Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand (Māori: Te Pirimia Tuarua o Aotearoa) is the second-most senior minister in the Government of New Zealand, although this seniority does not necessarily translate into power. The office was created as a ministerial portfolio in 1954. The officeholder usually deputises for the prime minister at official functions.

Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
Coat of Arms of New Zealand
Incumbent David Seymour since 31 May 2025
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Cabinet of New Zealand Executive Council
Reports to	Prime Minister of New Zealand
Appointer	Governor-General of New Zealand
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	13 November 1954
First holder	Sir Keith Holyoake
Salary	$354,100 (NZD)[1]
Website	www.beehive.govt.nz

The current Deputy Prime Minister is David Seymour since 2025.

List of deputy prime ministers of New Zealand

Key

  Labour   National   NZ First   Alliance

No.		Name	Portrait	Concurrent portfolio(s)	Term of office		Prime Minister
	1	Keith Holyoake		Minister of Agriculture	13 November 1954	20 September 1957		Holland
	2	Jack Marshall		Attorney-General Minister of Justice	20 September 1957	12 December 1957		Holyoake
	3	Jerry Skinner		Minister of Agriculture Minister of Lands	12 December 1957	12 December 1960		Nash
	(2)	Jack Marshall		Minister of Overseas Trade Minister of Industries and Commerce Minister of Labour Minister of Immigration	12 December 1960	9 February 1972		Holyoake
	4	Robert Muldoon		Minister of Finance Minister of Statistics	9 February 1972	8 December 1972		Marshall
	5	Hugh Watt		Minister of Labour Minister of Works	8 December 1972	1 September 1974		Kirk
	6	Bob Tizard		Minister of Finance	10 September 1974	12 December 1975		Rowling
	7	Brian Talboys		Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Overseas Trade	12 December 1975	4 March 1981		Muldoon
	8	Duncan MacIntyre		Minister of Agriculture	4 March 1981	15 March 1984
	9	Jim McLay		Attorney-General Minister of Justice	15 March 1984	26 July 1984
	10	Geoffrey Palmer		Attorney-General Minister of Justice	26 July 1984	8 August 1989		Lange
	11	Helen Clark		Minister of Labour Minister of Health	8 August 1989	2 November 1990		Palmer
								Moore
	12	Don McKinnon		Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Overseas Trade	2 November 1990	16 December 1996		Bolger
	13	Winston Peters		Treasurer	16 December 1996	14 August 1998
								Shipley
	14	Wyatt Creech		Minister of Education Minister of Health	14 August 1998	10 December 1999
	15	Jim Anderton		Minister of Economic Development Minister of Customs	10 December 1999	15 August 2002		Clark
	16	Michael Cullen		Minister of Finance Treasurer Leader of the House	15 August 2002	19 November 2008
	17	Bill English		Minister of Finance Minister for Infrastructure	19 November 2008	12 December 2016		Key
	18	Paula Bennett		Minister of State Services Minister of Police Minister of Tourism	12 December 2016	26 October 2017		English
	(13)	Winston Peters		Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister for State Owned Enterprises Minister of Racing	26 October 2017	6 November 2020		Ardern
	19	Grant Robertson		Minister of Finance Minister for Infrastructure Minister of Racing Minister for Sport and Recreation	6 November 2020	25 January 2023
	20	Carmel Sepuloni		Minister for Social Development Minister for ACC Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage	25 January 2023	27 November 2023		Hipkins
	(13)	Winston Peters		Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister for State Owned Enterprises Minister of Racing	27 November 2023	31 May 2025		Luxon

Living former deputy prime ministers

As of August 2025, there are nine living former New Zealand deputy prime ministers, as seen below. The most recent Deputy Prime Minister to die was Michael Cullen (served 2002–2008), on 19 August 2021, aged 76.^[2]

• Living former deputy prime ministers of New Zealand
• 
  Sir Jim McLay
  served 1984
  born 1945 (age 80)
• 
  Sir Geoffrey Palmer
  served 1984–1989
  born 1942 (age 83)
• 
  Helen Clark
  served 1989–1990
  born 1950 (age 75)
• 
  Sir Don McKinnon
  served 1990–1996
  born 1939 (age 86)
• 
  Sir Bill English
  served 2008–2016
  born 1961 (age 63)
• 
  Paula Bennett
  served 2016–2017
  born 1969 (age 56)
• 
  Grant Robertson
  served 2020–2023
  born 1971 (age 53)
• 
  Carmel Sepuloni
  served 2023
  born 1977 (age 47–48)