Party whip (New Zealand) explained

In the New Zealand Parliament, political parties appoint party whips to ensure party discipline and attendance, help manage legislative business, and carry out a variety of other functions on behalf of the party leadership. Whips also have an administrative role to prepare lists of members from their party to speak in debates and ask oral questions of ministers in the chamber.[1]

History

In New Zealand, the concept of a whip was inherited from British parliamentary politics. All political parties that have four or more members in Parliament have at least one party whip. Parties with 25 to 44 members are allowed two whips (one senior and one junior), and parties with 45 or more members are entitled to three whips (one senior and two junior).[2] Only four parties (Liberal, Reform, Labour and National) have ever had more than one whip. A whip does not necessarily have to represent a single party and groups of MPs (of four of more) outside a party with a whip may appoint their own. This happened in 1983 when the Social Credit Party's two MPs (Bruce Beetham and Gary Knapp) combined with former Labour MPs turned independent (Brian MacDonell and John Kirk) to appoint their own whip (MacDonell) and boost their recognition in parliament.[3]

Whips act in an administrative role, making sure members of their party are in the debating chamber when required and organising members of their party to speak during debates. Since the introduction of proportional representation in 1996, divisions that require all members in the chamber to vote by taking sides (termed a personal vote) are rarely used, except for conscience votes. Instead, one of the party's whips votes on behalf of all the members of their party, by declaring how many members are in favour and/or how many members are opposed. They also cast proxy votes for single-member parties whose member is not in the chamber at the time of the vote, and also cast proxy votes during personal votes for absent members of their parties and for absent members of associated single-member parties.[2]

Some parties use an alternative title than whip, though the role is identical in all but name. The Alliance used the term 'parliamentary coordinator' rather than whip.[4] The Green Party uses the term 'musterer'.[5] Since 2020 Te Pāti Māori has referred to its whip as a Maori: 'mataura'.[6]

List of whips

Current parties

Labour

Senior whip

See main article: Senior Whip of the Labour Party.

Junior whipThe Labour Party is one of the parties that has qualified for second whip, known as a junior whip.
No.NameTerm of office
bgcolor= 1Ted Howard10 March 192116 June 1926
bgcolor= 2James McCombs16 June 19264 December 1928
bgcolor= (1)Ted Howard4 December 19285 December 1935
bgcolor= 3Robert McKeen5 December 193511 June 1936
bgcolor= 4Arthur Shapton Richards11 June 193613 September 1937
bgcolor= 5James O'Brien13 September 193711 May 1939
bgcolor= (4)Arthur Shapton Richards11 May 19392 December 1942
bgcolor= 6David Coleman2 December 194213 May 1947
bgcolor= 7Robert Macfarlane13 May 194719 September 1947
bgcolor= 8Phil Connolly19 September 194727 June 1951
bgcolor= 9Joe Cotterill27 June 195110 July 1952
bgcolor= 10John Mathison10 July 19529 January 1958
bgcolor= 11Ritchie Macdonald9 January 19582 December 1966
bgcolor= 12Ron Bailey2 December 196629 November 1972
bgcolor= 13Jonathan Hunt29 November 19726 September 1974
bgcolor= 14Trevor Young6 September 19745 May 1978
bgcolor= 15Richard Prebble5 May 197813 February 1980
bgcolor= 16Stan Rodger13 February 198019 July 1984
bgcolor= 17Fran Wilde19 July 198418 August 1987
bgcolor= 18Trevor Mallard18 August 19878 February 1990
bgcolor= 19Judy Keall8 February 199031 October 1990
bgcolor= 20Elizabeth Tennet31 October 199013 December 1993
bgcolor= 21Larry Sutherland13 December 199320 December 1996
bgcolor= 22Rick Barker20 December 199610 December 1999
bgcolor= 23Chris Carter10 December 199927 July 2002
bgcolor= 24Jill Pettis27 July 200226 February 2004
bgcolor= 25Darren Hughes26 February 20045 November 2007
bgcolor= 26Sue Moroney5 November 200711 November 2008
bgcolor= 27Steve Chadwick11 November 200820 October 2011
bgcolor= 28Darien Fenton20 December 201117 September 2013
bgcolor= 29Iain Lees-Galloway23 September 201323 September 2014
bgcolor= 30Carmel Sepuloni23 September 201427 September 2017
bgcolor= 31Poto Williams27 September 201731 October 2017
bgcolor= 32Kieran McAnulty7 November 20172 November 2020
bgcolor= 33Duncan Webb2 November 202014 June 2022
bgcolor= 34Tangi Utikere14 June 202231 January 2023
bgcolor= 35Shanan Halbert31 January 202314 October 2023
bgcolor= 36Tracey McLellan31 January 202314 October 2023
bgcolor= 37Camilla Belich7 December 2023present

National

Senior whip

See main article: Senior Whip of the National Party.

