President of the New Zealand Labour Party explained

Post:	President of the Labour Party
Incumbent:	Jill Day
Incumbentsince:	5 November 2022
Deputy:	Carol Beaumont
Termlength:	No fixed term
Formation:	7 July 1916
Inaugural:	James McCombs

The president of the New Zealand Labour Party is the highest-ranked organisational figure within the New Zealand Labour Party. The president heads the party apparatus outside of parliament, serving as the chairperson of the party's council and policy council. Since 2022, the office has been held by Jill Day.^[1]

Selection

The president is elected by the party delegates at the Labour Party annual conference or, if an early vacancy occurs, a by-election via postal ballot.^[2]

Role

While the party leader is responsible for leading the Labour Party's political agenda and representing Labour in parliament, the president is responsible for managing the party's internal affairs and ensuring that the party is organised and compliant with relevant laws and regulations.

The president is the chair of the party's governing body, the New Zealand Council, and presides of its meetings and functions. Additionally the president chairs Labour's policy council and party list moderating committee. The president is paid an honorarium for their services.^[2]

History

The post of president of the Labour Party was officially created upon the party's inception in 1916, the inaugural holder was James McCombs. The longest serving president was James Roberts serving 13 years consecutively from 1937 to 1950. The first Māori holder was Charles Bennett (1973–76). Margaret Wilson was the first woman to be elected president in 1984.^[3]

List of presidents

The following is a complete list of Labour Party presidents:

No.		President	Portrait	Prior/concurrent office	Term of Office		Leader
	1	James McCombs		MP for	7 July 1916	9 July 1917		Hindmarsh
	2	Andrew Walker		MP for	9 July 1917	11 July 1918
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		3	Tom Paul		Member of the Legislative Council	11 July 1918			12 July 1920
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"								Holland
	4	Peter Fraser		MP for	12 July 1920	15 July 1921
	5	Frederick Cooke		Vice-President of the Labour Party	15 July 1921	7 July 1922
	6	Tom Brindle		Vice-President of the Waterside Workers Union	7 July 1922	7 April 1926
	7	Bob Semple		MP for	7 April 1926	12 April 1928
	8	John Archer		Mayor of Christchurch	12 April 1928	3 April 1929
	9	Jim Thorn		Vice-President of the Labour Party	3 April 1929	8 April 1931
	10	Rex Mason		MP for	8 April 1931	29 March 1932
	11	Bill Jordan		MP for	29 March 1932	18 April 1933
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		12	Frank Langstone		MP for	18 April 1933			3 April 1934
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"								Savage
	13	Tim Armstrong		MP for	3 April 1934	24 April 1935
	14	Walter Nash		MP for	24 April 1935	14 April 1936
	15	Clyde Carr		MP for	14 April 1936	30 March 1937
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		16	James Roberts		Vice-President of the Labour Party	30 March 1937			9 May 1950
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"								Fraser
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		17	Arnold Nordmeyer		MP for	9 May 1950			17 May 1955
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"								Nash
	18	Mick Moohan		MP for	17 May 1955	8 June 1960
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		19	Martyn Finlay		Vice-President of the Labour Party	8 June 1960			12 May 1964
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"								Nordmeyer
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		20	Norman Kirk		MP for	12 May 1964			11 May 1966
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"								Kirk
	21	Norman Douglas		MP for	11 May 1966	5 May 1970
	22	Bill Rowling		MP for	5 May 1970	8 May 1973
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		23	Charles Bennett		Vice-President of the Labour Party	8 May 1973			11 May 1976
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"								Rowling
	24	Arthur Faulkner		MP for	11 May 1976	15 May 1979
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		25	Jim Anderton		Auckland Regional Councillor	15 May 1979			8 September 1984
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"								Lange
	26	Margaret Wilson		Vice-chair of the Association of University Teachers	8 September 1984	9 November 1987
	27	Rex Jones		National Secretary of the EPMU	9 November 1987	5 September 1988
	28	Ruth Dyson		Vice-President of the Labour Party	5 September 1988	18 April 1993	height=40 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"
							height=40 style="background:"		Palmer
height=40 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"									Moore
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		29	Maryan Street		Vice-President of the Labour Party	18 April 1993	November 1995
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"									Clark
	30	Michael Hirschfeld		CEO of Mico Wakefield	November 1995	5 January 1999
	31	Bob Harvey		Mayor of Waitakere	16 February 1999	19 November 2000
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		32	Mike Williams		1999 Election Campaign Manager	19 November 2000	2 March 2009
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"									Goff
	33	Andrew Little		National Secretary of the EPMU	2 March 2009	2 April 2011
	34	Moira Coatsworth		Vice-President of the Labour Party	2 April 2011	26 November 2014	height=30 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"
								Shearer
								Cunliffe
height=30 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"									Little
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		35	Nigel Haworth		President of University Staff of New Zealand	27 February 2015	11 September 2019
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"									Ardern
	-	Tracey McLellan		Vice-President of the Labour Party	11 September 2019	30 November 2019
	36	Claire Szabó		CEO of Habitat for Humanity	30 November 2019	5 November 2022
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		37	Jill Day		Deputy Mayor of Wellington	5 November 2022	present
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"									Hipkins

References

• Book: Brown, Bruce . The Rise of New Zealand Labour: A history of the New Zealand Labour Party . registration . Wellington . Price Milburn . 1962 .

Notes and References

1. News: Peter . Verschaffelt . Labour conference day to shine for new president . Waatea News . 4 November 2022 .
2. Web site: New Zealand Labour Party Constitution and Rules . . 2019 . . 1 July 2021 .
3. News: Woman president for Labour Party . . 18 July 1984 . 2 .