The political framework of New Zealand

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders: Queen: Charles III (since 8 September 2022)
Governor-General: Cindy Kiro (since 21 September 2021)
Prime Minister: Christopher Luxon (since 27 November 2023)
Next Election Dates: General elections: September 2026
Main Political Parties: New Zealand has a multi-party system and the main political parties are:

- National Party: centre-right, conservative, liberal
- Labour Party: centre-left, social-democratic, social equality and universal rights

Other parties include:
- Green Party: left-wing, social-democratic
- New Zealand First: centre, conservative, nationalist, populist
- Maori Party: centre-left, maori rights
- ACT: right-wing, liberal
Executive Power: The head of state is the British sovereign, represented in New Zealand by the Governor-General. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who is responsible for leading the government. The Governor-General is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Cabinet is the most senior policy-making body and is led by the Prime Minister, who is the parliamentary leader of the governing party or coalition. While executive power is formally vested in the Governor-General, it is exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, who oversee the implementation of laws and the day-to-day affairs of the country.
Legislative Power: The legislative authority is vested in a unicameral House of Representatives, which usually has 120 members but may have more due to overhang seats. Of these, 72 members are directly elected in single-member constituencies, including 65 general electorate seats and 7 Māori seats. The remaining members enter Parliament from party lists under the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system to ensure proportional representation. All members serve three-year terms.

Any Comment About This Content? Report It to Us.

Calls may be monitored or recorded in case we need to check we have carried out your instructions correctly and to help improve our quality of service. Lloyds and Lloyds Bank are trading names of Lloyds Bank plc, Bank of Scotland plc, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc and Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH. The products and services outlined on this site may be offered by legal entities from across Lloyds Banking Group, including Lloyds Bank plc and Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc.
Lloyds Bank plc and Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc are separate legal entities within the Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds Bank plc. Registered Office: 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN. Registered in England and Wales no. 2065. Bank of Scotland plc. Registered Office: The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 1YZ. Registered in Scotland no. SC327000. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc.
Registered office 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN. Registered in England and Wales no. 10399850. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under registration number 119278, 169628 and 763256 respectively. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc.
Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH has its registered office at Thurn-und-Taxis Platz 6, 60313 Frankfurt, Germany. The company is registered with the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, HRB 111650. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH is supervised by the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht. Eligible deposits with us are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). We are covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Please note that due to FSCS and FOS eligibility criteria not all business customers will be covered.