The NewLabour Party was a

centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

political party in New Zealand New Zealand politics have featured a strong party system since the early 20th century. Usually, all members of Parliament's unicameral House of Representatives belong to a political party. The centre-left New Zealand Labour Party and the cen ...

that existed from 1989 to 2000. It was founded by

Jim Anderton James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of Left-wing politics, left-wing parties after leaving the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party in 1989. Anderton's pol ...

, a member of parliament (MP) and former president of the

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party, also known simply as Labour (), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descri ...

, on 1 May 1989. NewLabour was established by a number of Labour Party members who left the party in reaction to Rogernomics, the economic policies implemented by the Labour Party's

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

, Roger Douglas, which saw the traditionally

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

-leaning Labour Party swing heavily to the new right on issues of state intervention, regulation, and taxation. Anderton, who had been among the most vocal critics of Douglas, was joined by a number of other members of the Labour Party, such as Matt Robson, Laila Harré and

Phil Amos Phillip Albert Amos (4 September 1925 – 8 June 2007) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was of Māori (Kāi Tahu) and descent. Biography Early life Amos was born in Wanganui in 1925, the son of John Amos. He received his ...

, and a number of left-wing activists, such as Bruce Jesson. Anderton was the party's only MP before it joined the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

Electoral success

In the 1990 elections, NewLabour stood candidates in all electorates. The party gained a certain amount of support from disillusioned Labour voters, winning 5.16% of the vote. Anderton was NewLabour's only successful candidate, retaining the Sydenham seat in working-class south-central

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. He remained the party's sole representative in Parliament, which was now dominated by the National Party with 67 seats out of 97.

Alliance building

In 1991, NewLabour and several other parties formed the

, a broad left-wing coalition. Initially, NewLabour maintained a separate identity within the Alliance, keeping its own party organization intact. By 2000, however, many felt that maintaining parallel NewLabour and Alliance structures was counter-productive, and at NewLabour's October conference, it was decided to completely assimilate the party into the larger Alliance structure, marking the end of NewLabour as an autonomous group.

Former parliamentarians

MPs elected between 1991 and 2000 were members of the NewLabour Party's faction of the

Electoral results

Parliament

References

{{NZ Alliance Party 1989 establishments in New Zealand 2000 disestablishments in New Zealand Defunct political parties in New Zealand Defunct socialist parties in Oceania Democratic socialist parties in Oceania Labour parties Political parties disestablished in 2000 Political parties established in 1989 Socialist parties in New Zealand