Prime ministers of NZ, 1856 - 2023

Between 1856 and November 2023 New Zealand has had 42 individuals who have held the position of Prime Minister, some of whom have been in the role more than once. The title of 'Prime Minister' was initially called 'Colonial Secretary' (held by 6 individuals from 1856 to 1869) and 'Premier' (held by 9 individuals from 1869 to 1906). From 1906, beginning with William Hall-Jones, all have been sworn in as ‘Prime Minister’ (27 individuals).  

The 42nd Prime Minister – Christopher Luxon – was sworn in on 27 November 2023 by Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro. During the 2023 general election, Luxon led the National Party to victory over Labour, winning 48 seats, and formed a three-party coalition Government with New Zealand First and ACT New Zealand.

The following gives a quick summary overview of the formation of New Zealand's Government, from being part of the British Colony of New South Wales towards becoming a separate Crown Colony with its own prime ministerial government and Governor/Governor-General.  

The changes in the eligibility of voters and of candidates who could stand in the general elections (and, therefore, be appointed as Prime Minister) are also tracked.  Although women were granted the vote in 1893, they were not permitted to stand for Parliament until 1919. The first women MP was elected in 1933 and the first woman Prime Minister was appointed in 1997.

A chronological list is given of the reigning British Monarch, the Governors / Governor-Generals, and the Colonial Secretaries / Premiers / Prime Ministers who are numbered sequentially from 1 to 42.  (Excluded from the list of 42 are those who were appointed as "Acting Prime Minister". )  

Section 1:    Quiz time!

Section 2:   Background to prime ministerial government

Section 3:   Parliament led by Prime Ministers since 1856 (which lists the 42 Prime Ministers)

Section 4:   Quiz time answers

Section 5:   Find out more

1. Quiz Time!

• Qu. 1:   Name the three youngest people when they first became NZ's Prime Minister
• Qu. 2:   Name the three oldest people when they first became NZ's Prime Minister 
• Qu. 3:   Which Prime Minister has had the longest single term in office?
• Qu. 4:   Which Prime Minister has had the shortest single term in office?
• Qu. 5:   Which Prime Minister had the most number of separate terms in office?
• Qu. 6:   Who was the first woman appointed as Prime Minister?
• Qu. 7:   How many of the 42 Prime Ministers were born in NZ?
• Qu. 8:   Name a Prime Minister who has been commemorated in the name of a town or suburb or mountain or other place. 

See answers further below in Section 4: Quiz time answers

2. Background to prime ministerial government

New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. Our head of state is a sovereign (currently Queen Elizabeth II) who is represented in NZ by the Governor-General. 

(2A) Road to Colonial Government

NZ part of British Colony of New South Wales, 1839:

• In 1831 a petition signed by 13 northern Māori chiefs was sent to King William IV asking for his alliance and protection from being annexed by other nations and requesting support against the growing lawlessness of British subjects. 
• In  March 1832,  the British Government appointed James Busby as the official British Resident, representing the British Government in New Zealand. and he arrived in the Bay of Islands in May 1833. Busby had instructions from the Governor of the British colony of New South Wales, Richard Bourke, to protect ‘well disposed settlers and traders’, prevent ‘outrages’ by Europeans against Māori, and apprehend escaped convicts. 
• On  20 March 1834, the flag of the United Tribes was selected as the national flag of New Zealand by 25 chiefs from the Far North at a gathering held at Waitangi with Busby. The flag was  hoisted on a flagpole to a 21-gun salute from HMS Alligator. 
• In 1834, He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand) was drafted by northern Māori chiefs, with Busby's help, to assert their own sovereignty over New Zealand and to counter Frenchman Charles de Thierry’s attempt to declare himself Sovereign Chief in the Hokianga. The document was initially signed at Waitangi on 28 October 1835 and by 1839, 52 chiefs had signed. A copy of the document was sent to King William IV (who reigned from 1830 to 1837), asking him to act as the protector.
• On 15 June 1839, New Zealand became a dependency of the British colony of New South Wales. George Gipps, who had been appointed the ninth Governor of New South Wales on 5 October 1837, was reappointed as Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the territory of New South Wales. The new  boundaries of his jurisdiction included any land that might be acquired in sovereignty in New Zealand. 
• On 30 July 1839, Captain William Hobson's appointment as Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand under Governor Gipps was ratified.
• On 13 August 1839, Hobson's appointment as British Consul to New Zealand was confirmed.
• On 14 January 1840, Hobson took the oath of Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand.
• On 19 January 1840, Gipps issued a proclamation extending the boundaries of New South Wales to land acquired in sovereignty in New Zealand and proclaiming that no further private land purchases from Māori would be acknowledged by the Crown. 
• On 30 January 1840, Hobson issued a proclamation at Kororareka to publicise that he had taken the oath as Lieutenant-Governor and that the boundaries of the Government of New South Wales extended to NZ. (See: No. 12 - Proclamation...)
• On 16 June 1840, the Legislative Council of New South Wales passed an Act extending to New Zealand the laws of New South Wales, including the New South Wales Land Regulations, and established customs duties and courts of justice in NZ. 

