Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand)

Leader of the Official Opposition of New Zealand
Coat of Arms
Incumbent Chris Hipkins since 27 November 2023
Official Opposition of New Zealand
Reports to	Parliament
Term length	While leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives that is not in government
Inaugural holder	John Ballance[a]
Formation	2 July 1889[b]
Salary	$288,900 (As at 2016)[update][1]
^ a. As the first parliamentary leader of an Opposition party. ^ b. The date Ballance was officially named Leader of the Opposition.

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In New Zealand, the leader of the Official Opposition, commonly described as the leader of the Opposition, is the politician who heads the Official Opposition. Conventionally, they are the leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives that is not in Government (nor provides confidence and supply). This is usually the parliamentary leader of the second-largest caucus in the House of Representatives.^[2]

When in the debating chamber the leader of the Opposition sits on the left-hand side of the centre table, in front of the Opposition and directly opposite the prime minister.^[3]

The role of the leader of the Opposition dates to the late 19th century, with the first political parties, and the office was formally recognised by law in 1933. Although currently mentioned in a number of statutes, the office is not formally established by any act of Parliament, just like the prime minister's role; it is simply a product of the conventions of the Westminster-style parliamentary system. The leader of the Opposition is paid a special salary by virtue of the office, equivalent to that of a Cabinet minister.^[1]

Since 1936, the leader of the Opposition, as well as the prime minister, has invariably come from one of the two major parties, Labour or National. Therefore the leader of the Opposition has historically acquired that role by either losing a general election having previously been prime minister or by acquiring the leadership of the party that is already the Official Opposition. The rules on electing party leadership vary between parties.

Since the outcome of the 2023 general election, the current holder of the office is the leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, former prime minister Chris Hipkins.

The term "opposition" has a specific meaning in the parliamentary sense; it is an important component of the Westminster system, with the Official Opposition having the task of directing criticism towards the Government. The leader of the Opposition chairs a Shadow Cabinet, which scrutinises the policies and actions of the Cabinet led by the prime minister, and promotes alternative policies.^[4][5] Directed by the leader, the Opposition may move no-confidence motions to test the Government's majority or the confidence of the House.^[6] The leader of the Opposition may be asked by the governor-general to form a new government if the incumbent government is unable to continue in office (e.g. upon a successful no-confidence motion).^[7]

Apart from parliamentary duties, 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 of national security.^[8]

The leader of the Opposition receives a higher salary than other members of the Opposition, being paid the same amount as a Cabinet minister.^[9] As at 2016^[update] the Leader of the Opposition's salary is NZ$288,900.^{[10][1][needs update]} In addition, like all other members of parliament, the leader of the Opposition receives annual allowances for travel and lodging.

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 identified as the leader of the Opposition. Prominent members were sometimes informally dubbed as "Leader of the Opposition" – often facetiously by rival politicians.^[7] It was only when the Liberal Party was formed that any unified leadership appeared in Parliament, and the role of Opposition leader 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.^[7]

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. Their opponents gradually coalesced around a leader, William Massey, who became leader of the Opposition in 1903, and in 1909 became the first parliamentary leader of the new Reform Party.^[11] For the first time, an Opposition party came forward as an alternative government.^[11] After this, the leader of the Opposition was typically the parliamentary leader of the largest party in the House of Representatives that had not undertaken to support the government of the day.^{[citation needed]}

One 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 officially recognised 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.^[12]

During the 1910s and 1920s, the role of Official 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 superseded the Liberals as the Official Opposition, and their leader Harry Holland became the leader of the Opposition.^[13]

The 1928 general election put the United Party (a remnant of the Liberals) 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 Official 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.

The office was first officially recognised by an Act of Parliament in 1933, when a special allowance was conferred on the holder.^[7]

With the introduction of the mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting system, first used in the 1996 general election, the nature of parliamentary 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 election, 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 revival of the National Party in the 2005 general election, a more traditional relationship between Government and Opposition has been restored. According to Parliamentary Services, the leader of the Opposition formally represents and speaks for all parties that are outside Government.^[14]

A table of leaders is below. Those who also served as prime minister, either before or after being leader of the Opposition, are indicated.

