworthy 6 August 1912 27 February 1918
4 Richard Bollard 27 February 1918 10 September 1919
5 Robert Scott 27 November 1919 17 December 1919
6 James Dickson 24 June 1920 21 July 1923
7 Billy Glenn 21 July 1923 29 June 1927
8 John Bitchener 20 July 1927 18 October 1928
9 Jimmy Nash 18 October 1928 22 September 1931

Alliance

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No. Name Term of office
1 Grant Gillon 1996 2002

Mauri Pacific

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No. Name Term of office
1 Ann Batten 1998 1999

United Future

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No. Name Term of office
1 Gordon Copeland 2002 2007
2 Judy Turner 2007 2008

Citations

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  1. ^ "People of Parliament". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  2. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 278.
  3. ^ a b "What is a party whip and what do they do?". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  4. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 279–81.
  5. ^ "MacDonell whip". The Evening Post. 22 October 1983. p. 2.
  6. ^ "Parliament to be run 'to tight timeframe'". The Dominion. 17 February 1998. p. 2.
  7. ^ "'Mustering' whips". The Press. 15 December 1999. p. 11.
  8. ^ "Te Pāti Māori Portfolios List" (PDF). Waatea News. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  9. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 280–81.
  10. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 280.
  11. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 279–80.
  12. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 279.

References

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  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.