1984 New Zealand general election

1984 New Zealand general election

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95 seats in the Parliament 48 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader David Lange Sir Robert Muldoon Party Labour National Leader since 3 February 1983 9 July 1974 Leader's seat Mangere Tamaki Last election 43 seats, 39.01% 47 seats, 38.77% Seats won 56 37 Seat change 13 10 Popular vote 829,154 692,494 Percentage 42.98% 35.89% Swing 3.97% 2.88%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Bruce Beetham Bob Jones Party Social Credit NZ Party Leader since 14 May 1972 21 August 1983 Leader's seat Rangitikei (lost seat) None (contested Ohariu) Last election 2 seats, 20.65% Not yet founded Seats won 2 0 Seat change 0 0 Popular vote 147,162 236,385 Percentage 7.63% 12.25% Swing 13.02% 12.25%
Results by electorate, shaded by winning margin
Prime Minister before election Robert Muldoon National Subsequent Prime Minister David Lange Labour

The 1984 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the composition of the 41st New Zealand Parliament. It marked the beginning of the Fourth Labour Government, with David Lange's Labour Party defeating the long-serving Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, of the National Party. It was also the last election in which the Social Credit Party won seats as an independent entity. The election was also the only one in which the New Zealand Party, a protest party, played any substantial role.

A snap election, Muldoon called for it a month prior. When doing so he was both live on television and visibly drunk, leading to the election being dubbed the "schnapps election".^[1]