If you are voting in the New Zealand General Election for the first time, perhaps this is a question you are asking yourself. If you receive a pamphlet in your letter box about a political party, read it to find out their policies. Go to their web sites. Hear your local candidate speak at a meeting if you can.
In the next 10 days before the election, this website will look at all the main parties.
A look at the National Party
This is the political party of the present government. The Prime Minister is John Key. Mr Key and the National Party have been the government now for 6 years. In the last election, in 2011, the National Party won 59 seats. There are 120 seats in Parliament so the National Party needed the support of another party. The Maori Party won 5 seats so these two parties were in coalition.
The National Party is a right wing party, although it is often called centre right. Right wing parties are usually conservative. People who vote for the National Party are often business people, farmers, and middle class people who earn a good salary. This is a centre right party because the policies concern poor people as well.
The National Party is promising more jobs, better pay and less unemployment. Mr Key said that the government has done a good job during the global economic crisis and will continue with similar policies.
To find about more about the National Party policies, go to the National Party website .
Vocabulary
• pamphlet – leaflet, a small notice – often folded to make 3 or 4 pages.
• policies – plans that tell you what the party believes in
• coalition – 2 or more parties join together
• conservative – has traditional values, does not usually like change