Members of Parliament
The House of Representatives takes the British House of Commons as its model. It normally consists of 120 members, known as "Members of Parliament" (MPs). They were known as "Members of the House of Representatives" (MHRs) until the passing of the Parliamentary and Executive Titles Act 1907 when New Zealand became a dominion. The House of Representatives meets in Parliament House in Wellington. Seats in the debating chamber form a horseshoe pattern, with members of the governing party or coalition sitting on the right hand of the Speaker and members of the opposition sitting opposite. The Speaker of the House of Representatives acts as the presiding officer.
The executive branch of the New Zealand government (the Cabinet) draws its membership exclusively from the House of Representatives, based on which party or parties can claim a majority. The Prime Minister (PM) leads the government: the Governor-General appoints the Prime Minister from a party or coalition which appears to have enough support in the House to govern. This support is immediately tested through a Motion of Confidence. The current government is a coalition between the National Party, ACT Party, United Future and the Maori Party; the Prime Minister is John Key. The Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest opposition party. Currently the Leader of the Opposition is David Shearer of the Labour Party.
For information on current members of Parliament, see 50th New Zealand Parliament.
Read more about this topic: New Zealand House Of Representatives
Famous quotes containing the words members of, members and/or parliament:
“The members of a body-politic call it “the state” when it is passive, “the sovereign” when it is active, and a “power” when they compare it with others of its kind. Collectively they use the title “people,” and they refer to one another individually as “citizens” when speaking of their participation in the authority of the sovereign, and as “subjects” when speaking of their subordination to the laws of the state.”
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)
“I esteem it the happiness of this country that its settlers, whilst they were exploring their granted and natural rights and determining the power of the magistrate, were united by personal affection. Members of a church before whose searching covenant all rank was abolished, they stood in awe of each other, as religious men.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The war shook down the Tsardom, an unspeakable abomination, and made an end of the new German Empire and the old Apostolic Austrian one. It ... gave votes and seats in Parliament to women.... But if society can be reformed only by the accidental results of horrible catastrophes ... what hope is there for mankind in them? The war was a horror and everybody is the worse for it.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)