President of the New Zealand Labour Party

The president of the New Zealand Labour Party is the highest-ranked organisational figure within the New Zealand Labour Party. The president heads the party apparatus outside of parliament, serving as the chairperson of both the party's council and policy council. Since 2022, the office has been held by Jill Day.^[1]

President of the Labour Party
Incumbent Jill Day since 5 November 2022
Term length	No fixed term
Inaugural holder	James McCombs
Formation	7 July 1916
Deputy	Carol Beaumont
Website	Labour Party profile

Selection

The president is elected by the party delegates at the Labour Party annual conference or, if an early vacancy occurs, a by-election via postal ballot.^[2]

Role

While the party leader is responsible for leading the Labour Party's political agenda and representing Labour in parliament, the president is responsible for managing the party's internal affairs and ensuring that the party is organised and compliant with relevant laws and regulations.

The president is the chair of the party's governing body, the New Zealand Council, and presides of its meetings and functions. Additionally the president chairs Labour's policy council and party list moderating committee. The president is paid an honorarium for their services.^[2]

History

The post of president of the Labour Party was officially created upon the party's inception in 1916, the inaugural holder was James McCombs.^[3] The longest serving president was James Roberts serving 13 years consecutively from 1937 to 1950.^[4] The first Māori holder was Charles Bennett (1973–76).^[5] Margaret Wilson was the first woman to be elected president in 1984.^[6]

List of presidents

The following is a complete list of Labour Party presidents:^[7]

No.		President	Portrait	Prior/concurrent office	Term of Office		Leader
	1	James McCombs		MP for Lyttelton	7 July 1916	9 July 1917		Hindmarsh
	2	Andrew Walker		MP for Dunedin North	9 July 1917	11 July 1918
	3	Tom Paul		Member of the Legislative Council	11 July 1918	12 July 1920
								Holland
	4	Peter Fraser		MP for Wellington Central	12 July 1920	15 July 1921
	5	Frederick Cooke		Vice-President of the Labour Party	15 July 1921	7 July 1922
	6	Tom Brindle		Vice-President of the Waterside Workers Union	7 July 1922	7 April 1926
	7	Bob Semple		MP for Wellington East	7 April 1926	12 April 1928
	8	John Archer		Mayor of Christchurch	12 April 1928	3 April 1929
	9	Jim Thorn		Vice-President of the Labour Party	3 April 1929	8 April 1931
	10	Rex Mason		MP for Auckland Suburbs	8 April 1931	29 March 1932
	11	Bill Jordan		MP for Manukau	29 March 1932	18 April 1933
	12	Frank Langstone		MP for Waimarino	18 April 1933	3 April 1934
								Savage
	13	Tim Armstrong		MP for Christchurch East	3 April 1934	24 April 1935
	14	Walter Nash		MP for Hutt	24 April 1935	14 April 1936
	15	Clyde Carr		MP for Timaru	14 April 1936	30 March 1937
	16	James Roberts		Vice-President of the Labour Party	30 March 1937	9 May 1950
								Fraser
	17	Arnold Nordmeyer		MP for Brooklyn	9 May 1950	17 May 1955
								Nash
	18	Mick Moohan		MP for Petone	17 May 1955	8 June 1960
	19	Martyn Finlay		Vice-President of the Labour Party	8 June 1960	12 May 1964
								Nordmeyer
	20	Norman Kirk		MP for Lyttelton	12 May 1964	11 May 1966
								Kirk
	21	Norman Douglas		MP for Auckland Central	11 May 1966	5 May 1970
	22	Bill Rowling		MP for Buller	5 May 1970	8 May 1973
	23	Charles Bennett		Vice-President of the Labour Party	8 May 1973	11 May 1976
								Rowling
	24	Arthur Faulkner		MP for Roskill	11 May 1976	15 May 1979
	25	Jim Anderton		Auckland Regional Councillor	15 May 1979	8 September 1984
								Lange
	26	Margaret Wilson		Vice-chair of the Association of University Teachers	8 September 1984	9 November 1987
	27	Rex Jones		National Secretary of the EPMU	9 November 1987	5 September 1988
	28	Ruth Dyson		Vice-President of the Labour Party	5 September 1988	18 April 1993
								Palmer
								Moore
	29	Maryan Street		Vice-President of the Labour Party	18 April 1993	November 1995
								Clark
	30	Michael Hirschfeld		CEO of Mico Wakefield	November 1995	5 January 1999
	31	Bob Harvey		Mayor of Waitakere	16 February 1999	19 November 2000
	32	Mike Williams		1999 Election Campaign Manager	19 November 2000	2 March 2009
								Goff
	33	Andrew Little		National Secretary of the EPMU	2 March 2009	2 April 2011
	34	Moira Coatsworth		Vice-President of the Labour Party	2 April 2011	26 November 2014
								Shearer
								Cunliffe
								Little
	35	Nigel Haworth		President of University Staff of New Zealand	27 February 2015	11 September 2019
								Ardern
	-	Tracey McLellan Acting		Vice-President of the Labour Party	11 September 2019	30 November 2019
	36	Claire Szabó		CEO of Habitat for Humanity	30 November 2019	5 November 2022
	37	Jill Day		Deputy Mayor of Wellington	5 November 2022	present
								Hipkins

Notes

1. Verschaffelt, Peter (4 November 2022). "Labour conference day to shine for new president". Waatea News.
2. "New Zealand Labour Party Constitution and Rules" (PDF). New Zealand Labour Party. 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2021 – via New Zealand Electoral Commission.
3. Garner, Jean. "McCombs, James". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
4. Green, Anna. "Roberts, James". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
5. Ballara, Angela. "Charles Moihi Te Arawaka Bennett". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
6. "Woman president for Labour Party". The Press. 18 July 1984. p. 2.
7. Brown 1962, p. 224.

References

• Brown, Bruce (1962). The Rise of New Zealand Labour: A history of the New Zealand Labour Party. Wellington: Price Milburn.