Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand is second most senior officer in the Government of New Zealand, although this seniority does not necessarily translate into power.

Generally, the position is held by the deputy leader of the ruling party, but now that the MMP electoral system makes coalitions more likely, the role may instead go to the leader of a junior party. This occurred with Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First, and Jim Anderton, leader of the Alliance.

The post of Deputy Prime Minister was formally established in 1949, although it informally existed prior to then. Since 1949, sixteen people have held the position (one of them doing so twice). Of those people, only Holyoake, Marshall, Watt, Muldoon, Palmer, and Clark have eventually served as Prime Minister.

Little scholarly attention has focused on deputy prime ministers in New Zealand or elsewhere. In 2009, an article by Steven Barnes appeared in Political Science where nine 'qualities' of deputy prime ministership were identified: temperament; relationships with their Cabinet and caucus; relationships with their party; popularity with the public; media skills; achievements as Deputy Prime Minister; relationship with the Prime Minister; leadership ambition; and method of succession. Barnes conducted a survey of journalists, academics, and former Members of Parliament to rank New Zealand's Deputy Prime Ministers since 1960. Across the nine deputy prime minister 'qualities', Don McKinnon achieved the number one ranking, followed by Brian Talboys, Michael Cullen, and John Marshall. In a second 'overall' ranking, Cullen was ranked number one, followed by Talboys, McKinnon, and Marshall. Jim Anderton, Winston Peters, and Bob Tizard were ranked lowest in both sections of the survey.

List of Deputy Prime Ministers of New Zealand

Colour key (for political parties)
National     Labour     NZ First     Alliance

No.		Name	Portrait	Term of Office		Prime Minister
	1	Keith Holyoake		13 December 1949	20 September 1957		Sidney Holland
	2	Jack Marshall		20 September 1957	12 December 1957		Keith Holyoake
	3	Clarence Skinner		12 December 1957	12 December 1960		Walter Nash
	(2)	Jack Marshall		12 December 1960	9 February 1972		Keith Holyoake
	4	Robert Muldoon		9 February 1972	8 December 1972		Jack Marshall
	5	Hugh Watt		8 December 1972	1 September 1974		Norman Kirk
	6	Bob Tizard		10 September 1974	12 December 1975		Bill Rowling
	7	Brian Talboys	75px	12 December 1975	4 March 1981		Robert Muldoon
	8	Duncan MacIntyre		4 March 1981	15 March 1984
	9	Jim McLay		15 March 1984	26 July 1984
	10	Geoffrey Palmer		26 July 1984	8 August 1989		David Lange
	11	Helen Clark		8 August 1989	4 September 1990		Geoffrey Palmer
							Mike Moore
	11	Don McKinnon	75px	4 September 1990	16 December 1996		Jim Bolger
	12	Winston Peters		16 December 1996	14 August 1998
	13	Wyatt Creech		14 August 1998	5 December 1999		Jenny Shipley
	14	Jim Anderton	75px	5 December 1999	15 August 2002		Helen Clark
	15	Michael Cullen		15 August 2002	19 November 2008
	16	Bill English		19 November 2008	incumbent		John Key