New Zealand Party - Decline

Decline

After the election, the New Zealand Party quickly deteriorated as a significant political force. Jones, his primary objective of ending the Muldoon government having been accomplished, and disappointed by the Party's electoral performance in the 1985 Timaru by-election, unilaterally made a decision to put the Party into recess. He later said that with the "Rogernomics" reforms being undertaken by the new administration, he considered his party to be redundant. A few other prominent figures, most notably Party President Malcolm McDonald, also left the party at this stage. Not surprisingly, many in the Party's ranks considered Jones' move to put the party into recess without reference to Party Members to be undemocratic and, despite Jones' opposition, proceeded to hold the scheduled annual conference in July 1985. At that conference, delegates elected John Galvin, a dairy farmer from Matamata, as Party Leader. In 1986, with its policy platform largely implemented by a reforming Labour Government, beset by funding problems and falling support, the New Zealand Party opted to "merge" into the National Party as an attempt to keep its strong free enterprise and libertarian philosophy alive. However, the name "New Zealand Party" continued to be used by some individuals beyond that point, and eventually some former members of the party ended up as part of a supposedly centrist coalition led by Bruce Beetham.

Some commentators see the modern ACT New Zealand party as being the successor of the New Zealand Party, and Bob Jones is counted among ACT's supporters. Not everyone would agree with the link, however, and there are a number of notable differences in policy between the two. For example, ACT's foreign and defence policies are directly contrary to New Zealand Party policy, with ACT advocating increased defence expenditure and the strengthening of traditional alliances. ACT has never won as many votes as the New Zealand Party gained in 1984.