Junior whipThe National Party is one of the parties that has qualified for second whip, known as a junior whip.
No.NameTerm of office
bgcolor= 1Walter Broadfoot14 May 193612 March 1941
1941–1944: office not in use
bgcolor= 2Tom Macdonald20 January 19444 March 1950
bgcolor= 3Geoff Gerard4 March 195024 November 1954
bgcolor= 4Ernest Aderman24 November 19548 February 1957
bgcolor= 5John Rae8 February 195726 September 1957
bgcolor= 6Jim Barnes26 September 195721 January 1958
bgcolor= 7Jack George21 January 195810 June 1964
bgcolor= 8Alf Allen10 June 196411 February 1967
bgcolor= 9Gordon Grieve11 February 19675 February 1970
bgcolor= 10Richard Harrison5 February 197025 February 1972
bgcolor= 11Venn Young25 February 19727 December 1972
bgcolor= 12Colin McLachlan7 December 197211 July 1974
bgcolor= 13Bill Birch11 July 197422 January 1976
bgcolor= 14Jack Luxton22 January 19761 February 1979
bgcolor= 15Dail Jones1 February 197924 October 1980
bgcolor= 16Don McKinnon24 October 19802 February 1982
bgcolor= 17Michael Cox2 February 19828 August 1985
bgcolor= 18Robin Gray8 August 198511 September 1987
bgcolor= 19Maurice McTigue11 September 198711 February 1990
bgcolor= 20Roger McClay11 February 199028 November 1990
bgcolor= 21John Carter28 November 199030 November 1993
bgcolor= 22Roger Sowry30 November 19933 April 1995
bgcolor= 23Eric Roy6 April 199519 December 1996
bgcolor= 24David Carter19 December 19968 September 1998
bgcolor= 25Gerry Brownlee8 September 199831 January 2001
bgcolor= 26Alec Neill31 January 200112 October 2001
bgcolor= 27Tony Steel12 October 200115 August 2002
bgcolor= 28Lindsay Tisch15 August 200217 September 2005
bgcolor= 29Anne Tolley11 October 20055 December 2006
bgcolor= 30Nathan Guy5 December 200613 February 2008
bgcolor= 31Chris Tremain13 February 200815 June 2009
bgcolor= 32Jo Goodhew16 June 200920 October 2011
bgcolor= 33Louise Upston20 December 201128 January 2013
bgcolor= 34Tim Macindoe29 January 201320 September 2014
bgcolor= 35Jami-Lee Ross20 September 20142 May 2017
bgcolor= 36Barbara Kuriger2 May 201720 March 2018
bgcolor= 37Matt Doocey20 March 201810 November 2020
bgcolor= 38Maureen Pugh10 November 20205 December 2023
bgcolor= 39Suze Redmayne5 December 2023present

New Zealand First

No.NameTerm of office
bgcolor= 1Ron Mark16 December 199628 August 2002
bgcolor= 2Peter Brown28 August 20028 November 2008
2008–2011: office not in use
bgcolor= 3Barbara Stewart16 December 201123 September 2017
bgcolor= 4Clayton Mitchell31 October 201717 October 2020
2020–2023: office not in use
bgcolor= 5Jamie Arbuckle12 December 2023present

ACT New Zealand

No.NameTerm of office
bgcolor= 1Ken Shirley199619 February 2002
bgcolor= 2Muriel Newman19 February 200214 June 2004
bgcolor= (1)Ken Shirley14 June 200411 October 2005
bgcolor= 3Heather Roy11 October 200524 November 2009
bgcolor= 4David Garrett24 November 200921 September 2010
bgcolor= 5John Boscawen21 September 20102 May 2011
bgcolor= 6Hilary Calvert2 May 201126 November 2011
2011–2020: office not in use
bgcolor= 7Brooke van Velden202024 November 2023
bgcolor= 8Todd Stephenson24 November 2023present

