The 1981 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament. It saw the governing National Party, led by Robert Muldoon, win a third term in office, although the opposition Labour Party, led by Bill Rowling, actually won the largest share of the votes cast.

Background

Before the election, the National Party governed with fifty seats, while the opposition Labour Party held forty seats. The Social Credit Party held two (one of which had been taken from National in a recent by-election). The National Party had won a landslide victory in the 1975 elections, but in the 1978 elections, although remaining in office, had lost ground. The style of Robert Muldoon's leadership was growing increasingly unpopular, both with his party and with the public, and there had been an abortive leadership challenge by Brian Talboys in 1980. Some commentators believed that the 1981 election would mark an end to Muldoon's government.

The opposition Labour Party was led by Bill Rowling, who had been leader of the party in the past two elections. While Rowling had performed poorly against Muldoon in 1975, and was generally viewed by the public as weak, he had gradually recovered a measure of public respect. In the previous election, Labour had actually won a majority of the vote, but did not win a majority of the seats. Many believed that this time, Labour would manage to convert its support into seats, although that would prove not to be the case.

Not all of Muldoon's opponents gave their support to Rowling and the Labour Party, however - the small Social Credit Party, traditionally New Zealand's "third party", was enjoying strong support, although the first-past-the-post electoral system made it difficult for Social Credit to win seats.

The election

The election was held on the November 28. 2,034,747 people were registered to vote in the elections, and 91.4% turned out on election day. This was a markedly higher turnout that recorded for the previous election, but as the official statistics for that election are regarded as highly misleading, the comparison is probably not valid. It is likely that turnout in the 1981 election was about the same as in the election before it.

Summary of results

The 1981 election saw the National Party win forty-seven of the ninety-two seats in parliament, a drop of three from what it had held before the election. This meant that National kept its majority by only a single seat, a fact which would prove highly problematic over the next parliamentary term. The Labour Party won forty-three seats, a gain of three. The Social Credit Party managed to retain its two seats.

Detailed results

Party totals

Map of electorates

Individual electorate results

Summary of changes

• The seats of Hunua, Kapiti, Miramar, and Wellington Central were won from incumbent National MPs by Labour challengers. The challengers in question were Colin Moyle , Margaret Shields, Peter Nielson, and Fran Wilde , respectively. The defeated incumbents were Winston Peters, Barry Brill, Bill Young, and Ken Comber, respectively.
• The seat of Taupo was won from the incumbent Labour MP by a National challenger. The challenger was Roger McClay and the defeated incumbent was J W Ridley.
• The seats of Heretaunga, Mt. Albert, Napier, Nelson, Palmerston North, Roskill, St. Kilda, and Northern Maori were passed from incumbent Labour MPs to new Labour MPs. In Nelson, the seat was retained by Labour despite the sitting Labour MP, Mel Courtney, breaking from the party and standing as an independent.
• The seats of Fendalton, Hauraki, Selwyn, and Whangarei were passed from incumbent National MPs to new National MPs. Two of these changes were the result of MPs retiring, but two (in Selwyn and Whangarei) were the result of controversial challenges to the re-selection of the incumbents. In Selwyn, Ruth Richardson successfully challenged the re-nomination of incumbent Colin McLachlan, and in Whangarei, John Banks successfully challenged the re-nomination of incumbent John Elliot.