[1] It failed to win any seats in Parliament, but it purportedly played a role in causing the defeat of Robert Muldoon's National government in the 1984 election by splitting the vote (as a spoiler).

Muldoon was a social conservative but also a strong believer in the need for state intervention in the economy, claiming that only with government involvement could New Zealand be prosperous.

In accordance with his economic theories, Muldoon introduced the so-called "Think Big" program, which saw massive overseas borrowing to finance large government construction projects.

Bob Jones, a self-made millionaire and author, strongly opposed these policies, comparing them to what he had recently observed in the Soviet bloc.

In a number of newspaper opinion pieces, Jones spoke out against the government, claiming that the National Party had betrayed its principles of individual liberty and free enterprise.

Since Jones had previously been a strong supporter of the National Party and a personal friend of Muldoon, his attacks on the government marked an end to both associations.

Other prominent figures within the New Zealand Party included Janie Pearce (the deputy leader), Josephine Grierson (an economic policy specialist), Michael Batchelor (spokesman for defence) and Gordon Dryden.

[6] When Muldoon unexpectedly called an early election, the New Zealand Party was caught by surprise and had only a month to prepare its campaign.

The Social Credit Party, although winning only 7.6% of the vote, won two seats, probably as the result of having specifically focused its attention on them since the 1950s.

While its failure to win seats was a major disappointment to the New Zealand Party, it took comfort in the fact that it likely caused the defeat of the government.

Shortly after the election, the National Party dropped Muldoon as leader and eventually came to embrace free market economics as well.

Galvin was replaced as leader with Stephen Greenfield, the Managing Director of a travel company, who led the remaining party members who opposed the merger with National.

[11] Greenfield (who stood in North Shore) led the remaining New Zealand Party in the 1987 election which saw a huge drop in support.