For much of the country's early history, the role was not a formal one. For most of the 19th century, there was rarely any one person who could be identified as
the leader of the Opposition. Prominent members were sometimes informally dubbed as "Leader of the Opposition" – often facetiously by rival politicians. It was only when the
Liberal Party was formed that any unified leadership appeared in Parliament, and the role of Opposition leader is generally traced from this point.
John Ballance, leader of the Liberals (and later
premier) is usually considered the first leader of the Opposition in the modern sense. For the first time, an Opposition party came forward as an alternative government. During the 1910s and 1920s, the role of Official Opposition alternated between the Liberal and Reform parties. However, the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s, together with a gradual weakening in support for the Liberals, led to a three-party situation by the mid-1920s, with the Labour and Liberal parties having a similar number of seats. After the
1925 election there was no official leader of the Opposition until
Rex Mason of Labour won the seat of
Eden in the
by-election held on 15 April 1926. Labour superseded the Liberals as the Official Opposition, and their leader
Harry Holland became the leader of the Opposition. The
1928 general election put the
United Party (a remnant of the Liberals) in government for the last time. Reform then became the Opposition, however in 1931 Reform entered into
coalition with the Liberals, and Labour then became the Official Opposition, despite being the third party. The unity of the coalition, culminating in the formation of the
National Party in 1936, created a stable two-party system, with National and Labour alternating between Government and Opposition for much of the remainder of the century.
Modern office The office was first officially recognised by an
Act of Parliament in 1933, when a special allowance was conferred on the holder. ==List of leaders of the Opposition==