National formed in 1936 through amalgamation of conservative and liberal parties, Reform and United respectively. Judith Collins has served as the leader of the National Party andLeader of the Opposition since 14 July 2020. National has governed for five periods during the 20th and 21st centuries, and as of 2015 has spent more time in government than any other New Zealand party.
About New Zealand National Party in brief
The New Zealand National Party is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. National formed in 1936 through amalgamation of conservative and liberal parties, Reform and United respectively. It is one of two major parties that largely dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside its traditional rival, the Labour Party. National has governed for five periods during the 20th and 21st centuries, and as of 2015 has spent more time in government than any other New Zealand party. At the 2017 general election the party gained 44. 4 percent of the party vote and won 56 seats, making it then the largest caucus in the House of Representatives. Judith Collins has served as the leader of the National Party andLeader of the Opposition since 14 July 2020. National was most recently in government from 2008 to 2017 under John Key and Bill English. It governed with support from the centrist United Future, the classical-liberal ACT Party and the indigenous-rights-based Māori Party. The National Party was formed in May 1936 as the result of a merger between the United Party and the Reform Party. Its roots go considerably further back. Historically, the Liberal and Reform parties had competed against each other, but from 1931 until 1935 a United–Reform Coalition held power in New Zealander. National’s predecessors had previously formed a coalition against the growing labour movement. The party’s platform shifted from moderate economic liberalism to increased emphasis on state interventionism during Robert Muldoon’s National government from 1975 to 1984.
National Party leader Jenny Shipley became New Zealand’s first female prime minister in 1997; her government was defeated by a Labour-led coalition in 1999. In the 1943 election, National’s majority was reduced to unseat after the election, but it remained in power after the 1946 election. However the party also failed to win a seat in the New Zealand general election in 1949, and after the 1949 election in 1946, National failed to gain unseat unseat in the 1949 general election. The new party split the conservative vote and aided Labour’s victory. In hopes of countering Labour’s rise, United and Reform decided to turn their alliance into a single party. This party, the New NZ National Party, was formed at a meeting held in Wellington on 13 and 14 May 1936. Erstwhile members of the United and reform parties made up the bulk of the new party. The United Party’s last leader, George Forbes, Prime Minister from 1930 until 1935, opened the conference; he served as Leader of the opposition from May until November, when former Reform MP Adam Hamilton was elected the first leader. He got the top job because of a compromise between Forbes and Reform leader Gordon Coates, neither of whom wished to serve under the other. Hamilton, however, failed to counter Labour’s popular Prime Minister, Joseph Savage, in 1938. In 1940, Hamilton replaced Hamilton as the party’s deputy prime minister. In 1942, Hamilton’s deputy MP Bert Kyle resigned in protest at the behaviour of Holland and the new organisation and the party became the new National Party.
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This page is based on the article New Zealand National Party published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 23, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
