page_title: New Zealand First
section_title: Formation
hierarchical_section_title: New Zealand First / History / Formation
caption_attribution_description: English: This image was taken at the Europa Lecture 2008, University of Auckland, and is owned by the European Union Centres Network.
context_page_description: New Zealand First, commonly abbreviated to NZ First, a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand, formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Winston Peters, from the then-governing National Party. NZ First has formed coalition governments with both major political parties in New Zealand: first with the National Party from 1996 to 1998 and then with the Labour Party from 2005 to 2008 and from 2017 to present.
  New Zealand First takes a centrist position on economic issues and a social-conservative position on social issues such as criminal justice. The party distinguishes itself from the mainstream political establishment through its use of populist rhetoric, and supports popular referenda. It has also advocated restrictive immigration-policies.
  The party held seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives from shortly after its formation in 1993 until 2008, when it failed to gain enough party votes to retain representation. However, in the 2011 election, New Zealand First gained 6.59% of the total party vote, entitling it to eight members of parliament.
context_section_description: In June 1992, National Party Member of Parliament for Tauranga, Winston Peters, was told that he would not be allowed to run under National's banner in the 1993 election. A former Minister of Māori Affairs, Peters had previously been dismissed from the Cabinet in 1991, after he publicly criticised National Party policy.
  On 19 March 1993, shortly before the writs were issued for the general election, Peters resigned from the then governing National Party. He resigned from Parliament, triggering a by-election in his electorate on 17 April 1993 in which he stood as an independent, winning with 90.8% of votes. On 18 July 1993, shortly before that year's general election, Peters formed New Zealand First as a political grouping. At the time of its formation, New Zealand First's policy platform was broadly conservative—Peters claimed to be reviving National policies from which the Bolger government had departed.
caption: Winston Peters founded the party in 1993
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