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David Lange celebrating 1984 election victory

Image

Jubilant Labour supporters hoist leader David Lange into the air on the night of the snap election on 14 July 1984. As promised in the party's election manifesto, the following year the new government established a Royal Commission on the Electoral System, chaired by Justice John Wallace. Although Labour's leadership subsequently tried to ignore it, the Royal Commission's 1986 report was to kick-start a process of electoral reform that culminated a decade later in New Zealand's first election under Mixed Member Proportional representation, or MMP.

Credit

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: Dominion Post Collection, 1984/3356/29
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

How to cite this page

David Lange celebrating 1984 election victory, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/david-lange-celebrating-1984-election-victory, (Manatū Taonga — Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated