Prime Minister of New Zealand

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jacinda Ardern, current Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Prime Minister of New Zealand , Prime Minister or in short form and Premier called, is the Prime Minister of New Zealand . He has to be a member of the House of Representatives and has traditionally been provided by the majority party in the New Zealand Parliament . Jacinda Ardern from the New Zealand Labor Party has held office since October 26, 2017 .

Appointment of the Prime Minister

Following a general election , in accordance with the conventions of the New Zealand Constitution, the Governor General of New Zealand speaks with the political parties to find out who can lead a new government as Prime Minister. Usually this is the political leader of the majority party, whom the Governor General then first appoints as a member of the Executive Council , and then signs the document appointing Prime Minister .

Role of Prime Minister

The role of the Prime Minister in New Zealand is not officially defined, but mostly arises from conventions formed over many decades. These have been recorded in writing in the Cabinet Manual since 1996 . Before that time, there was no written document describing the role of the Prime Minister and his office. Even in the Constitution Act 1986 , the title Prime Minister was not mentioned, but only regulated the membership of the ministers in the Executive Council .

The Prime Minister is the head of government and, according to the constitution, the adviser to the sovereign or his deputy, the governor general. According to the constitution, he also has the right to propose the governor general. At the proposal of the Prime Minister, the Crown appoints the Governor General of New Zealand by letters patent . Only the Prime Minister has the right to propose to the Governor General the appointment or removal of a Minister of Government. Even if a minister resigns, he suggests that the governor-general accept or reject the resignation. The prime minister also has the right to propose to dissolve parliament within the parliamentary term and to call new elections.

The prime minister is the head of the executive . Its task is to form a government, to tailor the areas of responsibility of the ministries and to determine ministers and their ranking. It can also determine the portfolio focus and objectives of government departments, state-owned corporations and other government organizations.

As chairman of the cabinet, he chairs the cabinet meetings, approves the agenda of the respective meetings, is the final decision-making body in the cabinet and determines the members and responsibilities of so-called cabinet committees . Nevertheless, he is obliged to adhere to all cabinet decisions. In this sense he is seen as “ primus inter pares ” ( first among equals ).

The Security Intelligence Service and the Government Communications Security Bureau (both intelligence services with different tasks) report directly to the Prime Minister .

Together with his Cabinet, The Treasury and the State Services Commission , the Prime Minister is responsible for the management, coordination and supervision of all State Services .

History of the title

The title " Prime Minister " was first officially used in New Zealand after the Civil List Act of 1873 was passed , but Richard John Seddon was the first to officially use the title for the office in 1893.

From 1854, when the debates about the constitution of the country began, the designation of the head of government was still inconsistent, so initially the designation Colonial Secretary was used and William Fox in 1861 in his second term as " Attorney-General with first seat in the Ministry " (Attorney General with first seat in the Ministry), Frederick Weld's function described in 1864 as " holding a seat in the Executive Council and the office of Premier ", Edward Stafford 1865 " First Minister " (first minister) and for Fox in 1869 in his third term of office the variant " Premier and member of the Executive Council " was used, probably alternatively " Premier " and " Prime Minister ". From 1899 Seddon only used the term " Prime Minister ". With the New Zealand Official Yearbook 1900 and the participation in the Imperial conference 1902 the official use of the title " Prime Minister " for the head of government was confirmed and William Hall-Jones was sworn in with his inauguration in 1906 with the title.

Since then, the official name is the head of government " Prime Minister ", where in general parlance " Premier " is still to be found today.

History of the office

James FitzGerald was actually the country's first prime minister. He was appointed to the Executive Council on June 14, 1854and was giventhe leadership role of the councilby Governor Sir Robert Henry Wynyard , but FitzGerald and the other two new members of the council were unsure of their governing power and demanded the governor to establish the old colonial government to dismiss. When this did not happen, FitzGerald resignedalmost two months later on August 2nd, before he could be officially appointed Prime Minister. Henry Sewell was thus able to claim the title of first Prime Minister of New Zealand, at the time still called Colonial Secretary ,on May 7, 1856, even if he had to resign only 13 days after taking office due to a vote of no confidence. His successor William Fox also stayed in office for only 13 days in 1856, but with interruptions he had a total of four terms in office. Even Harry Atkinson was intermittently three times re-elected (1876, 1883, 1884, 1887) and so came up with four terms. Atkinson had the shortest single term of office, whose third term lasted only seven days.

Richard Seddon (April 1893 - June 1906) had the longest uninterrupted term of office of 13 years , followed by William Massey (July 1912 - May 1925), who was only two months short of 13 years in office. The youngest incumbent was Edward Stafford , who was 37 when he was inaugurated in 1856. The oldest prime minister was Walter Nash , who in 1957 was already 75 years old.

It wasn't until 1997 that Jenny Shipley became the first woman to hold the second highest office in the state. She was followed by Helen Clark in 1999 .

Of the 38 Prime Ministers New Zealand has had, from Henry Sewell to John Key , five resigned for various reasons: Sidney Holland in September 1957, Keith Holyoake in December 1957, Robert Muldoon in July 1984, Jim Bolger in December 1997 and David Lange in August 1989. William Massey and Michael Joseph Savage died in office. The other prime ministers were voted out of office in parliamentary elections or did not stand for election.

See also

literature

  • Margaret Hayward : The Prime Minister . In: Janine Hayward (Ed.): New Zealand Government and Politics . 6th edition. Oxford University Press , Melbourne 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-558525-4 , Chapter 6.2, pp. 370-380 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hayward : The Prime Minister . In: New Zealand Government and Politics . 2015, p.  370 .
  2. ↑ a b c Prime Minister . In: Cabinet Manual 2008 . Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet , accessed July 10, 2015 .
  3. ^ Executive Council . In: Cabinet Manual 2008 . Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet , accessed July 10, 2015 .
  4. ^ Hayward : The Prime Minister . In: New Zealand Government and Politics . 2015, p.  371 .
  5. ^ Constitution Act 1986 . New Zealand Legislation , accessed June 6, 2015 .
  6. ^ A b Hayward : The Prime Minister . In: New Zealand Government and Politics . 2015, p.  374 .
  7. ^ About us - State Services Commissioner - role and functions . State Services Commission , accessed July 11, 2015 .
  8. ^ Prime ministers of New Zealand . Encyclopædia Britannica , February 21, 2015, accessed July 10, 2015 .
  9. ^ A b Gavin McLean : Premiers and prime ministers - The role of prime minister . Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand , February 17, 2015, accessed July 10, 2015 .
  10. ↑ a b The Title “Premier” . Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand , April 22, 2009, accessed July 10, 2015 .
  11. ↑ a b c Prime Ministers of New Zealand . New Zealand Prime Minister's Office , archived from the original on January 29, 2008 ; accessed on July 10, 2015 (English, original website no longer available).
  12. ↑ Philip Mennell: FitzGerald, James Edward . In: The Dictionary of Australasian Biography . Hutchinson, London 1892, pp. 163 (English, Wikisource ).
  13. ^ W. David McIntyre : Sewell, Henry . In: Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , February 12, 2014, accessed July 11, 2015 .