NZ a separate crown Colony, 1841: 

• On 6 February 1840,  Te Tiriti o Waitangi  (the Treaty of Waitangi) was first signed at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands by over 40 chiefs and Hobson. Copies of the Treaty were signed by Hobson to send to various parts of New Zealand and signatures continued to be collected until early September.
• On 21 May 1840, British sovereignty over all of New Zealand was proclaimed by Hobson, although new signatures were still in the process of being added to the Treaty.  (See: No. 16 - Proclamation...)
• During 1840, land for NZ's first capital was purchased by Hobson at Okiato (south of present-day Russell). The capital later shifted to Auckland in 1841, and then to Wellington in 1865.   
•  From 16 November 1840, the ‘Charter for erecting the Colony of New Zealand’ became effective.  
•  On 3 May 1841,  Hobson read the ‘Charter for erecting the Colony of New Zealand’ proclaiming NZ becoming a  Crown Colony separate from the governance of New South Wales, and took the oath as Governor and Commander-in-Chief.

Executive Council & Legislative Council formed:

The ‘Charter for erecting the Colony of New Zealand’ constituted a nominated Legislative Council and an Executive Council, and granted certain powers and authorities to the Governor:  

• The Executive Council formed by Hobson comprised the Colonial Secretary, Attorney-General and Colonial Treasurer, and was chaired by the Governor.  Lieutenant Willoughby Shortland, who was the Police Magistrate, was appointed New Zealand Colonial Secretary on 3 May 1841.  
• The Legislative Council formed by Hobson comprised the Executive Council, three senior Justices of the Peace, and the Governor. The members of the Legislative Council were only accountable to the Governor who convened meetings, set the agenda and introduced law.   

Three provinces established:

• The 'Northern Island', 'Middle Island' (South Island)  and 'Stewart's Island'/Rakiura were to be known respectively as New Ulster, New Munster and New Leinster.  The provinces were named by Hobson after three Irish provinces, one of which was his birthplace - the city of Waterford where he was born on 26 Sept 1792 is in the Munster province. 

Change of Governors during 1842 - 1845:

• On Governor Hobson's death (10 September 1842), Colonial Secretary Shortland succeeded him as Administrator / Acting Governor until Governor Robert FitzRoy arrived on 26 December 1843. FitzRoy dismissed Shortland from office on 31 December 1843 and served as Governor until 1845, when he was recalled to Britain and replaced by George Grey on 18 November 1845. 

New Zealand Constitution Act 1846:

• With the passage of the New Zealand Constitution Act in 1846, the three provinces were merged to form two provinces -  New Munster and New Ulster. New Munster included the Stewart Island, the South Island and the southern part of the North Island as far north as the mouth of the Pātea River. New Ulster included the remainder of the North Island. 
• Each province had a Governor and Legislative and Executive Council, in addition to the Governor-in-Chief and Legislative and Executive Council for the whole colony. Each province was to  hold its own parliament, but the New Ulster parliament never met, and New Munster’s met once in 1849.  The two provinces were dissolved in 1853 by the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852.

