List of New Zealand ministries

This article lists New Zealand ministries, which are ruling groups in ministers in the Government of New Zealand. There are three distinctly different periods: firstly the period without responsible government, then from 1856 to 1890 the period of responsible government, and the third period started with the formation of political parties in 1891.

"Ministry" is a term used to refer collectively to all the ministers of a government. It is described by the Oxford Dictionary as "a period of government under one prime minister". This definition includes all ministers, inside and outside of cabinet alike (up to the introduction of MMP in 1996, most ministers were in the cabinet).

The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and was the second enactment to grant the colony of New Zealand self-government. The first elections for a New Zealand House of Representatives were held during 1853, and this lower house met for the first time in 1854 in Auckland. In practice, the country was initially governed by the Governor, George Grey, with the advice of the Civil Secretary and some officials that were appointed back in 1840/41, namely Andrew Sinclair (Colonial Secretary), William Swainson (Attorney-General), and Alexander Shepherd (Colonial Treasurer).

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