Key

  Liberal   Conservative   Reform   Labour   United   National

No.		Leader (Birth–Death) Constituency	Portrait	Term of office		Party	Prime Minister
	1	John Ballance (1839–1893) MP for Wanganui		2 July 1889	23 January 1891	Liberal		Atkinson 1887–91
	2	John Bryce (1833–1913) MP for Waikato		23 January 1891	31 August 1891	Conservative		Ballance 1891–93
	3	William Rolleston (1831–1903) MP for Halswell		31 August 1891	8 November 1893	Conservative
								Seddon 1893–1906
	4	William Russell (1838–1913) MP for Hawkes Bay		26 June 1894	3 July 1901	Conservative
	5	William Massey (1856–1925) MP for Franklin		11 September 1903	February 1909	Conservative
								Hall-Jones 1906
								Ward 1906–12
				February 1909	10 July 1912	Reform
								Mackenzie 1912
	6	Joseph Ward (1856–1930) MP for Awarua[a]		11 September 1913	27 November 1919	Liberal		Massey 1912–25
	7	William MacDonald (1862–1920) MP for Bay of Plenty		21 January 1920	31 August 1920†	Liberal
	8	Thomas Wilford (1870–1939) MP for Hutt		8 September 1920	13 August 1925	Liberal
								Bell 1925
								Coates 1925–28
	9	George Forbes (1869–1947) MP for Hurunui		13 August 1925	4 November 1925	Liberal
Position vacant 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	Labour
	(6)	Joseph Ward (1856–1930) MP for Invercargill		4 December 1928	10 December 1928	United
	11	Gordon Coates (1878–1943) MP for Kaipara		10 December 1928	22 September 1931	Reform		Ward 1928–30
								Forbes 1930–35
	(10)	Harry Holland (1868–1933) MP for Buller		22 September 1931	8 October 1933†	Labour
	12	Michael Joseph Savage (1872–1940) MP for Auckland West		12 October 1933	6 December 1935	Labour
	(9)	George Forbes (1869–1947) MP for Hurunui		6 December 1935	14 May 1936	United		Savage 1935–40
				14 May 1936	2 November 1936	National
	13	Adam Hamilton (1880–1952) MP for Wallace		2 November 1936	26 November 1940	National
								Fraser 1940–49
	14	Sidney Holland (1893–1961) MP for Christchurch North until 1946 MP for Fendalton from 1946		26 November 1940	13 December 1949	National
	15	Peter Fraser (1884–1950) MP for Brooklyn		13 December 1949	12 December 1950†	Labour		Holland 1949–57
	16	Walter Nash (1882–1968) MP for Hutt		17 January 1951	12 December 1957	Labour
								Holyoake 1957
	17	Keith Holyoake (1904–1983) MP for Pahiatua		12 December 1957	12 December 1960	National		Nash 1957–60
	(16)	Walter Nash (1882–1968) MP for Hutt		12 December 1960	31 March 1963	Labour		Holyoake 1960–72
	18	Arnold Nordmeyer (1901–1989) MP for Island Bay		1 April 1963	16 December 1965	Labour
	19	Norman Kirk (1923–1974) MP for Lyttelton until 1969 MP for Sydenham from 1969		16 December 1965	8 December 1972	Labour
								Marshall 1972
	20	Jack Marshall (1912–1988) MP for Karori		8 December 1972	9 July 1974	National		Kirk 1972–74
	21	Robert Muldoon (1921–1992) MP for Tāmaki		9 July 1974	12 December 1975	National
								Rowling 1974–75
	22	Bill Rowling (1927–1995) MP for Tasman		12 December 1975	3 February 1983	Labour		Muldoon 1975–84
	23	David Lange (1942–2005) MP for Māngere		3 February 1983	26 July 1984	Labour
	(21)	Robert Muldoon (1921–1992) MP for Tāmaki		26 July 1984	29 November 1984	National		Lange 1984–89
	24	Jim McLay (born 1945) MP for Birkenhead		29 November 1984	26 March 1986	National
	25	Jim Bolger (born 1935) MP for King Country		26 March 1986	2 November 1990	National
								Palmer 1989–90
								Moore 1990
	26	Mike Moore (1949–2020) MP for Christchurch North		2 November 1990	1 December 1993	Labour		Bolger 1990–97
	27	Helen Clark (born 1950) MP for Mount Albert		1 December 1993	10 December 1999	Labour
								Shipley 1997–99
	28	Jenny Shipley (born 1952) MP for Rakaia		10 December 1999	8 October 2001	National		Clark 1999–2008
	29	Bill English (born 1961) MP for Clutha-Southland		8 October 2001	28 October 2003	National
	30	Don Brash (born 1940) List MP		28 October 2003	27 November 2006	National
	31	John Key (born 1961) MP for Helensville		27 November 2006	19 November 2008	National
	32	Phil Goff (born 1953) MP for Mount Roskill		19 November 2008	13 December 2011	Labour		Key 2008–16
	33	David Shearer (born 1957) MP for Mount Albert		13 December 2011	15 September 2013	Labour
	34	David Cunliffe (born 1963) MP for New Lynn		15 September 2013	27 September 2014	Labour
	—	David Parkeri[b] (born 1960) List MP Interim Leader of the Labour Party		30 September 2014	18 November 2014	Labour
	35	Andrew Little (born 1965) List MP		18 November 2014	1 August 2017	Labour
								English 2016–17
	36	Jacinda Ardern (born 1980) MP for Mount Albert		1 August 2017	26 October 2017	Labour
	(29)	Bill English (born 1961) List MP		26 October 2017	27 February 2018	National		Ardern 2017–23
	37	Simon Bridges (born 1976) MP for Tauranga		27 February 2018	22 May 2020	National
	38	Todd Muller (born 1968) MP for Bay of Plenty		22 May 2020	14 July 2020	National
	39	Judith Collins (born 1959) MP for Papakura		14 July 2020	25 November 2021	National
	—	Shane Reti[c] (born 1963) List MP Interim Leader of the National Party		25 November 2021	30 November 2021	National
	40	Christopher Luxon (born 1970) MP for Botany		30 November 2021	27 November 2023	National
								Hipkins 2023
	41	Chris Hipkins (born 1978) MP for Remutaka		27 November 2023	Incumbent	Labour		Luxon 2023–present

Notes

• List of prime ministers of New Zealand

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leaders of the Opposition.

• People of Parliament – New Zealand Parliament