2008 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election

New Zealand party leadership election

2008 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election | <- 1996 | 11 November 2008 (2008-11-11) | 2011 ->

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Candidate  | Phil Goff |
Popular vote  | Unopposed |

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| Leader before election

Helen Clark

| Elected leader

Phil Goff

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The 2008 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held on 11 November 2008 to choose the twelfth Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party. Phil Goff, who had served continuously as an MP since the 1993 election, unanimously won the election with no other MPs putting themselves forward. Annette King became the Deputy Leader. She was first elected to parliament in the 1984 election, three years after Goff.

## Background

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Following the Labour government's defeat in the 2008 general election, Prime Minister Helen Clark resigned after 15 years as party leader, including three terms as prime minister, prompting the leadership election.[1]

## Candidates

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There was only one candidate, Phil Goff.

### Phil Goff

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Phil Goff had been an MP since 1981 except for three years after losing his seat in 1990. He had served in Clark's government concurrently as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Justice and later as Minister of Defence. He had previously served in various capacities in David Lange's cabinet in the 1980s.[2] Goff and Clark did not always see eye to eye and in 1996 he attempted an abortive coup to oust Clark.[3]

## Outcome and aftermath

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Further information: Shadow Cabinet of Phil Goff

Goff had been widely tipped as Clark's successor and faced no other candidates and was acclaimed with unanimous support on 11 November 2008.[4][5] Annette King was elected as deputy leader, and Darren Hughes and Steve Chadwick were elected as the senior and junior whips, respectively.[4]

Both Goff and King were also perceived by many as merely caretaker leaders until newer, younger figures could emerge.[1] After initially performing well in the opinion polls, Goff's Labour Party dropped in support in contrast to the popular National government led by John Key, hitting a 10 year low of 27% support in July 2011 after controversy over Labour's proposal for a capital gains tax hurt the party's support. While party support recovered somewhat, Goff still led Labour to defeat in the 26 November 2011 general election with a loss of 8 seats and 6.5% of the popular vote compared to 2008. On 29 November, Goff and King tendered their resignations to a meeting of caucus, effective 13 December 2011.[6][7]

## Notes

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1. ^ a b Franks & McAloon 2016, p. 246.
2. ^ Franks & McAloon 2016, pp. 206, 210, 233, 245.
3. ^ Quin, Phil (2 April 2011). "Phil Quin: The anatomy of a failed Labour coup". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
4. ^ a b Gower, Patrick (11 November 2008). "Helen Clark takes foreign affairs post in Labour reshuffle". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
5. ^ "Labour elects Phil Goff as new leader" (Press release). New Zealand Labour Party. Scoop. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
6. ^ Levy, Danya (18 July 2011). "Latest poll shows Labour struggling". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
7. ^ Election results Archived 2011-11-28 at the Wayback Machine, Radio New Zealand, 27 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.

## References

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* Franks, Peter; McAloon, Jim (2016). Labour: The New Zealand Labour Party 1916-2016. Wellington: Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-1-77656-074-5.

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New Zealand Labour Party

Leadership

| Leaders
Names in bold served
as prime minister|

* Alfred Hindmarsh (1916–18)
* Harry Holland (1919–33)
* Michael Joseph Savage (1933–40)
* Peter Fraser (1940–50)
* Walter Nash (1950–63)
* Arnold Nordmeyer (1963–65)
* Norman Kirk (1965–74)
* Bill Rowling (1974–83)
* David Lange (1983–89)
* Geoffrey Palmer (1989–90)
* Mike Moore (1990–93)
* Helen Clark (1993–2008)
* Phil Goff (2008–11)
* David Shearer (2011–13)
* David Cunliffe (2013–14)
* Andrew Little (2014–17)
* Jacinda Ardern (2017–23)
* Chris Hipkins (2023–present)

* * *

|

Deputy leaders|

* James McCombs (1919–23)
* Michael Joseph Savage (1923–33)
* Peter Fraser (1933–40)
* Walter Nash (1940–51)
* Jerry Skinner (1951–62)
* Fred Hackett (1962–63)
* Hugh Watt (1963–74)
* Bob Tizard (1974–79)
* David Lange (1979–83)
* Geoffrey Palmer (1983–89)
* Helen Clark (1989–93)
* David Caygill (1993–96)
* Michael Cullen (1996–2008)
* Annette King (2008–11)
* Grant Robertson (2011–13)
* David Parker (2013–14)
* Annette King (2014–17)
* Jacinda Ardern (2017)
* Kelvin Davis (2017–23)
* Carmel Sepuloni (2023–present)

* * *

Leadership elections|

* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1933
* 1940
* 1951
* 1954
* 1963
* 1965
* 1974
* 1980
* 1983
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1993
* 1996
* 2008
* 2011
* 2013
* 2014
* 2017
* 2023

