Zardnaar
Deity
Flame Away.
So this tale is a bit of history and how the we changed from FPtP to proportional. This period also killed off the right but they came back fairly fast. The lefts fall took a lot longer.
So every story has to start somewhere. In the 1970 NZ was very Social Democracy. State owned industries, lots of regulations, protected markets etc. Our tories were very different than the right now. 1973 landed the oil shocks and the UK entered the EEC which was seen as a betrayal. We lost our trading 100 year old market.
Economy started going down the tube's. By the 1980s the government was trying price controls. Ended about as well as one expected. By 1984 the government was in a lot of trouble.
The 1978 elections resulted in unpopular Tory governments on a minority of the vote. 1981 Labour got over 40% of the vote while Social Credit got over 20%. The left was closer to 2/3rd popular vote but FPtP. Social Credit was further to the left than Labour. They had a right wing faction, the Torys were lead by state interventionist Social conservatives not the free market types. Two elections back to back minority rule.
1984 elections. Rolled around. Labour win but had a weak leader. The free market types were really in charge. National (our tories) were rolled out. Social Credit got 8%, NZ Party took 12% off the right. They were basically founded to make the Tories lose. They were irrelevant from here on out.
Anyway new Labour government went more Thatcher than Thatcher. We called it Rogenoomics. They lasted two terms until 1990. The Tories were reelected on a decent society platform. And then lunched to the right implementing austerity. Unemployment peaked 1991 at 11% (cf 15% great depression) just fire all the state industry workers.1990 the Greens were founded iirc the got 6%+ of the votes. 0 seats FPtP. New Labour was founded and first time ever a departing MP was reelected.
By 1993 National and Labour were both splintering. Various "Big Men" types were founding new parties. The new left formed the Alliance party. The 3 parties that mattered.
Greens (6.8% 1990)
Democrats (renamed Social Credit that old 20% party 1981)
New Labour (Jim Anderton, electorate seat).
In 1993 they got 18% of the vote, tories squeaked out a 1 seat majority. Vote splitting. Labour was busy squabbling with the Alliance while it's right wing had left and founded ACT. After the disgust of the elections in 80s a referendum voted for proportional.
Labour betrayed their traditional voters, National betrayed what they campaigned on in 1990. 9 years of political turmoil. With MMP on the horizon more MPs left their parties.
So an ex Tory founded NZ First earlier. With the right and left essentially deadlocked 1996 rolled around. He campaigned on getting rid of the tories in effect signaling a coalition with labour. He got 13% of the vote. The Alliance got 10%. Zards first election I was leaning towards Alliance or Labour. Made my mind up in the booth split vote for local candidate, Labour party vote.
So 3 way coalition right? The leader of NZ First held the balance of power. He specifically campaigned on changing the government. So he coalitioned with National. Yet another betrayal. However the Alliance+Labour didn't talk to him only Labour. Non unified front.
By 1997 the Greens decided to leave the Alliance. By 1998 the governing coalition almost collapsed as NZ First left the coalition. They were polling as low as 2%. Funny that when you get left wing votes and coalition with the right.
However NZ First split along with a detfector from the Alliance. These were all list MPs, got cabinet positions. There was no way of removing them. The first Waka jumpers. List MPs in essence could do whatever they wanted. Labour and Alliance signed an understanding with Labour for the 1999 election.
This time around the left won. All the Waka jumpers were voted out. This was the first outright left wing government since 1972-75 a single term. Tax went up.
2002 rolled around. National went into freefall with the hard right types being decimated. Greens and Labor were sniping at each other the electorate gave the balance of power to United Future. Disillusioned National voters picked them to deprive the Greens of coalitioning with Labor. Alliance was having issues. It was around those time the economy had recovered from the 1980s. Relative golden age. Labor went with them due to strife with the Greens. Early on the Greens were floating around 5-7% of the vote.
The Alliance also fell apart due to involvement in Iraq/Afghanistan. The Greens left in 97, the remnants of the Democrats and New Labour forned the Progressives. They squeaked back in while the Alliance losing all of their founding parties and electorate MPs died with a whimper effectively disbanding in 2015. Progressives lingered for another cycle and they died along with United Future as founding members with electorate seats retired and they fell below 1% support.
The big parties benefitted as people drifted back. Turnout has declined from the 1980s down to the low 70s with a bounce to around 75%. Electorate voted for moderate center left/right types until 2023 with a harder right victory. No more lurching to one extreme to the other, minor parties got punished for infighting currently settling on 5 parties in parliament (10 in 2002 iirc).
