1993 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election

1993 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election

1 December 1993

Candidate Helen Clark Mike Moore Popular vote 26 19 Percentage 57.77% 42.23%

Leader before election Mike Moore Leader after election Helen Clark

The 1993 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held to determine the leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. The leadership was won by Mount Albert MP Helen Clark, who had been Deputy Leader of the party since 1989.

Background

After their heavy defeat in 1990, enough right-wingers (supporters of Rogernomics) held their seats for Mike Moore to remain as leader. Despite a major swing back towards Labour at the November 1993 election, the party did not regain office. Despite the closeness of the margin it was Moore's second consecutive loss as leader, leading many to question his position.

Candidates

Helen Clark

Clark had been Deputy Leader since 1989, first under Geoffrey Palmer, then under Moore. Since 1990 she had been Shadow Minister of Health and Labour. Clark had gained unrivalled influence over the wider Labour Party, but not the parliamentary caucus. In the run up to 1993, Clark and her allies (including former presidents Margaret Wilson and Ruth Dyson) who sat on the candidate selection panel had strategically installed likeminded candidates in nearly all winnable seats. Clark urged them to campaign alongside Moore but be primed to vote against him in the event of any post-election face-off. Clark was particularly critical of Moore for delivering blurred messages during the 1993 campaign and accused him of failing to re-brand Labour as a centre-left party which had jettisoned Rogernomics.

Mike Moore

Moore had served as Labour's leader since 1990. In 1993, by vigorously campaigning Moore managed to lead Labour to within two seats of snatching an unlikely victory over National only one term after their rout in 1990. However, Moore was disliked in large sections of the party, particularly among women. He was, unlike Clark, also closely linked with Labour's Rogernomics policies of the 1980s which helped fuel the growth of the Alliance party made up largely of Labour dissidents who were largely credited with splitting the vote enough to lose Labour the cliffhanger 1993 election. New party president Maryan Street asked Moore to step down voluntarily, but he refused forcing an open challenge.

Result

A caucus vote was held on 1 December 1993 where a leadership ballot was moved by David Lange and (to the surprise of most) seconded by Moore. It was passed unanimously and chief whip Jonathan Hunt called for all those seeking the leadership to stand. Moore stood up, followed by Clark who won by seven votes. Now leaving the Deputy-leadership open, David Caygill stood and was elected 23 to 21 over Michael Cullen.

Leadership ballot

Candidate		Votes	%
	Helen Clark	26	57.77
	Mike Moore	19	42.23
Majority		7	15.55
Turnout		45	—

Deputy-leadership ballot

Candidate		Votes	%
	David Caygill	23	52.27
	Michael Cullen	21	47.72
Majority		2	4.54
Turnout		44	—

How each MP voted

A list of each MP's vote.

MP	Leader Vote
Margaret Austin	Moore
Rick Barker	Clark
John Blincoe	Clark
Geoff Braybrooke	Moore
Mark Burton	Clark
Chris Carter	Clark
David Caygill	Clark
Helen Clark	Clark
Michael Cullen	Moore
Lianne Dalziel	Clark
Peter Dunne	Moore
Harry Duynhoven	Moore
Ruth Dyson	Clark
Jack Elder	Moore
Taito Phillip Field	Clark
Martin Gallagher	Clark
Phil Goff	Moore
George Hawkins	Moore
Pete Hodgson	Clark
Jonathan Hunt	Clark
Judy Keall	Moore
Graham Kelly	Clark
Annette King	Moore
David Lange	Clark
Janet Mackey	Clark
Steve Maharey	Clark
Trevor Mallard	Clark
Clive Matthewson	Moore
Mike Moore	Moore
Richard Northey	Clark
Damien O'Connor	Moore
Mark Peck	Clark
Jill Pettis	Clark
Ross Robertson	Moore
Suzanne Sinclair	Clark
Larry Sutherland	Clark
Jim Sutton	Moore
Paul Swain	Clark
Peter Tapsell	Moore
Elizabeth Tennet	Moore
Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan	Moore
Judith Tizard	Clark
Koro Wētere	Moore
Jill White	Clark
Dianne Yates	Clark

Aftermath

See also: Shadow Cabinet of Helen Clark

Clark would lead Labour until she resigned in 2008. She went on to lose the next election in 1996, but would then win three consecutively (a record for a Labour leader) in 1999, 2002 and 2005. Moore did not take the loss gracefully and was a constant agitator in Labour's ranks until his retirement in 1999. During that time he was Labour's spokesman on Foreign Affairs and Trade.

A noted critic of Clark's ousting of Moore as Labour leader was former Labour Prime Minister Norman Kirk's widow Ruth, who famously rang a Christchurch talkback radio show in 1993 to voice her fury at the episode. Damien O'Connor (a new MP in 1993) said in 2018 that his decision to support Moore over Clark would set his career back a decade, saying that he was the only one of Labour's 14 newly elected MPs to vote for Moore. Former Labour Prime Minister Bill Rowling was supportive of Clark replacing Moore for the leadership. He stated he felt Clark's style of leadership would be better suited to working with other parties such as the Alliance, which would be necessary under Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP), which New Zealand voted for in a 1993 referendum.

References

• Edwards, Brian (2001). Helen: Portrait of A Prime Minister. Auckland: Exisle Publishing. ISBN 0-908988-20-6.
• Franks, Peter; McAloon, Jim (2016). Labour: The New Zealand Labour Party 1916-2016. Wellington: Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-1-77656-074-5.
• Lange, David (2005). My Life. Viking. ISBN 0-670-04556-X.