50-455: The New Zealand Democratic Coalition was a proposed moderate political party intended to contest the 1996 General Election . It would have been led by former Prime Minister Mike Moore and was intended to capture the balance of power on election night. Ultimately it was not registered and Moore stayed with Labour for the 1996 election. Following a push for Electoral reform in New Zealand ,
100-411: A 2017 interview on the discussions of the new party. When asked what stopped him following through he said "I'm Labour, I couldn't do it". New Zealand general election, 1996 Bolger II National Bolger III National - NZF The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament . It was significant for being
150-466: A National-led coalition. Prebble unexpectedly won, though ACT's vote share would have qualified them for MMP in any event. Other unusual occurrences was the large amount of new Māori MPs – leading to the backronym "More Māori in Parliament" for MMP. With the introduction of MMP in 1996, the proportion of Māori in Parliament increased from 8% to 14%, to an all-time record of 17 MPs. In the 1993 election,
200-504: A city council until 1989, when Wanganui 's city charter was cancelled. Local government reform of 1989 amalgamated various city and council councils – Wanganui District Council includes the old Wanganui City Council, Wanganui County Council and a part of the Waitotara County Council. The motto of the then Wanganui City, and now Wanganui District Council, is 'Sans Dieu Rien' ('Without God, we are nothing'). The first meeting of
250-529: A referendum was held alongside the 1993 general election that gave voters a choice between the current electoral system, First Past the Post , and the Mixed Member Proportional system. This created opportunities for many smaller parties to be formed and win representation in parliament. Mike Moore had been replaced as Labour Party leader following the party's defeat in the 1993 election . After losing
300-467: A straight majority of the 65 electorates. The National Party, the governing party, was three seats short of a majority, gaining 30 seats. The Labour Party, in opposition, won 26 electorate seats. New Zealand First won six electorate seats, the highest number of any minor party for over 50 years. The Alliance, ACT and United managed to win one electorate seat each. For United, this was a significant loss – established by break-away MPs from National and Labour,
350-551: Is the head of the Whanganui District Council . Since 1872, there have been 29 mayors. Andrew Tripe is the current mayor. The Wanganui Town Board was first formed in 1862, and its first chairman was J Handley, who served in that capacity until 1864. The board became a borough council in 1872 until 1924, when Wanganui was granted city status and the mayor was the head of the Wanganui City Council . It continued as
400-456: The Moutoa Gardens occupation of 1995 and the unfortunate death of his wife, Joy, four months prior to the 1998 election. By 2001, the writing was on the wall, and he regained the mayoralty with just 27% of the vote, warding off four councillor challengers. In 2004, he stood again and was defeated, polling third behind media personality Michael Laws and businessman John Martin with just 20% of
450-580: The National Party and the Labour Party had won 50 and 45 seats, respectively. The Alliance and the New Zealand First party had each won two seats. In the approach to MMP, however, there had been considerable rearrangement in parliament, with three new parties being established. As such, the situation just before the 1996 election was markedly different from the situation that had been established at
500-634: The New Zealand First party and became list MPs after the 1996 election. New Zealand First ended up holding the balance of power and formed a coalition with the National Party. Peter McCardle became the Minister of Employment and Jack Elder was appointed the Minister of Police . Ron Mark became the government's senior whip . In the later break up of the New Zealand First party McCardle and Elder stayed with
550-520: The Nga Iwi Morehu Movement . Most unregistered parties stood only a single candidate, with only four parties running in multiple electorates. In total, around 1,500 people voted for candidates from unregistered parties. In addition, 26 independents contested electorate seats. A total of 16,436 people voted for independent candidates. No candidate from an unregistered party or an independent candidate won an electorate seat. No party managed to win
SECTION 10