So this tale is a bit of history and how the we changed from FPtP to proportional. This period also killed off the right but they came back fairly fast. The lefts fall took a lot longer.
So every story has to start somewhere. In the 1970 NZ was very Social Democracy. State owned industries, lots of regulations, protected markets etc. Our tories were very different than the right now. 1973 landed the oil shocks and the UK entered the EEC which was seen as a betrayal. We lost our trading 100 year old market.
Economy started going down the tube's. By the 1980s the government was trying price controls. Ended about as well as one expected. By 1984 the government was in a lot of trouble.
The 1978 elections resulted in unpopular Tory governments on a minority of the vote. 1981 Labour got over 40% of the vote while Social Credit got over 20%. The left was closer to 2/3rd popular vote but FPtP. Social Credit was further to the left than Labour. They had a right wing faction, the Torys were lead by state interventionist Social conservatives not the free market types. Two elections back to back minority rule.
1984 elections. Rolled around. Labour win but had a weak leader. The free market types were really in charge. National (our tories) were rolled out. Social Credit got 8%, NZ Party took 12% off the right. They were basically founded to make the Tories lose. They were irrelevant from here on out.
Anyway new Labour government went more Thatcher than Thatcher. We called it Rogenoomics. They lasted two terms until 1990. The Tories were reelected on a decent society platform. And then lunched to the right implementing austerity. Unemployment peaked 1991 at 11% (cf 15% great depression) just fire all the state industry workers.1990 the Greens were founded iirc the got 6%+ of the votes. 0 seats FPtP. New Labour was founded and first time ever a departing MP was reelected.
By 1993 National and Labour were both splintering. Various "Big Men" types were founding new parties. The new left formed the Alliance party. The 3 parties that mattered.
Greens (6.8% 1990)
Democrats (renamed Social Credit that old 20% party 1981)
New Labour (Jim Anderton, electorate seat).
In 1993 they got 18% of the vote, tories squeaked out a 1 seat majority. Vote splitting. Labour was busy squabbling with the Alliance while it's right wing had left and founded ACT. After the disgust of the elections in 80s a referendum voted for proportional.
Labour betrayed their traditional voters, National betrayed what they campaigned on in 1990. 9 years of political turmoil. With MMP on the horizon more MPs left their parties.
So an ex Tory founded NZ First earlier. With the right and left essentially deadlocked 1996 rolled around. He campaigned on getting rid of the tories in effect signaling a coalition with labour. He got 13% of the vote. The Alliance got 10%. Zards first election I was leaning towards Alliance or Labour. Made my mind up in the booth split vote for local candidate, Labour party vote.
So 3 way coalition right? The leader of NZ First held the balance of power. He specifically campaigned on changing the government. So he coalitioned with National. Yet another betrayal. However the Alliance+Labour didn't talk to him only Labour. Non unified front.
By 1997 the Greens decided to leave the Alliance. By 1998 the governing coalition almost collapsed as NZ First left the coalition. They were polling as low as 2%. Funny that when you get left wing votes and coalition with the right.
However NZ First split along with a detfector from the Alliance. These were all list MPs, got cabinet positions. There was no way of removing them. The first Waka jumpers. List MPs in essence could do whatever they wanted. Labour and Alliance signed an understanding with Labour for the 1999 election.
This time around the left won. All the Waka jumpers were voted out. This was the first outright left wing government since 1972-75 a single term. Tax went up.
2002 rolled around. National went into freefall with the hard right types being decimated. Greens and Labor were sniping at each other the electorate gave the balance of power to United Future. Disillusioned National voters picked them to deprive the Greens of coalitioning with Labor. Alliance was having issues. It was around those time the economy had recovered from the 1980s. Relative golden age. Labor went with them due to strife with the Greens. Early on the Greens were floating around 5-7% of the vote.
The Alliance also fell apart due to involvement in Iraq/Afghanistan. The Greens left in 97, the remnants of the Democrats and New Labour forned the Progressives. They squeaked back in while the Alliance losing all of their founding parties and electorate MPs died with a whimper effectively disbanding in 2015. Progressives lingered for another cycle and they died along with United Future as founding members with electorate seats retired and they fell below 1% support.
The big parties benefitted as people drifted back. Turnout has declined from the 1980s down to the low 70s with a bounce to around 75%. Electorate voted for moderate center left/right types until 2023 with a harder right victory. No more lurching to one extreme to the other, minor parties got punished for infighting currently settling on 5 parties in parliament (10 in 2002 iirc).
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