48th New Zealand Parliament

48th Parliament of New Zealand
← 47th Parliament 49th Parliament →
Parliament House, Wellington
Overview
Legislative body	New Zealand Parliament
Term	7 November 2005 – 3 October 2008
Election	2005 New Zealand general election
Government	Fifth Labour Government
House of Representatives
Members	121
Speaker of the House	Margaret Wilson
Leader of the House	Michael Cullen
Prime Minister	Helen Clark
Leader of the Opposition	John Key — Don Brash until 27 November 2006
Sovereign
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	Anand Satyanand from 23 August 2006 — Silvia Cartwright until 4 August 2006

The 48th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Its composition was determined at a general election held on 17 September 2005. The new parliament met for the first time on 7 November 2005. It was dissolved on 3 October 2008.^[1]

The Labour Party and the Progressive Party, backed by New Zealand First and United Future, established a majority at the beginning the 48th Parliament. The Labour-led administration was in its third term. The National Party and ACT form the formal opposition to the government. Other non-government parties are the Greens (who promised to abstain on confidence and supply votes) and the Māori Party.

The 48th Parliament consists of 121 representatives. This represents an overhang of one seat, with the Māori Party having won one more electorate than its share of the vote would otherwise have given it. In total, sixty-nine of the MPs were chosen by geographical electorates, including seven Māori electorates. The remainder were elected by means of party-list proportional representation under the MMP electoral system.