2003 New Zealand National Party leadership election

April 2024 July 2017 March 2017 none 2003 New Zealand National Party leadership election National logo 1990.jpg presidential no 2001 New Zealand National Party leadership election 2001 2006 New Zealand National Party leadership election 2006 28 October 2003 150x150px Don Brash 00529F 14 53.84% 150x150px Bill English 00529F 12 46.16% Leader Leader after election Bill English Don Brash The New Zealand National Party leadership election was an election for the National Party leadership position held in 2003. Background Aged 39 when he was elected, English became the second-youngest leader in the National Party's history, after Jim McLay (who was 38 when elected in 1984). He also became only the third Southlander to lead a major New Zealand political party, after Joseph Ward and Adam Hamilton.Graeme Hunt, "Death in the afternoon – how the might fall", National Business Review, 12 October 2001. Retrieved from Factiva, 13 December 2016. However, English failed to improve the party's performance. In the 2002 elections, National suffered its worst electoral defeat ever, gaining barely more than twenty percent of the vote. English described it as "the worst day of my political life". Both party insiders and the general public were split as to how much to blame him for the loss, but most of the party believed that English would be able to rebuild National's support.Audrey Young, "Is this the future National deserved?" https://web.archive.org/web/20170405025228/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/election-2002/news/article.cfm?c_id=774&objectid=2197717 5 April 2017 , The New Zealand Herald, 30 July 2002. Retrieved 14 December 2016. By late 2003, however, National's performance in opinion polls remained poor. The party had briefly increased its popularity in the year following the election, but by October its support had fallen to levels only slightly better than what it achieved in the last ballot. English also appeared in a boxing match for a charity against entertainer Ted Clarke. This "stunt" did not boost his polling or that of the National party either, with suggestions that it devalued his image as a serious politician. Don Brash, former governor of the Reserve Bank and a relative newcomer to politics, began to build up support to replace English. On 28 October, Brash gained sufficient backing in Caucus to replace English as leader. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3531139 Don Brash is the new leader of the National Party 28 October 2003 The New Zealand Herald 7 November 2009 Result Brash defeated English in a caucus ballot lost by a two-vote margin. Afterwards a "key player" told media "He [English] was stabbed in the front not the back".https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/101801950/national-leadership-races-of-days-gone-by National leadership races of days gone by 27 February 2018 Stuff.co.nz 27 February 2018 Leadership ballot NameVotesPercentageDon Brash1453.84Bill English1246.16 Notes References Goldsmith, Paul Paul Goldsmith (politician) Brash: A Biography 2005 Penguin Auckland 0-14-301967-8 Hager, Nicky Nicky Hager The Hollow Men: A Study in the Politics of Deception 2006 Craig Potton Nelson 1-877333-62-X Category:2003 elections in New Zealand 2003 Category:2003 in New Zealand New Zealand National Party leadership election