| 8th Parliament of New Zealand | |
| Body: | New Zealand Parliament |
| Election: | 1881 New Zealand general election |
| Government: | Hall ministry (until 1882) Whitaker ministry (1882 - 1883) Third Atkinson ministry (from 1883) |
| Term Start: | 18 May 1882 |
| Term End: | 24 June 1884 |
| Before: | 7th Parliament |
| After: | 9th Parliament |
| Chamber1: | House of Representatives |
| Membership1: | 95 |
| Chamber1 Leader1 Type: | Speaker of the House |
| Chamber1 Leader1: | Maurice O'Rorke |
| Chamber1 Leader2 Type: | Premier |
| Chamber1 Leader2: | Harry Atkinson — from 25 September 1883 John Hall — until 21 April 1882 |
| Chamber2: | Legislative Council |
| Membership2: | 47 (at start) 49 (at end) |
| Chamber2 Leader1 Type: | Speaker of the Council |
| Chamber2 Leader1: | William Fitzherbert |
| Chamber2 Leader2 Type: | Premier |
| Chamber2 Leader2: | Frederick Whitaker — 21 April 1882 – 25 September 1883 |
| Chamber3: | Sovereign |
| Chamber3 Leader1 Type: | Monarch |
| Chamber3 Leader1: | HM Victoria |
| Chamber3 Leader2 Type: | Governor |
| Chamber3 Leader2: | HE Lt. Gen. Sir William Jervois from 20 January 1883 — HE Rt. Hon. Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon until 24 June 1882 |
The 8th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament.
Elections for this term were held in 4 Māori electorates and 91 general electorates on 8 and 9 December 1881, respectively. A total of 95 MPs were elected, i.e. multi-member electorates were no longer used. Parliament was prorogued in June 1884. During the term of this Parliament, three Ministries were in power.
The 8th Parliament opened on 18 May 1882, following the 1881 general election. It sat for three sessions, and was prorogued on 27 June 1884.
| Session | Opened | Adjourned | |
|---|---|---|---|
| first | 18 May 1882 | 15 September 1882 | |
| second | 14 June 1883 | 8 September 1883 | |
| third | 5 June 1884 | 24 June 1884 |
Political parties had not been established yet; this only happened after the 1890 election. Anyone attempting to form an administration thus had to win support directly from individual MPs. This made first forming, and then retaining a government difficult and challenging.
The Hall Ministry under Premier John Hall had been in power since 8 October 1879. This ministry lasted until 21 April 1882. It was succeeded by the Whitaker Ministry, which lasted until 25 September 1883. The second Atkinson Ministry succeeded it. This Ministry finished on 16 August 1884, just after the 1884 general election for the 9th Parliament.
Ninety-one general and four Māori electorates were used for the 1881 elections, i.e. the previous multi-member electorates were abolished. The changes were the result of the Representation Act 1881.[1] The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of European representatives to 91 (up from 84 since the 1875–76 election). The number of Māori electorates was held at four. The House further decided that electorates should not have more than one representative, which led to 35 new electorates being formed:,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and . In addition, two electorates that had previously been abolished were recreated: and .
These changes necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries. Only six electorates remained unchanged:,,,,, and .
95 seats were created across the electorates.[2]
There were a number of changes during the term of the 8th Parliament.