#1733203000266600-637: The 1993 election. The 1996 election was notable for the significant change of electorate boundaries, based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 1993. Because of the introduction of the MMP electoral system, the number of electorates had to be reduced, leading to significant changes. Under MMP, there would be only 65 district members, down by 34 from the number elected in the 1993 election. Many electorates were abolished, with their territories being incorporated into completely new electoral districts. More than half of
650-653: The 1996 election and onwards, the number of South Island electorates is fixed at 16. The number of electors on the general roll of the South Island divided by 16 gives the target size for North Island and Māori electorates ; this is referred to as the South Island quota. The electorates of Avon , Awarua , Christchurch North , Clutha , Dunedin West , Fendalton , Lyttelton , Marlborough , Rangiora , Selwyn , St Albans , St Kilda , Sydenham , Tasman , Timaru , Waitaki , Wallace , West Coast , and Yaldhurst were abolished in
700-645: The Director-General of the World Trade Organization . Moore's term ended on August 31, 2002. Cosgrove stood for Labour and was elected as the MP for Waimakariri in the 1999 election, replacing Moore. He was defeated in his electorate at the 2011 election , but remained in Parliament as a list MP until the 2017 election . Braybrooke retained the Napier seat until he retired at the 2002 election . Moore reflected in
750-699: The FDP in Germany. In August 1995 a "conference" was held in Christchurch that involves all the MPs as well as Cosgrove and Mark. Here they elected Rosy Fenwick, a Hastings GP and friend of Laws, to be secretary-general and form a document known as "The Aims & Objectives of the New Zealand Democratic Coalition". Moore declared that he was 95% Committed. By the end of 1995 over 600 financial members were signed up and
800-473: The Government but did not seek reelection in 1999 . Ron Mark instead remained with New Zealand First and stayed in parliament until the parties defeat in 2008 . He was re-elected to parliament for New Zealand First in the 2014 election . Mike Moore , Clayton Cosgrove and Geoff Braybrooke instead remained with Labour. Moore was reelected as a Labour MP in 1996 but resigned in early 1999 so he could serve as
850-1145: The North Island. Twenty existing electorates ( Albany , Auckland Central , Hamilton East , Hamilton West , Mangere , Manurewa , Napier , New Lynn , New Plymouth , North Shore , Pakuranga , Palmerston North , Rangitikei , Rotorua , Tamaki , Tauranga , Wairarapa , Waitakere , Whanganui , and Whangarei ) were kept. Seventeen electorates ( Mahia , Owairaka , Waipareira , Karapiro , Ohariu-Belmont , Port Waikato , Epsom , Hutt South , Mana , Manukau East , Maungakiekie , Northcote , Northland , Rimutaka , Rongotai , Taranaki-King Country , and Tukituki ) were newly formed. Eight electorates ( Bay of Plenty , Coromandel , Hunua , Otaki , Rodney , Taupo , and Wellington Central ) were recreated. All four existing Māori electorates ( Eastern Maori , Northern Maori , Southern Maori , and Western Maori ) were abolished. The calculation described above resulted in five Māori electorates being required; these were Te Puku O Te Whenua , Te Tai Hauauru , Te Tai Rawhiti , Te Tai Tokerau , and Te Tai Tonga . The House of Representatives
900-518: The South Island. Six existing electorates ( Christchurch Central , Dunedin North , Invercargill , Nelson , Otago , and Rakaia ) were kept. Seven electorates ( Aoraki , Banks Peninsula , Clutha-Southland , Ilam , Kaikoura , Waimakariri , and West Coast-Tasman ) were newly formed. Three electorates ( Christchurch East , Dunedin South , and Wigram ) were recreated. Based on the calculation described above,
950-487: The Wanganui Council was held on 14 February 1872. Councillor Francis Williamson, who was the last chairman of the town board, proposed councillor William Hogg Watt as the first mayor, which was seconded by councillor Nathan and carried unanimously. Other councillors who attended this first meeting were John Duthie , Jones and Bett. At the end of the first term, Watt was re-elected for another term. Watt resigned from
1000-420: The candidates, 459 were electorate and list, 152 were electorate only, and 231 were list only. 73% of candidates (616) were male and 27% (226) female. The 1996 election eventually saw a victory for the governing National Party , which won around a third of the vote. The opposition Labour Party won slightly less. The election, however, was not decided by the comparative strengths of the major parties – rather,
1050-415: The centrist Free Democratic Party (FDP). Early in 1994 Michael Laws and Mike Moore appeared on TVNZ 's current affairs programme Fraser together. Here they discuss the opportunities for a new centre party on air. The two reportedly decided afterwards that they should meet again to further discuss this opportunity. A meeting between Moore and Michelle Boag was organised in "late 1994" by Laws to discuss
SECTION 20
#17332030002661100-599: The difference made by the new electoral system. The Alliance and New Zealand First , both of which held two seats each in the old parliament, increased their representation to 13 and 17 seats, respectively, as a result of the change. The new ACT New Zealand also benefited, taking eight seats. The new United New Zealand party however was virtually wiped out, retaining only a single seat. The Conservative Party also only established only in previous Parliament by defecting Members of Parliament fared even worse, failing to remain in parliament at all. Strategic voting took place for
1150-669: The election debates and running a strong campaign on health, education and social services, while Bolger was said to have run a lackluster campaign. Also notable in the 1996 election campaign was the Christian Coalition , an alliance of the Christian Democrats and the Christian Heritage Party . Although the party had briefly crossed the 5% threshold in some polls, it gained only 4.33% at the election, and therefore did not qualify for parliamentary representation. With
1200-425: The electorates contested in 1996 were newly constituted, and most of the remainder had seen significant boundary changes. Wanganui was renamed as Whanganui . In total, 73 electorates were abolished, 29 electorates were newly created, and 10 electorates were recreated, giving a net loss of 34 electorates. Since the 1967 electoral redistribution, the South Island had its number of general electorates fixed at 25. For
1250-514: The exception of the Maori Ratana movement, this is the closest that an overtly religious party has come to winning representation in parliament. Voters were prepared with MMP to vote for minor party candidates with their electorate vote, hence in a number of electorates won by National or Labour the other major party candidate came third or even fourth; previously the two top polling candidates were almost always National and Labour. In addition to
1300-421: The first election to be held under the new mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system , and produced a parliament considerably more diverse than previous elections. Under the new MMP system, 65 members were elected in single-member districts by first-past-the-post voting, while a further 55 "top-up" members were allocated from closed lists to achieve a proportional distribution based on each party's share of
1350-532: The first time in a New Zealand MMP election in the Wellington seats of Ohariu-Belmont and Wellington Central . However, Labour did manage to retain its status as among the top-two parties, as polls in the 1993–1996 period had shown Labour was in danger of being overtaken by the Alliance or New Zealand First . Labour 's success was credited largely to its leader Helen Clark being seen as having convincingly won
1400-560: The following principles, aims and objectives: Michael Laws switched to the New Zealand First party in April 1996. However he was forced to resign as an MP shortly afterwards due to the "Antoinette Beck" scandal. He continued to work behind the scenes for New Zealand First helping them prepare for the 1996 election before retiring from politics. In 2004 he was elected the Mayor of Wanganui . Ron Mark , Peter McCardle and Jack Elder followed Laws to
1450-570: The following weekend, Mike Moore stated that he was committed to Labour. In January 1996 a meeting was held in Moore's office. With Moore still uncommitted, Michael Laws told the others he will instead join the New Zealand First party. This led to Mike Moore pulling the plug on the project despite the other MPs still being keen. To Select candidates of ability and integrity for election to the New Zealand House of Representatives who accept and endorse
1500-444: The leadership Moore was overwhelmed with boxes full of letters of support, many suggesting him launch a new party. Michael Laws had become a rebel backbencher in the National Party caucus since his former boss, Winston Peters , had left the party in 1992. To prepare for the upcoming MMP system Moore had sent his campaign organiser Jeff McIntyre to Germany and study how minor parties campaigned under MMP. He spent most of his time with