Internal offices

| Party presidents|

* James McCombs (1916–17)
* Andrew Walker (1917–18)
* Tom Paul (1918–20)
* Peter Fraser (1920–21)
* Frederick Cooke (1921–22)
* Tom Brindle (1922–26)
* Bob Semple (1926–28)
* John Archer (1928–29)
* Jim Thorn (1929–31)
* Rex Mason (1931–32)
* Bill Jordan (1932–33)
* Frank Langstone (1933–34)
* Tim Armstrong (1934–35)
* Walter Nash (1935–36)
* Clyde Carr (1936–37)
* James Roberts (1937–50)
* Arnold Nordmeyer (1950–55)
* Mick Moohan (1955–60)
* Martyn Finlay (1960–64)
* Norman Kirk (1964–66)
* Norman Douglas (1966–70)
* Bill Rowling (1970–73)
* Charles Bennett (1973–76)
* Arthur Faulkner (1976–79)
* Jim Anderton (1979–84)
* Margaret Wilson (1984–87)
* Rex Jones (1987–88)
* Ruth Dyson (1988–93)
* Maryan Street (1993–95)
* Michael Hirschfeld (1995–99)
* Bob Harvey (1999–2000)
* Mike Williams (2000–09)
* Andrew Little (2009–11)
* Moira Coatsworth (2011–15)
* Nigel Haworth (2015–19)
* Claire Szabó (2019–22)
* Jill Day (2022–present)

* * *

|

General secretaries|

* John Glover (1916–19)
* Michael Joseph Savage (1919–20)
* Moses Ayrton (1920–22)
* Walter Nash (1922–32)
* Jim Thorn (1932–36)
* David Wilson (1936–40)
* Mick Moohan (1940–48)
* Allan McDonald (1948–71)
* John Wybrow (1971–85)
* Tony Timms (1985–95)
* Rob Allen (1995–2000)
* Mike Smith (2001–08)
* Chris Flatt (2008–12)
* Tim Barnett (2012–16)
* Andrew Kirton (2016–18)
* Andre Anderson (2018–20)
* Rob Salmond (2020–present)

* * *

Senior Whips|

* Andrew Walker (1916–19)
* James McCombs (1919–22)
* Dan Sullivan (1922–35)
* Bill Jordan (1935–36)
* Robert McKeen (1937–39)
* James O'Brien (1939–42)
* Arthur Shapton Richards (1942–47)
* Robert Macfarlane (1947–51)
* Phil Connolly (1951–52)
* Joe Cotterill (1952–58)
* Henry May (1958–72)
* Ron Barclay (1972–76)
* Roger Drayton (1976–78)
* Russell Marshall (1978–80)
* Jonathan Hunt (1980–84)
* Michael Cullen (1984–87)
* Margaret Austin (1987–90)
* Trevor Mallard (1990)
* Jonathan Hunt (1990–96)
* Mark Burton (1996–99)
* Rick Barker (1999–2002)
* David Benson-Pope (2002–04)
* Jill Pettis (2004–05)
* Tim Barnett (2005–08)
* Darren Hughes (2008–11)
* Rick Barker (2011)
* Chris Hipkins (2011–13)
* Sue Moroney (2013–14)
* Chris Hipkins (2014–16)
* Kris Faafoi (2016–17)
* Ruth Dyson (2017–19)
* Michael Wood (2019–20)
* Kieran McAnulty (2020–22)
* Duncan Webb (2022–23)
* Tangi Utikere (2023–present)

Organisation

| Current members
of parliament
Names without
electorates are list MPs
(List of former MPs)|

* Leader: Chris Hipkins (Remutaka)
* Deputy Leader: Carmel Sepuloni (Kelston)

* Ginny Andersen
* Camilla Belich
* Glen Bennett
* Rachel Boyack (Nelson)
* Rachel Brooking (Dunedin)
* Reuben Davidson (Christchurch East)
* Barbara Edmonds (Mana)
* Shanan Halbert
* Peeni Henare
* Willie Jackson
* Ingrid Leary (Taieri)
* Jo Luxton
* Kieran McAnulty
* Tracey McLellan
* Damien O'Connor
* Greg O'Connor (Ōhāriu)
* David Parker
* Willow-Jean Prime
* Priyanca Radhakrishnan
* Adrian Rurawhe
* Deborah Russell
* Jenny Salesa (Panmure-Ōtāhuhu)
* Lemauga Lydia Sosene (Māngere)
* Cushla Tangaere-Manuel (Ikaroa-Rāwhiti)
* Jan Tinetti
* Phil Twyford (Te Atatū)
* Tangi Utikere (Palmerston North)
* Ayesha Verrall
* Duncan Webb (Christchurch Central)
* Helen White (Mount Albert)
* Arena Williams (Manurewa)
* Megan Woods (Wigram)

* * *

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Related organisations|

* City Vision
* The People's Choice
* Princes Street Labour
* Rainbow Labour
* Rātana
* VicLabour
* Young Labour

History

| History and related topics|

* Liberal–Labour
* Labour Unity Conferences
* Lee affair
* Black Budget
* Mason Affair
* It's Time
* Citizens for Rowling
* Moyle Affair
* Fish and Chip Brigade
* Rogernomics
* Māori loan affair
* Backbone club
* Closing the Gaps
* Helengrad
* Corngate
* Foreshore and seabed controversy
* KiwiSaver

* * *

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Labour governments|

* First (1935–49)
* Second (1957–60)
* Third (1972–75)
* Fourth (1984–90)
* Fifth (1999–2008)
* Sixth (2017–23)

* * *

Shadow cabinets|

* Kirk
* Rowling
* Lange
* Moore
* Clark
* Goff
* Shearer
* Cunliffe
* Little
* Ardern
* Hipkins

* * *

Predecessor parties|

* New Zealand Liberal Party
* New Zealand Socialist Party
* Independent Political Labour League
* New Zealand Labour Party (1910)
* United Labour Party
* Social Democratic Party

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