At stake in this election:

• 121 seats in the House of Representatives

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Queen ELIZABETH II *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Helen Elizabeth CLARK
• Assembly: New Zealand has a unicameral House of Representatives with 120 seats.

* Represented by Governor General Dame Silvia CARTWRIGHT (since 4 April 2001).
The monarchy is hereditary.

Description of electoral system:

• The Queen is hereditary.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the governor-general.
• In the House of Representatives, 69 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 3-year terms and 51 members are allocated through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 3-year terms.***

*** New Zealand has a mixed-member proportional system in which voters have two votes: a 'party vote' and an 'electorate vote'. Within this system, 69 members are elected by simple majority vote in single-member constituencies and 51 seats are allocated from nationwide party lists, according to each party's share of all the party votes. All members serve 3-year terms.
Note: The Parliament increased from 120 seats to 121 in this election, as the Maori Party won more electorate seats (4 seats) over its entitlement under the party vote (3 seats).

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Labour Party (NZLP)
  • Leader: Helen Elizabeth CLARK
  • Seats won in this election: 50
  • Seats won in last election: 52
• Party: National Party (NP)
  • Leader: Don BRASH
  • Seats won in this election: 48
  • Seats won in last election: 27
• Party: New Zealand First Party (NZFP)
  • Leader: Winston PETERS
  • Seats won in this election: 7
  • Seats won in last election: 13
• Party: Green Party
  • Leader: Jeanette FITZSIMONS and Rod DONALD
  • Seats won in this election: 6
  • Seats won in last election: 9
• Party: Maori Party
  • Leader: Tariana TURIA and Pita Russell SHARPLES
  • Seats won in this election: 4
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: United Future New Zealand
  • Leader: Peter DUNNE
  • Seats won in this election: 3
  • Seats won in last election: 8
• Party: ACT New Zealand
  • Leader: Rodney HIDE
  • Seats won in this election: 2
  • Seats won in last election: 9
• Party: Jim Anderton's Progressive
  • Leader: Jim ANDERTON
  • Seats won in this election: 1
  • Seats won in last election: 2
• Party: Others
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

Last Parliamentary election:

• The last parliamentary election was held on July 27, 2002.
  Seats decided in the last election: 120

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 4,133,900 (2005)
• Registered Voters: 2,822,148 (August 2005)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,109,436 (2005)

·         Is New Zealand a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has New Zealand ratified CEDAW: Yes (10 January 1985)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 39 (following the 2005 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 9 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is New Zealand a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has New Zealand ratified CRPD: Yes (25 September 2008)

·         Population with a disability: 620,085 (est.)