Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government and is the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand. Since 5 December 1999 the Prime Minister has been Helen Clark of the Labour Party.

History of the office

The exact origins of the office of Prime Minister are disputed. Use of the words "prime minister" as a descriptive term date back to the 1st Parliament, where they are applied to James FitzGerald and Thomas Forsaith. FitzGerald and Forsaith had no official titles, however, and New Zealand had not yet obtained self-rule. As such, they are not usually considered Prime Ministers in any substantive sense.

Related Topics:
1st Parliament - James FitzGerald - Thomas Forsaith

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The first person to be formally appointed to a position of leadership was Henry Sewell, who formed a government at the beginning of the 2nd Parliament. Despite his formal leadership role, however, his only actual title was Colonial Secretary. His successor, William Fox, was also given a formal leadership role, but was not Colonial Secretary. It was not until Frederick Weld, the sixth person appointed to formal leadership, that a substantive leadership title—Premier—appeared. Weld's successor, Edward Stafford, briefly changed the title to First Minister but it was soon afterwards restored to Premier by William Fox. From that point, Premier became the usual designation. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the term Prime Minister arose as a common alternative to Premier and Richard Seddon used the title almost exclusively. Seddon's successor, William Hall-Jones, was officially appointed Prime Minister rather than Premier. The title Prime Minister has been used ever since.

Related Topics:
Henry Sewell - 2nd Parliament - William Fox - Frederick Weld - Edward Stafford - Richard Seddon - William Hall-Jones

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Assuming that Sewell is counted as the first Prime Minister, thirty-seven people have held the office since it was established. Some of these people have held it on several different occasions, with the record for maximum number of times being shared between William Fox and Harry Atkinson (both of whom served four times). The longest that anyone has served in the office is thirteen years, a record set by Richard Seddon. The first holder of the office, Henry Sewell, led the country for the shortest total time; his only term lasted only thirteen days (the shortest term actually belonged to Harry Atkinson, whose third term lasted only seven days, but Atkinson served longer than Sewell in total).

Related Topics:
William Fox - Harry Atkinson - Richard Seddon - Henry Sewell

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New Zealand is also one of the few countries in the world to have had two female heads of government, and one of only two countries to have two females heads of government directly succeed the other.

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