2014 New Zealand general election

New Zealand general election, 2014

← 2011 20 September 2014 2017 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 120 seats (plus 1 overhang seat) in the New Zealand House of Representatives 61 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	2,446,279 (77.90%) 3.69%
First party Second party Third party   Leader John Key David Cunliffe Russel Norman / Metiria Turei Party National Labour Green Leader since 2006 2013 2006 / 2009 Leader's seat Helensville New Lynn List Last election 59 seats, 47.31% 34 seats, 27.48% 14 seats, 11.06% Seats before 59 34 14 Seats won 60 32 14 Seat change 1 2 0 Popular vote 1,131,501 604,534 257,356 Percentage 47.04% 25.13% 10.70% Swing 0.28% 2.35% 0.36%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Winston Peters Te Ururoa Flavell (co-leader) Jamie Whyte Party NZ First Māori ACT Leader since 1993 (party foundation) 2013 2014 Leader's seat List Waiariki (outside Parliament) Last election 8 seats, 6.59% 3 seats, 1.43% 1 seat, 1.07% Seats before 7 3 1 Seats won 11 2 1 Seat change 4 1 0 Popular vote 208,300 31,850 16,689 Percentage 8.66% 1.32% 0.69% Swing 2.06% 0.11% 0.37%   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Peter Dunne Hone Harawira / Laila Harré Party United Future Internet Mana Leader since 2002 (party foundation) 2014 Leader's seat Ōhariu Te Tai Tokerau (lost seat) / (outside Parliament) Last election 1 seat, 0.60% 1 seat, 1.08% Seats before 1 1 Seats won 1 0 Seat change 0 1 Popular vote 5,286 34,095 Percentage 0.22% 1.42 Swing 0.38% 0.34%
Map of the general election. Electorate results are shown on the left, Maori electorate results in the centre, and the additional members on the right.
Prime Minister before election John Key National Subsequent Prime Minister John Key National

John Key
National

John Key
National

The 2014 New Zealand general election took place on Saturday 20 September 2014 to determine the membership of the 51st New Zealand Parliament.

Voters elected 121 members to the House of Representatives, with 71 from single-member electorates (an increase from 70 in 2011) and 49 from party lists. Since 1996, New Zealand has used the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system, giving voters two votes: one for a political party and one for their local electorate MP. The party vote decides how many seats each party gets in the new Parliament; a party is entitled to a share of the seats if it receives 5% of the party vote or wins an electorate. Normally, the House has 120 seats but extra seats may be added where there is an overhang, caused by a party winning more electorates than seats it is entitled to. The one-seat overhang from the 50th Parliament will remain for the 51st Parliament, after United Future won one electorate when their 0.22% party vote did not entitle them to any seats.

A total of 3,140,417 people were registered to vote in the election; around 92.6% of all eligible New Zealanders. A total of 2,446,279 votes were cast, including a record 717,579 advance votes, more than double the number cast in 2011. Turnout was 77.90%, higher than the 2011 election, but the sixth-lowest since women gained the vote in 1893.

The centre-right National Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister John Key, gained a plurality with 47.0% of the party vote and 60 of the 121 seats. On election night counts, the party appeared to hold the first majority since 1994 with 61 seats, but lost one seat to the Green Party on the official count. National re-entered confidence and supply agreements with the centrist United Future, the classical liberal ACT Party, and the indigenous rights-based Māori Party to form a minority government and give the Fifth National Government a third term.