Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand leader of a junior party. This occurred with Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First, and Jim Anderton, leader of the Alliance. The post of deputy prime minister was formally established in 1954. Eighteen individuals have held the position (two of them doing so twice). Of those people, only Holyoake, Marshall, Watt, Muldoon, Palmer, Clark and English have eventually served as Prime Minister. The duties of the deputy prime minister are to act on behalf of the prime minister in his or her absence overseas or on leave. The deputy prime minister has always been a member of the Cabinet,
Helen Clark in 1974 in Auckland but was not elected to any position. Following one unsuccessful attempt, she was elected to Parliament in as the member for Mount Albert, an electorate she represented until 2009. Clark held numerous Cabinet positions in the Fourth Labour Government, including Minister of Housing, Minister of Health and Minister of Conservation. She was Deputy Prime Minister from 1989 to 1990 under Prime Ministers Geoffrey Palmer and Mike Moore. After Labour's narrow defeat in the , Clark challenged Moore for leadership of the party and won, becoming the Leader of the Opposition. Following the , Labour formed a