Editing New Zealand Labour Party (section)

=== Party structure ===
==== General and special branches ====
Party membership is tied into geographically-based branches in each [[New Zealand electorates|parliamentary electorate]]. General branches must consist of at least 10 members aged 15 or over.<ref name="constitution2016">{{cite web|title=Constitution and Rules|url=http://www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/parties/rules/labour_party_constitution_2015.pdf|publisher=New Zealand Labour Party|access-date=13 June 2017|date=July 2016}}</ref> Members may also form special branches where they have a special community of interest (such as university students and academics, young people, women, Māori people, Pasifika, multicultural groups, people with disabilities, the [[Rainbow Labour|LGBT community]], and industrial workers).<ref name="constitution2016"/> Influential branches include [[Princes Street Labour]] (this Auckland university branch is described as the "ideological powerhouse of the party",<ref>{{cite web|title=Princes Street|url=http://www.younglabour.org.nz/princes_street|publisher=New Zealand Young Labour|access-date=13 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> and has contributed many prominent Labour politicians) and [[Vic Labour]] (the [[Victoria University of Wellington]] branch).<ref>{{cite web|title=VicLabour|url=http://www.younglabour.org.nz/viclabour|publisher=New Zealand Young Labour|access-date=13 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:New Zealand Labour Party membership.png|thumb|upright=1.25|As this graph (compiled from multiple sources spanning 1917 to 2002) shows, the party's membership has fluctuated greatly, broadly in line with the terms of office of Labour governments]]
Membership figures are rarely released to the public. Full (non-affiliate) membership is known to have peaked at 55,000 in 1976. During the 1980s and 1990s, party membership plummeted to levels not seen since before the First Labour Government. This decline might be attributed to disillusionment on the part of some members with the economic policies of the Fourth Labour Government ("[[Rogernomics]]"). Membership figures began to recover under Helen Clark's leadership, with 14,000 members recorded in 2002.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Peter|first1=Aimer|title=Labour Party – Ideology and the role of unions: Labour Party membership, 1917–2002|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/graph/34047/labour-party-membership-1917-2002|encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]]|access-date=13 June 2017}}</ref>

==== Conference, councils and committees ====
Delegates from all branches in the electorate, together with delegates from affiliated unions, make up the Labour Electorate Committee (LEC). The LEC is responsible for party organisation in the electorate.<ref name="constitution2016"/> The party is divided into six regional areas, which each year convene a Regional Conference.<ref name="Organisation">{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Aimer|first1=Peter|title=Labour Party – Organisation of the Labour Party|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/labour-party/page-7|encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |access-date=13 June 2017|date=20 June 2012}}</ref> Policy and other matters are debated and passed onto the Annual Conference.<ref name="constitution2016"/>

The Annual Conference (called Congress in election years) is the supreme governing body of the Labour Party when it is in session. All constituent bodies of the party are entitled to send delegates to Annual Conference.<ref name="constitution2016"/>

The New Zealand Council is the Labour Party's governing [[executive committee|executive]].<ref name="Organisation" /> It ensures that the party is governed effectively according to its constitution. The NZ Council consists of the president, two senior vice presidents (one of which must be [[Māori people|Māori]]), three vice presidents (representing women, affiliates, and Pacific Islanders), seven regional representatives, one Policy Council representative, three Caucus representatives, and the general secretary.<ref name="constitution2016"/>

The Policy Council, responsible for the development of the policy platform and [[election manifesto]],<ref name="platform"/> is elected for a three-year term following each [[Elections in New Zealand|general election]]. The party structure also provides for [[Special Interest Group]] Councils: representing the affiliates, women's issues, Māori issues, Pacific Islands, [[primary industries]], local government, and youth.<ref name="constitution2016"/>

{{Anchor|Caucus}}
==== Caucus and parliamentary leadership ====
[[File:Chris Hipkins NZ Labour (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Leader [[Chris Hipkins]] (in 2022)]]
The elected members representing the Labour Party in the House of Representatives meet as the Parliamentary Labour Party, also called the [[Caucus]]. The current parliamentary leader is [[Chris Hipkins]] (since 22 January 2023).<ref>{{cite news |title=Ardern hands over party leadership as Hipkins is endorsed to become next PM |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-22/chris-hipkins-formally-elected-new-zealand-prime-minister/101880358 |access-date=23 January 2023 |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |date=22 January 2023 |language=en-AU}}</ref> A leadership election is triggered upon the vacancy of the position of leader or a [[motion of no confidence]]. Candidates are nominated from within the Caucus. Under Labour Party rules, party members have 40% of the votes, MPs have another 40% of the votes, and affiliated unions have 20% of the votes.<ref name="constitution2016"/> Some observers{{who|date=April 2020}} have criticised the influence of the unions in leadership elections.<ref name="unions1"/>