Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand)

Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent Andrew Little since 18 November 2014
Term length	While leader of the largest political party not in government
Inaugural holder	John Ballance
Formation	2 July 1889
Salary	$243,700 (as of 2008)[1]
Website	Party profile

The Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition in New Zealand is the politician who, at least in theory, commands the support of the non-government bloc of members in the Parliament of New Zealand. In the debating chamber the Leader of the Opposition sits directly opposite the Prime Minister.^[2] The current Leader of the Opposition is Andrew Little, the Leader of the Labour Party.^[3]

Role

By convention, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest party of the Opposition.^[2]

The Leader of the Opposition does not have a large official role, as most of the post's functions are ceremonial. Nevertheless, there are several ways in which the Leader of the Opposition participates directly in affairs of state. Often, these relate to national security matters, which are supposed to transcend party politics – the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, for example, is required to brief the Leader of the Opposition as well as the Prime Minister on certain matters.^[4]

The Leader of the Opposition also receives a higher salary than other members of the Opposition, being paid the same amount as a Cabinet Minister.^[5]

History

For much of the country's early history, the role was not a formal one. For most of the 19th century, there was rarely any one person who could be considered Leader of the Opposition – those figures who took leading roles in opposing the government of the day were merely "first among equals", and had no formal office. It was only when the Liberal Party was formed that any unified leadership appeared in Parliament, and the role of Leader of the Opposition is generally traced from this point. John Ballance, leader of the Liberals (and later Premier) is usually considered the first Leader of the Opposition in the modern sense.

When Ballance led the Liberals into government in 1891, they faced no formal opposition in a party sense, though certain MPs were styled Leader of the Opposition. However, their opponents gradually coalesced around a leader, William Massey, who became Opposition leader in 1903, and in 1909 became the first leader of the new Reform Party. After this, the Leader of the Opposition would always be the parliamentary leader of the largest party in the House of Representatives that had not undertaken to support the Government of the day.

One notable exception to this was during World War I, when the opposition Liberal Party accepted the governing Reform Party's offer to form a wartime coalition. Prime Minister Massey also extended the offer to the new Labour Party who rejected it. This made Labour the largest party not in government, however their leader Alfred Hindmarsh was not recognized as the Leader of the Opposition. Joseph Ward, who became Deputy Prime Minister in the wartime cabinet still retained the title, albeit in name only.^[6]

During the 1910s and 1920s, the role of Opposition alternated between the Liberal and Reform parties. However, the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s, together with a gradual weakening in support for the Liberals, led to a three-party situation by the mid-1920s, with the Labour and Liberal parties having a similar number of seats. After the 1925 Election there was no official Leader of the Opposition until Rex Mason of Labour won the seat of Eden in the by-election held on 15 April 1926. Labour became superseded the Liberals as the official opposition and their leader Harry Holland became Leader of the Opposition.^[7]

The 1928 General Election put United (the renamed Liberal party) in government for the last time. Reform then became the Opposition, however in 1931 Reform entered into coalition with the Liberals, and Labour then became the Opposition, despite being the third party. The unity of the Coalition, culminating in the formation of the National Party in 1936, created a stable two-party system, with National and Labour alternating between Government and Opposition for much of the remainder of the century.

With the introduction of the MMP voting system, first used in the 1996 general elections, the nature of opposition has changed. Now, though the leader of the largest non-Government party still becomes the Leader of the Opposition, there will usually be several parties who are "in opposition". An example of this arose after the 2002 general elections, when the National Party gained only 27 seats, less than half the 58 seats held by opposition parties. This prompted calls from a number of parties, notably New Zealand First and the Greens, for the abolition or reform of the post. It was argued by these parties that the position had become an "anachronism" in the modern multi-party environment, and that the days of a united opposition bloc were gone. However, with the resurrection of the National Party in the 2005 general election, a more traditional relationship between Government and Opposition has been restored.

List of Leaders of the Opposition

A table of Leaders of the Opposition is below. The table begins in 1891, when the first real political party (the Liberals) was founded. Those who also served as Prime Minister, either before or after being Leader of the Opposition, are indicated.

Colour key (for political parties)
Independent   Liberal   Reform   Labour   United   National

No.		Leader (Birth–Death) Constituency	Portrait	Term of office		Prime Minister
	1	John Ballance (1839–1893) MP for Wanganui		2 July 1889	23 January 1891		Atkinson 1887–91
	2	John Bryce (1833–1913) MP for Waikato		23 January 1891	31 August 1891		Ballance 1891–93
	3	William Rolleston (1831–1903) MP for Halswell		31 August 1891	8 November 1893
							Seddon 1893–1906
	4	William Russell (1838–1913) MP for Hawkes Bay		26 June 1894	3 July 1901
	5	William Massey (1856–1925) MP for Franklin		11 September 1903	February 1909
							Hall-Jones 1906
							Ward 1906–12
				February 1909	10 July 1912
							Mackenzie 1912
	6	Joseph Ward (1856–1930) MP for Awarua^[1]		11 September 1913	27 November 1919		Massey 1912–25
	7	William MacDonald (1862–1920) MP for Bay of Plenty		21 January 1920	31 August 1920†
	8	Thomas Wilford (1870–1939) MP for Hutt		8 September 1920	13 August 1925
							Bell 1925
							Coates 1925–28
	9	George Forbes (1869–1947) MP for Hurunui		13 August 1925	4 November 1925
Interregnum from 1925 general election until after 1926 Eden by-election				4 November 1925	16 June 1926
	10	Harry Holland (1868–1933) MP for Buller		16 June 1926	18 October 1928
	(6)	Joseph Ward (1856–1930) MP for Invercargill		4 December 1928	10 December 1928
	11	Gordon Coates (1878–1943) MP for Kaipara		10 December 1928	22 September 1931		Ward 1928–30
							Forbes 1930–35
	(10)	Harry Holland (1868–1933) MP for Buller		22 September 1931	8 October 1933†
	12	Michael Joseph Savage (1872–1940) MP for Auckland West		12 October 1933	6 December 1935
	(9)	George Forbes (1869–1947) MP for Hurunui		6 December 1935	May 1936		Savage 1935–40
				May 1936	2 November 1936
	13	Adam Hamilton (1880–1952) MP for Wallace		2 November 1936	26 November 1940
	14	Sidney Holland (1893–1961) MP for Christchurch North until 1946 MP for Fendalton from 1946		26 November 1940	13 December 1949		Fraser 1940–49
	15	Peter Fraser (1884–1950) MP for Brooklyn		13 December 1949	12 December 1950		Holland 1949–57
	16	Walter Nash (1882–1968) MP for Hutt		17 January 1951	12 December 1957
							Holyoake 1957
	17	Keith Holyoake (1904–1983) MP for Pahiatua		12 December 1957	12 December 1960		Nash 1957–60
	(16)	Walter Nash (1882–1968) MP for Hutt		12 December 1960	31 March 1963		Holyoake 1960–72
	18	Arnold Nordmeyer (1901–1989) MP for Island Bay		1 April 1963	16 December 1965
	19	Norman Kirk (1923–1974) MP for Lyttelton until 1969 MP for Sydenham from 1969		16 December 1965	8 December 1972
							Marshall 1972
	20	Jack Marshall (1912–1988) MP for Karori		8 December 1972	4 July 1974		Kirk 1972–74
	21	Robert Muldoon (1921–1992) MP for Tamaki		4 July 1974	12 December 1975
							Rowling 1974–75
	22	Bill Rowling (1927–1995) MP for Tasman		12 December 1975	3 February 1983		Muldoon 1975–84
	23	David Lange (1942–2005) MP for Mangere		3 February 1983	26 July 1984
	(21)	Robert Muldoon (1921–1992) MP for Tamaki		26 July 1984	29 November 1984		Lange 1984–89
	24	Jim McLay (1945– ) MP for Birkenhead		29 November 1984	26 March 1986
	25	Jim Bolger (1935– ) MP for King Country		26 March 1986	2 November 1990
							Palmer 1989–90
							Moore 1990
	26	Mike Moore (1949– ) MP for Christchurch North		2 November 1990	1 December 1993		Bolger 1990–97
	27	Helen Clark (1950– ) MP for Mount Albert		1 December 1993	5 December 1999
							Shipley 1997–99
	28	Jenny Shipley (1952– ) MP for Rakaia		5 December 1999	8 October 2001		Clark 1999–2008
	29	Bill English (1961– ) MP for Clutha-Southland		8 October 2001	28 October 2003
	30	Don Brash (1940– ) List MP		28 October 2003	27 November 2006
	31	John Key (1961– ) MP for Helensville		27 November 2006	19 November 2008
	32	Phil Goff (1953– ) MP for Mount Roskill		19 November 2008	13 December 2011		Key 2008–
	33	David Shearer (1957– ) MP for Mount Albert		13 December 2011	15 September 2013
	34	David Cunliffe (1963– ) MP for New Lynn		15 September 2013	27 September 2014
	35	Andrew Little (1965– ) List MP		18 November 2014	Incumbent

¹ From 4 August 1915 to 21 August 1919, the Reform Party and the Liberal Party formed a joint wartime coalition. Joseph Ward of the Liberals officially remained "Leader of the Opposition", even though he was actually part of the government.

References

1. "Bill English admits pay rise 'a bit embarrassing'". New Zealand Herald. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
2. "People in Parliament". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
3. "Little wins Labour leadership". Stuff.co.nz. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
4. "Overview". NZSIS. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
5. "Bill English admits pay rise 'a bit embarrassing'". New Zealand Herald. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
6. Bassett, Michael. "Ward, Joseph George". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
7. O'Farrell, Patrick. "Holland, Henry Edmund - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 2 February 2016.