List of prime ministers of New Zealand facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The prime minister of New Zealand is the country's main leader. They are the head of the government and lead the group of top ministers called the Cabinet. The prime minister's job and powers are mostly based on long-standing traditions, not strict laws.

Officially, the governor-general chooses the prime minister. But in practice, the person chosen must have the support of most members in the House of Representatives, which is New Zealand's parliament. The prime minister is always a member of parliament.

In the past, prime ministers led groups of independent politicians, which could be a bit unstable. Today, the prime minister is usually the leader of the biggest political party in parliament. Since 1935, all prime ministers have been from either the National party or the Labour party. This shows how important these two parties are in New Zealand politics. Since 1996, when a new voting system called mixed-member proportional was introduced, prime ministers often need to work with smaller parties to keep a majority in parliament.

The leader's title has changed over time. It was first called "colonial secretary". Then, in 1869, it officially became "premier". This title was used for over 30 years until Richard Seddon changed it to "prime minister" during his time in office. He used this new title at a big meeting in 1902.

Some historians think James FitzGerald was New Zealand's first prime minister. However, most people agree that he and his successor, Thomas Forsaith, shouldn't really be called prime ministers because New Zealand didn't have its own fully responsible government yet. Most commonly, Henry Sewell, who was in charge in 1856, is seen as New Zealand's first premier.

Since Henry Sewell, 42 different people have served as prime minister. This does not include Hugh Watt, who was acting prime minister for a short time after Norman Kirk passed away. Eight prime ministers have served more than once. Richard Seddon held the job for the longest time, serving for thirteen years from 1893 to 1906. The youngest prime minister was Edward Stafford, who started at age 37. The oldest was Walter Nash, who left office at 78. Three prime ministers have been women, which is the same number as in countries like Finland, Lithuania, Poland, and the United Kingdom. Only Switzerland has had more.

The current prime minister is Christopher Luxon, who took office on 27 November 2023.

Who Has Been Prime Minister?

The tables below list the people who have served as New Zealand's top leader. The political parties shown are the ones they belonged to when they were in office. The areas they represented in parliament (their "constituencies") are also listed. Some prime ministers were part of other parties or represented different areas before or after their time as leader. A number in brackets, like (2), means the person served as prime minister before.

Political parties

Independent Liberal Reform United Labour National

Symbols

Died in office

Colonial Secretaries (1856–1869)
No.	Portrait	Name Constituency (Born–Died)	Election (Parliament)	Time in Office			Political party	Government
No.	Portrait	Name Constituency (Born–Died)	Election (Parliament)	Started	Ended	Length	Political party	Government
1		Henry Sewell MP for Christchurch (1807–1879)	1855 (2nd)	7 May 1856	20 May 1856	14 days	Independent	Sewell
2		Sir William Fox MP for Wanganui and Rangitikei (1812–1893)	– (2nd)	20 May 1856	2 June 1856	14 days	Independent	Fox I
3		Sir Edward Stafford MP for Nelson (1819–1901)	– (2nd)	2 June 1856	12 July 1861	5 years, 41 days	Independent	Stafford I
(2)		Sir William Fox MP for Rangitikei (1812–1893)	1860–1861 (3rd)	12 July 1861	6 August 1862	1 year, 26 days	Independent	Fox II
4		Alfred Domett MP for Nelson (1811–1887)	– (3rd)	6 August 1862	30 October 1863	1 year, 86 days	Independent	Domett
5		Sir Frederick Whitaker Councillor (1812–1891)	– (3rd)	30 October 1863	24 November 1864	1 year, 26 days	Independent	Whitaker–Fox
6		Sir Frederick Weld MP for Cheviot (1823–1891)	– (3rd)	24 November 1864	16 October 1865	327 days	Independent	Weld
(3)		Sir Edward Stafford MP for Nelson (until 1868), then Timaru (from 1868) (1819–1901)	– (3rd) 1866 (4th)	16 October 1865	28 June 1869	3 years, 256 days	Independent	Stafford II

