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.
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.
[4] After Labour won office in 1935,[2] United and Reform formally amalgamated in 1936 to form the National Party.
Similarly, in the 1984 election, the New Zealand Party received over 12% of the votes cast but also won no seats.
[8] Under such conditions, minor parties mostly performed poorly in terms of making an impact in Parliament.
[9] This made it much easier for smaller parties to enter Parliament, but more difficult to gain elected as a non-party independent.
When a candidate stands for parliament in an electorate, they may describe themselves as 'independent' or give a party name.