1550-515: The nationwide party vote. 1996 saw the National Party , led by Jim Bolger , retain its position in government, but only after protracted negotiations with the smaller New Zealand First party to form a coalition. New Zealand First won 17 seats—including sweeping every single Māori electorate , all of which had been dominated by the Labour Party since the Second World War. Particular emphasis
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1600-433: The need for a by-election following the resignation of Michael Laws , as a by-election is not needed if there will be a general election within 6 months of a seat being vacated. Of the 2,418,587 people registered to vote, 88.3% turned out to vote. The turnout was a slight improvement on the previous two elections, but still slightly lower than what would have been expected during the 1980s. The number of seats being contested
1650-571: The parliamentary representation of the ACT New Zealand , a newly-formed libertarian party which had largely split from the Labour Party after the end of Rogernomics . National endorsed ACT leader and former Labour minister Richard Prebble against their own for Wellington Central , a consistently safe Labour seat. Under New Zealand's MMP rules, a party qualified for list seats if it won at least one electorate seat, regardless of vote share. Bolger thus wanted to ensure ACT could potentially be part of
1700-452: The party entered the election with seven seats, but only Peter Dunne managed to retain his position, being helped by National's decision not to field a candidate in his electorate of Ohariu-Belmont . For the most part, traditional patterns prevailed when it came to the distribution of electorates – National performed best in rural areas, while Labour was strongest in the cities. A very significant departure from traditional patterns, however,
1750-445: The party was ready to be registered (500 members are required to be registered under New Zealand electoral law). However Mike Moore was still undecided on forming the party. During the last week of the 1995 parliamentary session Moore met with Laws, McCardle and Elder to declare himself 99% committed. The first week of the 1996 parliamentary session was discussed as an ideal launch date. However, in an interview with The Sunday Star-Times
1800-480: The potential of National Party donors financing a new Centre party. In 1995 meetings in Wellington between five interested MPs began. These were reportedly centered around the Yangtze restaurant in Wellington. Mike Moore was still uncommitted to the project however. Involved in the discussions were; Also rumored to be potential invitees to the new party were Damien O'Connor and Elizabeth Tennet . A "breakfast club"
1850-544: The registered parties listed above, a number of unregistered parties also contested the election. Being unregistered, they could not submit party lists (and thus receive party votes), but they could still stand candidates in individual electorates. Among the parties to do this were the Indigenous Peoples Party, the New Zealand Progressive Party (unrelated to the 2002–2012 party of the same name) and
1900-424: The role on 12 September 1873. Five days later, councillor William Hutchison was elected the second mayor of Wanganui. Hutchison resigned on 6 February 1874, as he had moved to Wellington to start another newspaper there. He remained in his seat as a Councillor. Several weeks and many attempted council meetings went by without a new mayor being elected, mostly because some councillors stayed away so that there
1950-531: The smaller New Zealand First party, which won 17 seats, including 5 Māori seats won by the Tight Five , and was placed in the position of "kingmaker", able to provide the necessary majority to whichever side it chose. Although predicted by many to ally with Labour, on 10 December 1996 New Zealand First leader Winston Peters chose to form a coalition with National, thus preserving Prime Minister Jim Bolger 's administration. The 1996 election effectively showcased
2000-760: The target size for North Island electorates resulted in 44 of them being required. The electorates of Birkenhead , East Coast Bays , Eastern Bay of Plenty , Eastern Hutt , Eden , Far North , Franklin , Gisborne , Glenfield , Hastings , Hauraki , Hawkes Bay , Henderson , Heretaunga , Hobson , Horowhenua , Howick , Island Bay , Kaimai , Kaipara , Kapiti , King Country , Manawatu , Matakana , Matamata , Miramar , Mt Albert , Onehunga , Onslow , Otara , Pahiatua , Panmure , Papakura , Papatoetoe , Pencarrow , Porirua , Raglan , Remuera , Roskill , Taranaki , Tarawera , Te Atatu , Titirangi , Tongariro , Waikaremoana , Waikato , Waipa , Waitotara , Wellington-Karori , and Western Hutt were abolished in
