New Zealand by-elections
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By-elections in New Zealand occur to fill vacant seats in the New Zealand Parliament. They can be caused by the death, resignation, or expulsion of a sitting electorate MP. (Note that list MPs do not have geographic districts in which a by-election can be held — if a list MP's seat becomes vacant, it is filled by the next person on his or her party's list.) A by-election need not be held if a general election is scheduled to be held within six months.
Today, by-elections are not particularly common — there has been only one in the current term, and there were none in the previous term. Historically, however, they have been considerably more frequent — the 2nd Parliament, for example, saw at least twenty by-elections, despite there being only thirty-seven seats.
The following is an incomplete table of previous by-elections in New Zealand. Of interest, perhaps, is that it contains at least four subsequent Prime Ministers.
See also: New Zealand elections