(2B) Parliament's early years 

The New Zealand Constitution Act, 30 June 1852:

The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 created New Zealand’s first Parliament which was called ‘The General Assembly of New Zealand" and the elections were held on 14 July 1853.  

• The General Assembly comprised the Governor, a House of Representatives (Lower House) elected every five years in a general election,  and a Legislative Council (Upper House) with members nominated by the Governor. 
• The first Legislative Council was disestablished and a similar body was formed which was to comprise a minimum of ten members that were elected for life.  (In 1891, life membership was replaced by a renewable seven-year term.)  The Legislative Council's role was to act as a revising chamber, scrutinising and amending bills which had been passed by the House of Representatives. 

Nine provinces established, 1853 - 1876:

• The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 also dissolved the two provinces - New Ulster and New Munster - and set up six new provinces:  Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury and Otago.  The provinces had elected councils and an elected chief official, called a superintendent. 
• The New Provinces Act 1858, led to three more provinces being set up: Hawkes Bay separated from Wellington (1 Nov 1858),  Marlborough from Nelson (1 Nov 1859), and Southland  from Otago (1 April 1861).  New Plymouth changed its name to Taranaki.
•  Later, the provincial system came to an end under the Abolition of Provinces Act (12 October 1875) which came into operation on 1 November 1876.     Source: Friends of the Hocken Collections. 'New Zealand’s Nine Provinces (1853–76)',  Bulletin No, 31, March 2000 

Who could vote in elections held 14 July 1853:

On 5 March 1853, Grey issued a proclamation setting out regulations for registration and voting for the general election, and outlining the boundaries of the 24 electoral districts, which were to return 37 general and 87 provincial members.  

• Voting was restricted to adult men aged at least 21 years who were British subjects (which included Māori) and who owned land (but not communally), or leased land, or rented property of a certain value (or from 1860 had a mining licence).
• Householders who rented property could only vote in the electoral district in which they lived. Freeholders and leaseholders could register and vote in any electorate in which they held land, which led to what was known as "plural voting", whereby they could vote in more than one seat. 
• Adult men excluded from voting were ‘aliens’ (non-British subjects), inmates of prisons and asylums, very recent immigrants (voters had to live in an electorate for at least six months before enrolling), and transient workers who tended not to possess property, such as agricultural labourers, bushmen and seafarers. 

Change of Governor, 1853/1854:

• When Grey departed for England at the end of 1853, Colonel Robert Wynyard, as the senior military officer in the colony, became Acting Governor / Administrator on 3 January 1854.    

NZ's first Parliament (a "representative" Government) met in the capital, Auckland, May 1854:

• The members of Parliament met for the first time on 24 May 1854 with Acting Governor Wynyard. The meeting was held in Auckland, which had become NZ's second capital city in 1841, after the first capital was established in 1840 at Okiato near Kororāreka (Russell).  (Wellington became New Zealand's capital in 1865, with Parliament officially sitting in that city for the first time on 26 July 1865.) 
• There were two “unofficial ministries” led by James FitzGerald (14 June to 2 August 1854) and Thomas Forsaith (31 August to 2 September 1854). They were neither Colonial Secretaries nor Premiers, and were responsible to the Governor.  Source: New Zealand Government: Prime Ministers of New Zealand since 1856.
• New Zealand now had a "representative" Government whereby not all members of Parliament comprised elected members of the House of Representatives and the Governor retained vetoing powers.   

NZ's second Parliament and first "responsible" (accountable) Government formed 1856: 

• In 1855, the British Government decreed that the Governor could only choose the Government from elected members of Parliament. This meant Government can only be made up of Ministers who are first elected members of the House of Representatives.  At that time Acting Governor Wynyard had been replaced by Thomas Gore Browne in September 1855. Governor Browne accepted that in matters under control of the General Assembly, he would be guided by Ministers responsible to that body. 
• After an election was held in 1855, New Zealand’s second Parliament was elected, and from it, New Zealand’s first "responsible" (accountable) government was formed in 1856. From now on, the Governor was to act only on the advice of the Government.   