2050-461: Was 120, an increase of 21 from the previous election, but as 55 of the new seats were for list candidates, the number of electorates was reduced considerably and many electorates had their boundaries amended or were abolished. While the number of general electorates decreased from 95 (1993) to 60 (1996), the number of Māori electorates increased from 4 to 5. In the election 842 candidates stood, and there were 21 registered parties with party lists. Of
New Zealand Democratic Coalition - Misplaced Pages Continue
2100-588: Was New Zealand First's capture of all five Maori seats, which had traditionally been Labour strongholds. Although Labour was to reclaim these seats in the subsequent election, Labour's monopoly was no longer so secure as it had been. The table below shows the results of the 1996 general election: Key National Labour Alliance NZ First ACT United NZ Mana Māori Independent Mayor of Wanganui The mayor of Whanganui (previously Wanganui )
2150-499: Was arrested, pleaded guilty and imprisoned. He was released from prison in 1927, travelled to England and became a journalist. He was killed in 1929 during riots in Munich, Germany whilst reporting the civil unrest. Edward Alan Millward OBE was mayor from 1953 to 1962. He retired in 1962. He was succeeded by Reg Andrews OBE of the Labour Party ; Andrews retired in 1974. Ron Russell QSO succeeded him and retired in 1983. The 1983 mayoralty
2200-486: Was later formed in which Laws, McCardle, Moore and Elder regularly meet to further discussions. Braybrooke was left out of these as he was suffering ill-health but he reportedly remained determined to follow Moore to any new party. Many names were considered for the proposed party including the "Peoples Party" before Democratic Coalition is selected. Laws favoured Peoples Party, but it was thought to sound too communist . The party colours were to be yellow and black, inspired by
2250-468: Was mayor between the two periods covered by Parsons. Edward Liffiton was mayor in 1912. In 1916, a modifying order was gazetted so that he could be buried at Heads Road Cemetery . He died in 1923. Wanganui's most controversial mayor, by far, was well regarded lawyer Charles MacKay who was found guilty of the attempted murder of poet D'Arcy Cresswell – a charge stemming from an attempt to allegedly blackmail Mayor MacKay for homosexual advances. MacKay
2300-509: Was no quorum. Finally, on 10 April 1874, Robert Pharazyn was elected as the third mayor of Wanganui. Edward Churton retired from his mayoralty on 15 December 1875. Churton died on 25 July 1885. Watt succeeded Churton in 1875 and started the second period of his mayoralty. James Laird was mayor from 1886 to 1888. He died on 3 September 1902. Alfred John Parsons was mayor for two separate periods, first from 1888 to 1890 and then in 1891–1892. Parsons died on 15 July 1900. Henry Nathan
2350-432: Was placed on New Zealand First's unprecedented success, particularly among Māori; their five Māori electorate winners became known as the " Tight Five ". The party's position as " kingmaker " meant they were able to place either of the two major parties into government, a significant election outcome for such a new party. Various other unusual results occurred under the new system. For one, the National Party sought to ensure
2400-478: Was the chairman of the Wanganui County Council prior to the reorganisation. The new territorial authority was named Wanganui District Council. In 1992, Poynter was challenged by Wanganui greengrocer Randhir Dahya, a popular Indian businessman. His majority was cut to just 939 votes. Dahya challenged him twice more, in 1995 and 1998, but Poynter easily resisted these challenges, assisted by his handling of
2450-434: Was to have 120 seats, of which 65 were filled through electorate MPs (16 from South Island electorates, 44 from North Island electorates, and 5 from Māori electorates). This left 55 list seats to be filled. An outcome of the election was that no overhang seats were required. Eleven MPs intended to retire at the end of the 44th Parliament. The date of the 1996 election was 12 October; it was brought forward slightly to avoid
2500-570: Was won by Doug Turney, with Chas Poynter coming second. Poynter was made deputy mayor in 1983 as a consequence. Poynter had served on the Wanganui council from 1977. In 1986, Poynter challenged Turney and was successful, winning with a majority of 1529 votes. In 1989, Poynter increased his majority, defeating challenger John Blaikie by almost 6,000 votes. This was the first election under the new local government boundaries, with Wanganui City incorporating Wanganui County and some of Waitotara County. Blaikie
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