List of political parties in New Zealand
Parties which held seats

List of political parties in New Zealand

Section Title: Parties which held seats
Table Section Text: None

Party	Founded	Disbanded	In Parliament	Description

Liberal Party	1891	1927	1891–1927	New Zealand's first political party. It provided the country with a number of prominent Prime Ministers, including John Ballance and Richard Seddon.

New Liberal Party	1905	1908	1905–1908	A party formed by Liberal Party dissidents. Its members were opposed to Liberal leader, Richard Seddon, seeing him as an autocrat.

Independent Political Labour League	1905	1910	1908–1910	A small and short-lived left-wing party. It was the second organised party to win a seat in Parliament, with David McLaren winning the seat of Wellington East.

Reform Party	1909	1936	1909–1936	New Zealand's second major political party, established as a more conservative opponent to the Liberal Party. Its founder, William Massey, became its most prominent leader.

Labour Party (original)	1910	1912	1910–1912	A short-lived successor to the Independent Political Labour League. It functioned as one of the more moderate workers' parties, opposing more radical groups like the Socialist Party.

United Labour Party	1912	1916	1912–1916	A reformed continuation of the original Labour Party. The party existed only a short time before merging with the Socialist Party to form the Social Democratic Party, although a faction rejected the new SDP as too extreme and continued on under the United Labour Party banner eventually likewise merging in 1916.

Social Democratic Party	1913	1922	1913–1916	An early left-wing party established at a "Unity Congress" in July 1913 as an attempt to bring together the various labour groups of the time.

Country Party	1922	1938	1928–1938	A party established by members of the Farmers' Union to promote the interests of the rural sector. It reflected to an extent social credit monetary theory, and believed that farmers were not treated fairly by banks and the corporate world.

United Party	1927	1936	1927–1936	A party formed from the remnants of the Liberal Party. United governed between 1928 and 1935, initially with Labour support and later in coalition with the Reform Party.

Democratic Labour Party	1940	1949	1940–1943	A splinter from the Labour Party led by dissident MP John A. Lee.

Social Credit Party	1953	1985	1966–69 1978–1987	A party that advocated social credit, a type of monetary reform. It was New Zealand's "third party" between the 1950s and the 1980s.

NewLabour Party	1989	2000	1989–1991	A left-wing party established by former Labour MP Jim Anderton. It contested one election before joining with several other parties to establish the Alliance.

Christian Heritage NZ	1990	2006	1999	A party that advocates Christian conservative values. It supported policies to strengthen marriage and opposed abortion and same-sex unions.

Alliance	1991	2015	1991–2002	A left-wing party supporting the welfare state, free education, environmental protection, and Māori interests. The Progressive Party formed as a splinter group from the Alliance when Jim Anderton, former Alliance leader, left.

Liberal Party	1992	1996	1992	A short-lived splinter from the National Party, formed by Hamish McIntyre and Gilbert Myles, two dissident National MPs who disagreed with the economic policies of Ruth Richardson.

Future New Zealand	1994	1995	1994–1995	A short-lived party established by Peter Dunne after he left the Labour Party. It integrated into the United New Zealand party.

Christian Democrats	1995	1998	1995–1996	A Christian party established by sitting National MP Graeme Lee. After briefly establishing the Christian Coalition (see above) with the Christian Heritage Party, the Christian Democrats secularised themselves, adopting the name "Future New Zealand".

United New Zealand	1995	2000	1995–2000	A centrist party established by moderate MPs from both National and Labour. The party did not achieve electoral success, with only one of the seven founding MPs managing to remain in parliament.

Mana Wahine Te Ira Tangata	1998	2001	1998–1999	A short-lived Māori feminist party established by Alliance (Mana Motuhake) defector Alamein Kopu. The party contested only one general election before vanishing.

Mauri Pacific	1999	2001	1999	A party established by several New Zealand First MPs shortly after a coalition between New Zealand First and the National Party broke down.

United Future	2000	2017	2000–2017	A centrist party, originally with a strong Christian background: it described its platform as "common sense". It had a particular focus on policies concerning the family and social issues.

Progressive Party	2002	2012	2002–2011	A left-wing party with a focus on job creation and regional development, formed by Jim Anderton after his split from the Alliance.

Pacific Party	2008	2010	2008	A small party established by Taito Phillip Field aimed at advancing Pacific Peoples, as well as Christian and family values and social justice.

NZ Independent Coalition	2014	2016	2012–2014	A party emphasising local electorate representation, formed by MP Brendan Horan who became independent from New Zealand First in 2012.

Sentence(s)

Jim Anderton's Progressive Party was formed in 2002.

final_sentence: Jim Anderton's Progressive Party was formed in 2002.