3. Parliament led by Prime Ministers since 1856

The title of 'Prime Minister' was initially called 'Colonial Secretary' from 1856 and  'Premier' from 1869. Other terms were also used intermittently  - Attorney-General “with first seat in the Ministry” and "First Minister”.  From 1906 onwards, all were sworn in as 'Prime Minister'.   

The following lists chronologically the 41 individuals who were appointed as Colonial Secretary / Premier / Prime Minister. From 1891 onwards, also given is the person's political party. (Note: There were no parliamentary parties until the Liberal Party formed in 1891.)  For a list of NZ political parties and the dates formed, see: Wikipedia: List of political parties in New Zealand.

Also listed are the reigning British Monarch and the Governor / Governor-General - the position's status was raised from Governor of New Zealand  to Governor-General of New Zealand in 1917.  (For a list of office-holders since 1840, see: Government House: Former Governors-General.)

(3A) COLONIAL SECRETARIES, 1856 - 1869 

This section lists chronologically the reigning British Monarch, the Governors of New Zealand, and the six Colonial Secretaries who were the initial 'Prime Ministers' (and are numbered sequentially from 1st to 6th).  The Governors and their Colonial Secretaries are grouped together by the dates they served in office. If the position of Colonial Secretary was held on more than one occasion by the same person, the first instance the person held office is given in brackets and the reappointment date is given.    

Henry Sewell  was elected Member of the House of Representatives (MHR) for Christchurch in 1853. He was one of 37 elected members of the House of Representatives which met for the first time in Auckland in May 1854 with Acting Governor, Colonel Robert Wynyard.  Instead of Parliament being able to form a ministry to govern the country, Wynard appointed three members of the House, one of them Sewell, as unofficial executive councillors.  The elected members formed a 'representative' Government, whereby the politicians could advise Wynyard, but he and his executive councillors had the final say.  When the second Parliament met in 1856, Sewell was asked by the new Governor Thomas Gore Browne to form New Zealand's first official ‘responsible’ government. On 7 May 1856, Sewell was appointed Colonial Secretary - as early Premiers were called.  He held the position for 14 days before being replaced by William Fox. 

(3B) Premiers (1869–1906):

In June 1869, when Sir William Fox was reappointed for a third term in office, he was described officially as "Premier and member of the Executive Council”. Thereafter, the term 'Premier' was used regularly until 1906 onwards when the term 'Prime Minister' was used during the swearing-in ceremony. 

Who could vote:

• Under the Māori Representation Act 1867, all Māori men aged 21 or over were eligible to vote and stand for Parliament.  Four Māori seats were created which were superimposed over all the other electorates: three in the North Island (Eastern Māori, Northern Māori, Western Māori), and one covering the South Island (Southern Māori).  Māori who owned freehold land and were already enrolled in European electorates, were able to vote in both electoral systems.  This changed from the 1890s, whereby the two systems were separated: Māori voted in Māori seats and Pākehā  in European (general) seats. Only those termed  ‘half-castes’ (those with a Māori parent and a Pākehā parent) could choose between the two.  Later in 1975, Māori were given the right to choose whether to register on the Māori roll or the general roll.   In 2002, the Māori seats increased in number to seven. 
• The Qualifications of Electors Act 1879 enabled the following to vote: all men who were British subjects and aged 21 years or over who had lived in NZ for 12 months and in an electorate for six months to vote, and  Māori men who owned land (but not communally) or who were ratepayers in the electorate.  This led to an increase in the number of voters and led to those with manual working backgrounds also standing for election.  
• In 1889, plural voting by freeholders was abolished, establishing the principle of ‘one man, one vote’.    
• Women were given the right to vote when the Electoral Act 1893 was signed into law on 19 September 1894, but were not permitted to stand for Parliament until 1919.  
• Later, Parliament reduced the voting age for men and women in 1969 to 20 years of age, and in 1974 to 18 years. 

