2002 New Zealand general election
The 2002 New Zealand general election was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of Helen Clark's Labour Party government, as well as the worst-ever performance by the opposition National Party (the 2020 election would see it suffer a greater defeat in terms of net loss of seats).
All 120 seats in the House of Representatives
61 seats needed for a majority
2,055,404 (76.98%) 
7.79%
A controversial issue in the election campaign was the end of a moratorium on genetic engineering, strongly opposed by the Green Party. Some commentators have claimed that the tension between Labour and the Greens on this issue was a more notable part of the campaign than any tension between Labour and its traditional right-wing opponents. The release of Nicky Hager's book Seeds of Distrust prior to the election also sparked much debate. The book examined how the government handled the contamination of a shipment of imported corn with genetically modified seeds. Helen Clark called the Greens "goths and anarcho-feminists" during the campaign.
The election[edit]
There were 2,670,030 registered voters, the highest number for any election in New Zealand. However, only 77% of these registered voters chose to cast a vote, a considerable drop from previous elections. Many commentators cited Labour's dominance in the polls as a reason for this low turnout. Many people saw the outcome as inevitable, and so did not bother to vote at all.
In the election 683 candidates stood, and there were 14 registered parties with party lists. Of the candidates, 433 were electorate and list, 160 were electorate only, and 90 were list only. 71% of candidates (487) were male and 29% (196) female.[2][3]
Summary of results[edit]
As most people expected, Labour was victorious. It did not, however, receive an absolute majority, gaining only 52 seats (eight seats short of the half-way mark). Labour's former coalition partner, the Alliance (which had splintered shortly before the election), was not returned to parliament. However, the new Progressive Coalition (now the Progressive Party) started by former Alliance leader Jim Anderton won two seats, and remained allied with Labour. The Greens, who were now distanced from Labour over the genetic engineering controversy, gained nine seats (an increase of two).
In general, it was a bad election for the parties of the right. The National Party, once referred to as "the natural party of government", suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat, gaining only 21% of the vote. ACT New Zealand, National's more right-wing neighbour, failed to capitalise on the exodus of National supporters, retaining the same number of seats as before. Instead, the most notable gains among opposition parties were made by two centrist parties. One of these was Winston Peters's New Zealand First, a populist and nationalist party opposed to immigration. Strong campaigning by Peters allowed the party to recover from its serious losses in the 1999 election. The other was United Future New Zealand party, a centrist party based on a merger of the United Party and the Future New Zealand party – primarily due to the performance of leader Peter Dunne, the party shot from having one seat to having eight seats.
Once the final distribution of seats was determined, it was clear that Labour would be at the centre of the government, and that it would be allied with the Progressives. However, this still left Labour needing support in matters of confidence and supply, as the two parties together fell short of an absolute majority. Labour expressed a preference for an "agreement" rather than a full coalition, hoping to establish an arrangement similar to the one that existed with the Greens prior to the election. Three realistic choices existed for a partner – the Greens, United Future, and New Zealand First. Labour had repeatedly ruled out deals with New Zealand First during the election campaign, and reaffirmed this soon after the election, leaving just the Greens and United Future as candidates. After a period of negotiation, Labour opted to ally with United Future, being unwilling to change their genetic engineering policies to secure the Green Party's support.
Labour and the Progressives remained in power, with support in confidence and supply votes from United Future.