51st New Zealand Parliament

The 51st New Zealand Parliament was elected at the 2014 general election. This Parliament consists of 121 members (120 seats plus one overhang seat) and will be in place from September 2014 until the New Zealand general election, 2017. Following the final vote count John Key was able to continue to lead the Fifth National Government.

The Parliament was elected using a mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) voting system. Members of Parliament (MPs) represent 71 geographical electorates: 16 in the South Island, 48 in the North Island and 7 Māori electorates. The remaining members were elected from party lists using the Sainte-Laguë method to realise proportionality. The number of geographical electorates was increased from 70 at the previous election, to account for New Zealand's increasing population.

The Representation Commission is tasked with reviewing electorate boundaries every five years following each New Zealand census. The last review was undertaken in 2007 following the 2006 census, and the electorate boundaries determined then were used in both the 2008 and 2011 general elections.

The next census was scheduled for 8 March 2011, but it was postponed due to the disruption caused by the 2011 Christchurch earthquake on 22 February . The census was formally conducted on 5 March 2013 with additional data collection over the following several weeks, Following the census it was determined there would be sufficient time to conduct a boundary review of all electorates.

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