Spoiler Effect - Other Countries

Other Countries

The spoiler effect has also been seen in other countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago. There, a minority party with no chance of winning, Congress of the People, took votes from its former party, the United National Congress and made it lose seats, thus allowing the incumbent People's National Movement, highly disfavoured for the elections, to take the Government role again.

In New Zealand, there have been two notable cases of the spoiler effect. In the 1984 general election, the free-market New Zealand Party deliberately ran for office in order to weaken support for the incumbent Prime Minister Robert Muldoon. Later on, the 1993 general election saw the New Zealand Labour Party's vote split by The Alliance, which has been attributed to the vagaries of the first past the post electoral system. In response to these problems, New Zealand has since adopted the mixed-member proportional voting system.

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