Abolition of provincial government:

• In 1875 Parliament decided to abolish the provincial governments which ended on 1 November 1876. 
• The Counties Act 1876 divided rural areas into counties based on district roads boards.  
• The Municipal Corporations Act 1876 provided a nationwide system of government for town and city councils:  The mayor was to be elected annually by  the ratepayers instead of by the council, and elections to appoint councillors were held every three years.     

This section lists chronologically the reigning British Monarch, the Governors of New Zealand, and the nine Premiers who were the next group of  'Prime Ministers' (and are numbered sequentially from 7th to 15th).  The Governors and their Premiers are grouped together by the dates they served in office.  If the position of Premier was held on more than one occasion by the same person (either as a former Premier or Colonial Secretary), the first instance the person held office is given in brackets and the reappointment date is given. From 1891 onwards, also given is the Premier's political party. (The first political party was formed in NZ in 1891, which was the Liberal Party).    

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(3C) Prime Ministers, 1906 - 

Title of 'Prime Minister'

The title 'Prime Minister' was first used formally in the Civil List Act 1863 Amendment Act 1873 when provision was made for "The Annual Salary of a Member of the Executive Council, being the Prime Minister, holding anyone or more of the Offices mentioned in the Third Schedule hereto ... £1,250."  However, the first Premier to use the title 'Prime Minister' officially was Richard Seddon who served from 1 May 1893 to 10 June 1906. From 1906, all have been sworn in as ‘Prime Minister’, beginning with William Hall-Jones.  

Parliamentary Acts & NZ legislative autonomy:

• A  Proclamation on 26 September 1907 officially changed New Zealand's status from a "Colony" to being a "Dominion" within the British Empire. 
• Twenty-four years later, the British Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster granting complete autonomy to its six Dominions on 11 December 1931, which New Zealand ratified on 25 November 1947.  
• The Legislative Council, which had existed since 1853, sat for the last time on 1 December 1950 and was abolished on 1 January 1951 when the Legislative Council Abolition Bill was enacted. 
• Since 1953, the term 'Realm of New Zealand' was increasingly used, instead of "Dominion" to describe NZ's official status. 
• Since 1967 a  candidate in a Māori electorate does not have to be Māori, or on the Māori roll.  Voters, however, who wish to vote in a Māori electorate have to register as a voter on the Māori roll and need to declare they are of Māori descent. 
• The Constitution Act 1986 removed the right of the British Parliament to pass laws for New Zealand.  
• In 2003 the right of appeal from New Zealand courts to the British Privy Council was abolished.

Local government restructuring:

• In 1946, a Local Government Commission was set up as  an independent review board that could recommend local-government restructuring and amalgamation, which led to the creation of regional authorities. The Local Government Act 1974  placed urban local authorities (boroughs and towns) and rural authorities (counties) under a network of united  councils.      

 Title of 'Governor' and 'Governor-General':

• After New Zealand attained the status of a Dominion in 1907, the office of Governor was changed to that of Governor-General in 1917.  Arthur William de Brito Savile Foljambe, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool, was NZ's first Governor-General. He was originally appointed as Governor of New Zealand in 1912, and in 1917 the office was raised to Governor-General, and his term was extended until 1920.  
• For an outline of the Governor-General's role, including the summoning and dissolving of Parliament, and signing into law bills that have been passed by the House,  see:  'Modern duties', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/history-of-the-governor-general/modern-duties, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 14-Jul-2014.

Women as MPs and PMs:

• Women were not permitted to stand for Parliament until 1919. 
• The first woman to be elected as a Member of Parliament was Elizabeth McCombs (Labour Party) in September 1933, and the first transgender MP was Georgina Beyer (Labour Party) in 1999. 
• The first woman MP to be appointed Prime Minister was Jenny Shipley in 1997.  Prime Minister Jim Bolger had resigned as National Party Leader in November 1997 after losing the confidence of his National Party. and Shipley replaced him as the Party's Leader.  As leader of the governing party, Shipley became Prime Minister on 8 December 1997. 
• The first elected woman Prime Minister was Helen Clark who was leader of the Labour Party since 1993 and won the election in 1999 to form a governing coalition with the Alliance Party. 