Premiers and prime ministers (1869–present)
No.	Portrait	Name Constituency (Born–Died)	Election (Parliament)	Time in Office			Political party	Government
No.	Portrait	Name Constituency (Born–Died)	Election (Parliament)	Started	Ended	Length	Political party	Government
(2)		Sir William Fox MP for Rangitikei (1812–1893)	– (4th) 1871 (5th)	28 June 1869	10 September 1872	3 years, 75 days	Independent	Fox III
(3)		Sir Edward Stafford MP for Timaru (1819–1901)	– (5th)	10 September 1872	11 October 1872	32 days	Independent	Stafford III
7		George Waterhouse Councillor (1824–1906)	– (5th)	11 October 1872	3 March 1873	144 days	Independent	Waterhouse
(2)		Sir William Fox MP for Rangitikei (1812–1893)	– (5th)	3 March 1873	8 April 1873	37 days	Independent	Fox IV
8		Sir Julius Vogel MP for Auckland East (1835–1899)	– (5th)	8 April 1873	6 July 1875	2 years, 90 days	Independent	Vogel I
9		Daniel Pollen Councillor (1813–1896)	– (5th)	6 July 1875	15 February 1876	225 days	Independent	Pollen
(8)		Sir Julius Vogel MP for Wanganui (1835–1899)	1875–1876 (6th)	15 February 1876	1 September 1876	200 days	Independent	Vogel II
10		Sir Harry Atkinson MP for Egmont (1831–1892)	– (6th)	1 September 1876	13 October 1877	1 year, 43 days	Independent	Atkinson I • II
11		Sir George Grey MP for Thames (1812–1898)	– (6th)	13 October 1877	8 October 1879	1 year, 361 days	Independent	Grey
12		Sir John Hall MP for Selwyn (1824–1907)	1879 (7th) 1881 (8th)	8 October 1879	21 April 1882	2 years, 196 days	Independent	Hall
(5)		Sir Frederick Whitaker Councillor (1812–1891)	– (8th)	21 April 1882	25 September 1883	1 year, 158 days	Independent	Whitaker
(10)		Sir Harry Atkinson MP for Egmont (1831–1892)	– (8th)	25 September 1883	16 August 1884	327 days	Independent	Atkinson III
13		Sir Robert Stout MP for Dunedin East (1844–1930)	1884 (9th)	16 August 1884	28 August 1884	13 days	Independent	Stout–Vogel
(10)		Sir Harry Atkinson MP for Egmont (1831–1892)	– (9th)	28 August 1884	3 September 1884	7 days	Independent	Atkinson IV
(13)		Sir Robert Stout MP for Dunedin East (1844–1930)	– (9th)	3 September 1884	8 October 1887	3 years, 36 days	Independent	Stout–Vogel
(10)		Sir Harry Atkinson MP for Egmont (1831–1892)	1887 (10th)	8 October 1887	24 January 1891	3 years, 109 days	Independent	Atkinson V
14		John Ballance MP for Wanganui (1839–1893)	1890 (11th)	24 January 1891	27 April 1893	2 years, 94 days	Liberal	Liberal
15		Richard Seddon MP for Westland (1845–1906)	– (11th) 1893 (12th) 1896 (13th) 1899 (14th) 1902 (15th) 1905 (16th)	1 May 1893	10 June 1906	13 years, 41 days
16		Sir William Hall-Jones MP for Timaru (1851–1936)	– (16th)	21 June 1906	6 August 1906	47 days
17		Sir Joseph Ward MP for Awarua (1856–1930)	– (16th) 1908 (17th) 1911 (18th)	6 August 1906	12 March 1912	5 years, 220 days		Liberal
18		Thomas Mackenzie MP for Egmont (1853–1930)	– (18th)	28 March 1912	10 July 1912	105 days		Liberal
19		William Massey MP for Franklin (1856–1925)	– (18th) 1914 (19th) 1919 (20th) 1922 (21st)	10 July 1912	10 May 1925	12 years, 305 days	Reform	Reform
20		Francis Bell Councillor (1851–1936)	– (21st)	14 May 1925	30 May 1925	17 days
21		Gordon Coates MP for Kaipara (1878–1943)	– (21st) 1925 (22nd)	30 May 1925	10 December 1928	3 years, 195 days
(17)		Sir Joseph Ward MP for Invercargill (1856–1930)	1928 (23rd)	10 December 1928	28 May 1930	1 year, 170 days	United	United
