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New Zealand politics have featured a strong party system since the early 20th century. Usually, all members of Parliament's unicameral House of Representatives belong to a political party. Independent members of Parliament do not occur often.
The centre-left New Zealand Labour Party and the centre-right New Zealand National Party are New Zealand's two major parties, having jointly contested each election since 1938. They are the only two New Zealand political parties to have won the popular vote in four consecutive elections twice. Labour won the popular vote from the 1938 election through to 1946 and again from 1978 through to 1987 – although during the latter period National twice disproportionately gained a majority of seats. Likewise, National won the popular vote from 1960 through to 1969, and then again from 2008 through to 2017, but in the final year could not form a coalition government under proportional representation.
The introduction of the mixed-member proportional system in 1996 led to a multi-party system, such that smaller parties have substantial representation in Parliament and can now reasonably expect to gain seats in government. As of 2024[update], six parties have members in the 54th Parliament.