Much of the coverage of Howard's defeat in Australia has focussed on the fact that he has become the first Prime Minister since 1929 to lose his seat. Which immediately raises the question: has it ever happened in New Zealand? Has a serving PM ever been de-elected?
Apparently not. None of our recent Prime Ministers were (Marshall, Rowling, Muldoon, Moore and Shipley all survived in their constituencies, but were later rolled as party leader). And looking back, it seems that in the age of party politics, every defeated party leader has survived. We've had Prime Minister's resign, we've had them die in office (Ballance, Seddon, Massey and Savage), but none have ever been de-elected in this way. Which I guess just tells you that our Prime Ministers are better at finding safe seats (and keeping them safe) than Australian ones.