Greens

No.NameTerm of office
bgcolor= 1Ian Ewen-Street14 December 199922 August 2002
bgcolor= 2Rod Donald22 August 20024 November 2005
bgcolor= 3Metiria Turei4 November 200528 March 2009
bgcolor= 4Kennedy Graham30 March 200920 October 2011
bgcolor= 5Gareth Hughes14 December 20117 October 2014
bgcolor= 6David Clendon7 October 20148 August 2017
bgcolor= 7Eugenie Sage8 August 201724 October 2017
bgcolor= (5)Gareth Hughes24 October 201718 November 2019
bgcolor= 8Chlöe Swarbrick18 November 201923 November 2020
bgcolor= 9Jan Logie23 November 202014 October 2023
bgcolor= 10Ricardo Menéndez March19 November 2023present

Te Pāti Māori

No.NameTerm of office
bgcolor= 1Te Ururoa Flavell7 November 200526 November 2011
2011–2020: office not in use
bgcolor= 2Debbie Ngarewa-Packer16 November 202027 November 2023
bgcolor= 3Mariameno Kapa-Kingi4 December 2023present

Defunct parties

Liberal

Senior whip

See main article: Senior Whip of the Liberal Party.

Junior whipThe Liberal Party is one of the parties that has qualified for second whip, known as a junior whip.
No.NameTerm of office
bgcolor= 1Frederick Fitchett19 June 189026 January 1891
bgcolor= 2William Cowper Smith26 January 189115 June 1891
bgcolor= 3William Hall-Jones15 June 189115 September 1891
bgcolor= 4Charles H. Mills15 September 189129 October 1894
bgcolor= 5Benjamin Harris29 October 18944 December 1896
bgcolor= 6James McGowan8 October 189725 June 1900
bgcolor= 7Arthur Morrison25 June 190023 October 1900
bgcolor= 8John Stevens25 June 190020 October 1900
bgcolor= 9Walter Carncross16 July 190130 June 1903
bgcolor= 10Frederick Flatman30 June 19033 July 1904
bgcolor= 12Alexander Hogg20 July 190424 June 1905
bgcolor= 13Alfred Kidd24 June 19053 September 1906
bgcolor= 14James Colvin3 September 190610 December 1909
bgcolor= 15William MacDonald10 December 190930 June 1910
bgcolor= 16Harry Ell30 June 191029 August 1912
bgcolor= 17Āpirana Ngata29 August 19122 July 1915
bgcolor= 18William Dickie2 July 191517 December 1919
1919–1923: office not in use
bgcolor= 19James Horn7 February 192316 July 1924
bgcolor= 20Alfred Ransom16 July 192416 June 1926
1926–1928: office not in use
bgcolor= 21George Black11 December 192817 May 1930
bgcolor= 22Edward Healy27 June 19301 November 1935

Reform

Senior whip
No.NameTerm of office
bgcolor= 1Charles Hardy11 February 190915 February 1912
bgcolor= 2Heaton Rhodes15 February 191210 July 1912
bgcolor= 3David Guthrie10 July 191218 February 1918
bgcolor= 4William Nosworthy27 February 19184 September 1919
bgcolor= 5Richard Bollard10 September 191921 July 1923
bgcolor= 6James Dickson21 July 192318 October 1928
bgcolor= 7John Bitchener18 October 192822 September 1933
bgcolor= 8Jimmy Nash22 September 193315 February 1935
bgcolor= 9Bert Kyle15 February 193514 May 1936
Junior whipThe Reform Party is one of the parties that has qualified for second whip, known as a junior whip.
No.NameTerm of office
bgcolor= 1Heaton Rhodes7 October 190915 February 1912
bgcolor= 2David Guthrie15 February 191210 July 1912
bgcolor= 3William Nosworthy6 August 191227 February 1918
bgcolor= 4Richard Bollard27 February 191810 September 1919
bgcolor= 5Robert Scott27 November 191917 December 1919
bgcolor= 6James Dickson24 June 192021 July 1923
bgcolor= 7Billy Glenn21 July 192329 June 1927
bgcolor= 8John Bitchener20 July 192718 October 1928
bgcolor= 9Jimmy Nash18 October 192822 September 1931

United Future

No.NameTerm of office
bgcolor= 1Gordon Copeland20022007
bgcolor= 2Judy Turner20072008

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: People of Parliament . 25 May 2020 . . en-NZ .
  2. Web site: What is a party whip and what do they do? . 12 December 2023 . . en-NZ .
  3. News: MacDonell whip . . 22 October 1983 . 2 .
  4. News: Parliament to be run 'to tight timeframe' . . 17 February 1998 . 2 .
  5. News: 'Mustering' whips . . 15 December 1999 . 11 .
  6. News: Te Pāti Māori Portfolios List . Waatea News . 6 March 2024.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Party whip (New Zealand)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.