Who could vote:

• During World War I and World War II, special laws were passed to enable all NZ military personnel to vote in wartime elections, whether they were 21 or not. 
•  Parliament reduced the voting age for men and women in 1969 to at least 20 years of age, and in 1974 to at least 18 years. 
• From 1975, voters were no longer required to be a ‘British subject’.  Permanent residents were eligible to vote, whether or not they had New Zealand citizenship which had  been established in 1948.  But only citizens are allowed to become members of Parliament. 
•  From 1975, all Māori voters  were given the right to choose whether to register on the Māori roll or the general roll. 
• Those  ineligible to vote in the 2010s included: prisoners, (under certain circumstances) mental health patients detained in hospitals and people with intellectual disabilities living in secure facilities, and anyone on the Corrupt Practices List (people who had committed an electorally corrupt practice). 

This section lists chronologically the reigning British Monarch, the Governors and Governor-Generals of New Zealand, and 26 Prime Ministers (which are numbered sequentially from 16th to 42nd).  The Governors / Governor-Generals and their Prime Ministers are grouped together by the dates they served in office.  If the position of Prime Minister was held on more than one occasion by the same person, the first instance the person held office is given in brackets and the reappointment date is given. Also given is the Prime Minister's political party.       

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Constitution Act 1986 & Electoral Act 1993:

• The Constitution Act 1986 requires new parliamentary elections to be held every three years. The exceptions are if a major crisis arises, or the Prime Minister loses the ability to command a majority in Parliament.  
• Under the Electoral Act 1993,  the Prime Minister determines the timing of general elections by advising the Governor-General when to issue the writs for a general election which must be issued within seven days after Parliament expires or dissolves.  

Changes to the voting system - from FPP to MMP, 1993 onwards:

• The Electoral Act 1993 replaced  the traditional first past the post (FPP) voting system with mixed member proportional representation (MMP). Under MMP, 120 MPs are elected to Parliament.
• The House of Representatives was to have 120 seats, of which 65 were filled through electorate MPs (16 from South Island electorates, 44 from North Island electorates, and 5 from Māori electorates). This left 55 list seats to be filled from political party lists.  
• Forming a government requires a party, or parties, to win a majority of the seats in Parliament (61 seats or more). This has led to 'coalition agreements' (when two or more parties enter into a formal coalition agreement to form a Government).   For example,  during the 1996 elections, the National Party won 30 seats and 33% of the party vote, and the Labour Party won 26 seats and 28% of the party vote. To form a Government with 61 seats or more, both parties held negotiations with the New Zealand First party, who decided to  partner with National to form a coalition government. The leader of the National Party, Jim Bolger, was appointed as Prime Minister. 

 Electoral boundaries:

• After each New Zealand census is held, electorate boundaries for the next election are required to be redrawn. By law the number of  South Island general electorates is fixed at 16, with the number of North Island general electorates and Māori electorates able to be increased or decreased  in proportion to the population.  
• In the 1996 election there were five Māori electorates and a sixth Māori electorate was added for the 1999 elections. See: Wikipedia: Māori electorates.
• For the 2014 and 2017 elections, there were 16 South Island electorates, 48 North Island general electorates, and 7 Māori electorates, which gave a nationwide total of 71 electorates. 
• Following the 2018 New Zealand census, the number of North Island general electorates increased by one to 49 and the overall number of electorates to 72 (reducing the number of list seats available by one). 

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 Implications of MMP voting system during 2017 & 2020 elections:

Under the MMP system, forming a government requires a party, or parties, to win a majority of the seats in Parliament (61 seats or more).   As well as 'coalition agreements' between parties to form a government, MMP has led to 'confidence and supply agreements' (when one party agrees to support the Government party, or parties, on votes of confidence in the House, and on the Budget (supply) bills that are voted on in Parliament.)  

