New Zealand holds its first general election under the new mixed-member proportional representation system, which led to Jim Bolger's National Party forming a coalition government with Winston Peters's New Zealand First.

New Zealand

Island country in the Pacific Ocean

New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island and the South Island —and over 600 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south…

1996 New Zealand general election

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 the first election to be held under the new mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system, and produced a parliament…

Mixed-member proportional representation

Type of mixed electoral system

Mixed-member proportional representation is a type of representation provided by some mixed electoral systems which combine local winner-take-all elections with a compensatory tier with party lists, in a way that produces proportional representation overall. Like proportional…

Jim Bolger

Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1990 to 1997

James Brendan Bolger is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997.

New Zealand National Party

Centre-right political party in New Zealand

The New Zealand National Party, often shortened to National or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand that is the current senior ruling party. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside its traditional rival, the…

Coalition government

Governmental style in which political parties cooperate to form a government

A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election. A party not having…

Winston Peters

New Zealand politician (born 1945)

Winston Raymond Peters is a New Zealand politician. He has led the political party New Zealand First since he founded it in 1993, and since November 2023 has served as the 25th minister of Foreign Affairs. A long-serving member of Parliament (MP), Peters was re-elected for a…

New Zealand First

Right-wing populist New Zealand political party

New Zealand First, commonly abbreviated to NZ First or NZF, is a political party in New Zealand, founded and led by Winston Peters, who has served three times as deputy prime minister. The party has formed coalition governments with both major political parties in New Zealand:…

October 12

Day of the year

October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 80 days remain until the end of the year.