22		George Forbes MP for Hurunui (1869–1947)	– (23rd)	28 May 1930	6 December 1935	5 years, 193 days		United
22		George Forbes MP for Hurunui (1869–1947)	1931 (24th)	28 May 1930	6 December 1935	5 years, 193 days		United–Reform Coalition
23		Michael Joseph Savage MP for Auckland West (1872–1940)	1935 (25th) 1938 (26th)	6 December 1935	27 March 1940	4 years, 113 days	Labour	First Labour
24		Peter Fraser MP for Wellington Central (until 1946), then Brooklyn (from 1946) (1884–1950)	– (26th) 1943 (27th) 1946 (28th)	1 April 1940	13 December 1949	9 years, 257 days	Labour	First Labour
25		Sir Sidney Holland MP for Fendalton (1893–1961)	1949 (29th) 1951 (30th) 1954 (31st)	13 December 1949	20 September 1957	7 years, 282 days	National	First National
26		Sir Keith Holyoake MP for Pahiatua (1904–1983)	– (31st)	20 September 1957	12 December 1957	84 days	National	First National
27		Sir Walter Nash MP for Hutt (1882–1968)	1957 (32nd)	12 December 1957	12 December 1960	3 years, 1 day	Labour	Second Labour
(26)		Sir Keith Holyoake MP for Pahiatua (1904–1983)	1960 (33rd) 1963 (34th) 1966 (35th) 1969 (36th)	12 December 1960	7 February 1972	11 years, 58 days	National	Second National
28		Sir Jack Marshall MP for Karori (1912–1988)	– (36th)	7 February 1972	8 December 1972	306 days	National	Second National	National	Second National
29		Norman Kirk MP for Sydenham (1923–1974)	1972 (37th)	8 December 1972	31 August 1974	1 year, 267 days	Labour	Third Labour
—		Hugh Watt MP for Onehunga (1912–1980) Acting prime minister	– (37th)	31 August 1974	6 September 1974	7 days
30		Sir Bill Rowling MP for Tasman (1927–1995)	– (37th)	6 September 1974	12 December 1975	1 year, 98 days
31		Sir Robert Muldoon MP for Tamaki (1921–1992)	1975 (38th) 1978 (39th) 1981 (40th)	12 December 1975	26 July 1984	8 years, 228 days	National	Third National
32		David Lange MP for Mangere (1942–2005)	1984 (41st) 1987 (42nd)	26 July 1984	8 August 1989	5 years, 14 days	Labour	Fourth Labour
33		Sir Geoffrey Palmer MP for Christchurch Central (born 1942)	– (42nd)	8 August 1989	4 September 1990	1 year, 28 days
34		Mike Moore MP for Christchurch North (1949–2020)	– (42nd)	4 September 1990	2 November 1990	60 days
35		Jim Bolger MP for King Country (born 1935)	1990 (43rd) 1993 (44th) 1996 (45th)	2 November 1990	8 December 1997	7 years, 37 days	National	Fourth National
36		Dame Jenny Shipley MP for Rakaia (born 1952)	– (45th)	8 December 1997	10 December 1999	2 years, 3 days	National	Fourth National
37		Helen Clark MP for Mount Albert (born 1950)	1999 (46th) 2002 (47th) 2005 (48th)	10 December 1999	19 November 2008	8 years, 346 days	Labour	Fifth Labour
38		Sir John Key MP for Helensville (born 1961)	2008 (49th) 2011 (50th) 2014 (51st)	19 November 2008	12 December 2016	8 years, 24 days	National	Fifth National
39		Sir Bill English List MP (born 1961)	– (51st)	12 December 2016	26 October 2017	319 days	National	Fifth National
40		Dame Jacinda Ardern MP for Mount Albert (born 1980)	2017 (52nd) 2020 (53rd)	26 October 2017	25 January 2023	5 years, 91 days	Labour	Sixth Labour
41		Chris Hipkins MP for Remutaka (born 1978)	– (53rd)	25 January 2023	27 November 2023	306 days	Labour	Sixth Labour
42		Christopher Luxon MP for Botany (born 1970)	2023 (54th)	27 November 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 204 days	National	Sixth National

List of prime ministers of New Zealand facts for kids

Who Has Been Prime Minister?

Timeline

See also