In the election held on 23 September 2017,  the Labour Party won 46 seats.  It entered into a 'coalition agreement' to form a government with the New Zealand First party, which had nine seats. This resulted in a coalition minority government with 55 seats. As 61 seats were needed for a majority, the Labour Party also entered into a 'confidence and supply agreement' with the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, which had eight seats. Together, the three parties have a majority of 63 seats in Parliament. The election resulted in Labour Party's Leader, Jacinda Ardern, becoming NZ's second elected and third female Prime Minister, and Winston Peters (Party Leader of New Zealand First) being appointed Deputy Prime Minister.  

In the 2020 election  held on 17 October,  the governing Labour Party led by incumbent Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won 65 seats, enough for a majority government. NZ First did not reach the 5% threshold to gain a seat and left Parliament, with Peters leaving government. 

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4.  QUIZ time Answers

 Qu. 1: The three youngest people when they first became NZ's Prime Minister were:

• Edward Stafford  –  37 years, 40 days     (Start date: 2 June 1856)
• Jacinda Ardern    –  37 years, 92 days     (Start date: 26 October 2017)
• Julius Vogel         –  38 years, 43 days     (Start date: 8 April 1873)

Qu. 2: The three oldest people when they first became NZ's Prime Minister were:

• Walter Nash        –  75 years, 303 days    (Start date: 12 December 1957)
• Francis Bell         –  74 years, 40 days      (Start date: 10 May 1925)
• George Grey       –  65 years, 182 days    (Start date: 13 October 1877)

Qu. 3: The Prime Minister who has had the longest single term in office:

• Richard Seddon who held the position for thirteen years between 1893 and 1906

Qu. 4: The shortest single term in office was:

•  7 days: Harry Atkinson: (28 Aug 1884 - 3 Sept 1884) 

Qu. 5:  The Prime Minister who had the most number of separate terms in office: 

• Sir William Fox had four separate terms in office, in-between other Prime Ministers:                                                                                                                           1st term (20 May 1856 - 2 June 1856), 2nd term (12 July 1861 - 6 Aug 1862), 3rd term ( 28 June 1869 - 10 Sept 1872), 4th term (3 March 1873 - 8 April 1873 )   

Qu. 6:  The first woman Prime Minister was:

•  Jenny Shipley in 1997.  (Prime Minister Jim Bolger had resigned as National Party Leader in November 1997 after losing the confidence of his National Party. and Shipley replaced him as the Party's Leader.  As leader of the governing party, Shipley became Prime Minister on 8 December 1997.)

Qu. 7: The number of Prime Ministers who were born in NZ is:

• 20 (out of 42 Prime Ministers)

Qu. 8:  Various Prime Ministers have been commemorated with names of towns, suburbs, mountains and other places.

•  Refer to the list on  'Prime ministerial trivia', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/premiers-and-pms/trivia, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 1-Nov-2017  

5. FIND OUT MORE:

• 'Former Governors- General' [1840-2021]: https://gg.govt.nz/office-governor-general/history/former-governors-general-0 (Government House)
•  Friends of the Hocken Collections. 'New Zealand’s Nine Provinces (1853–76)',  Bulletin No, 31, March 2000:  https://www.otago.ac.nz/library/pdf/hoc_fr_bulletins/31_bulletin.pdf
• Mackay, Alexander.  A Compendium of Official Documents Relative to Native Affairs in the South Island, Volume One. (NZETC)
• Neill Atkinson, 'Voting rights - First voting rights, 1852', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/voting-rights/page-1 
• New Zealand Parliament: Prime Ministers of New Zealand since 1856. Update 12 October 2020. https://www.parliament.nz/en/visit-and-learn/mps-and-parliaments-1854-onwards/prime-ministers-of-new-zealand-since-1856/
• 'Premiers and Prime Ministers', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/premiers-and-pms, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 12-Nov-2020 
• Wikipedia: List of political parties in New Zealand, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_New_Zealand
• Wikipedia:  List of Prime Ministers of New Zealand, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_New_Zealand
• Wikipedia: Monarchy of New Zealand, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_New_Zealand
• Wikipedia: New Zealand Cabinet, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_New_Zealand

This DNZ Story was first compiled in March 2022 & updated in Nov 2023 following confirmation of the 42nd PM