Premiers

Events In History

10 June 1906

Death of Richard Seddon

Known as 'King Dick', Seddon had dominated New Zealand politics since the early 1890s. His Liberal government established the tradition of state-supported welfare in this country. Read more...
1 May 1893

Richard Seddon becomes premier

Richard Seddon became the Liberal Party's second premier following the death in office of John Ballance. Immortalised as ‘King Dick’, Seddon would dominate the New Zealand political landscape for the next 13 years. Read more...
27 April 1893

Death of Premier John Ballance

Ballance was the first Liberal premier. He laid the foundation for a government that was widely seen as making New Zealand ‘the social laboratory of the world’. Read more...
15 October 1877

Former Governor Grey becomes Premier

Grey played a central role in 19th-century New Zealand politics, serving two terms as governor before entering Parliament to fight Julius Vogel's plans to abolish the provinces. He was the first of just two men who have held both positions. Read more...
8 April 1873

Julius Vogel becomes premier

Vogel was the dominant political figure of the 1870s, serving as Colonial Treasurer and premier on several occasions, and borrowing heavily to invest in a massive public works and immigration programme. Read more...
7 May 1856

Henry Sewell becomes the country’s first premier

Sewell held the position for just 14 days before being replaced by his provincialist rival William Fox, whose ministry in turn lasted just over a week. Read more...

Articles

Premiers and Prime Ministers

From Henry Sewell in 1856 to John Key in 2010, New Zealand has had 38 prime ministers and premiers. Read biographies of the men and women who have held the top job, discover more about the role's political origins, and explore fascinating prime ministerial facts and trivia.
Read the full article
Page 2 – Political origins
Overview of the influence of the British political system in New Zealand and our move toward self-government in the 19th century.
Page 3 – Biographies
A list of New Zealand Premiers and Prime Ministers from 1856 to the present
Page 4 – Prime ministerial trivia
Trivia about New Zealand's premiers and prime ministers.
Page 5 – Further information
This web feature was written by Gavin McLean and produced by the NZHistory.net.nz team.LinksDepartment of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) - the government department that

Housing the Prime Minister

Almost 150 years after the government purchased the first official premier's residence on Tinakori Road, Wellington, the address of Premier House remains the same. But in the intervening years the building has been extended, renamed, abandoned and refurbished.
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Page 2 – The first premier house
Our first premiers had to find their own digs. That changed in 1865, when the government bought the premier a simple 22-year-old wooden cottage in Thorndon’s Tinakori Road.

Biographies

Ballance, John
John Ballance, who led the Liberals to power in 1890, was called ‘the rainmaker’ by voters relieved to see the return of prosperity.
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Grey, George
Sir George Grey was our only politician for whom the premiership was an anticlimax. He governed autocratically from 1845 to 1853 (greatly shaping our constitutional arrangements) and returned as governor in 1861.
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Fox, William
William Fox headed New Zealand governments four times. A rug-puller rather than a bridge-builder, he was better at defeating governments than leading them.
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Seddon, Richard John
Richard Seddon’s nickname, ‘King Dick’, says it all. Our longest-serving and most famous leader not only led the government, he was it, many argued. For 13 years he completely dominated politics.
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Sewell, Henry
Henry Sewell, our first premier – or colonial secretary as early premiers were called – was more of a sojourner than a settler. Although he spent 17 years inNew Zealandin three periods between 1853 and 1876, he never put down deep roots..
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Stout, Robert
The careers of Sir Robert Stout and Sir Julius Vogel were so closely intertwined that Stout’s governments are usually referred to as Stout-Vogel ministries. Both men started their public lives in Otago and followed similar policies.
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Vogel, Julius
Premier Julius Vogel's great plan was to borrow heavily to build infrastructure and to lure migrants. It was controversial, but the money and migrants stimulated the economy and created a viable consumer market for producers.
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Weld, Frederick Aloysius
Frederick Weld was only briefly premier, but he later became a serial colonial governor. That he, a Roman Catholic, could lead a colony showed how different New Zealand was to Britain.
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Whitaker, Frederick
Despite Frederick Whitaker’s advanced views on electoral reform, this two-time premier tarnished his reputation by land speculation and confiscation.
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Stafford, Edward William
Edward Stafford was New Zealand's youngest leader and a stable influence on the early colonial government. He held the post of premier on three different occasions - 1856 - 1861, 1865 - 1869, and 1872.
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Domett, Alfred
Alfred Domett was premier 1862-1863. Aside from politics he is remembered for establishing the Parliamentary Library and for his much-derided epic verse Ranolf and Amohia: A South-Sea Daydream.
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Waterhouse, George Marsden
George Waterhouse was premier of both South Australia (1861-1863) and New Zealand (1872-1873).
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Pollen, Daniel
Largely forgotten today, Daniel Pollen was considered a ‘safe man’ and a good administrator. In July 1875 he took over the premiership from Sir Julius Vogel, absent in Germany, although Harry Atkinson really ran things.
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Atkinson, Harry Albert
Biography of Harry Atkinson (1831-1892) who was premier of New Zealand four times. He was a stabilising force in early New Zealand politics and a figure who transcended regional interests for national views.
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Hall, John
John Hall was a force in our politics for several decades, serving as Premier and leading the parliamentary campaign for votes for women.
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