Peters, Winston (1945-…), is a New Zealand politician. He leads the centrist New Zealand First Party, which he helped found.
Peters was born on April 11, 1945, in Whangarei, on the North Island of New Zealand. He is of Māori descent. He studied at the University of Auckland. He was a teacher and a barrister (lawyer who argues cases in higher courts) before starting his political career. Peters was a member of Parliament for the National Party from 1978 to 1981 and from 1984 to 1991. He was removed from office as minister of Māori affairs in 1991 for criticizing key elements of government policy. He was expelled from the National Party a year later and cofounded the New Zealand First Party in 1993.
After the general election of 1996, New Zealand First joined with the National Party in a government coalition. Peters became deputy prime minister and treasurer. In 1998, the coalition collapsed, and Peters was dismissed from these positions. From 2005 to 2008, New Zealand First entered a coalition with the Labour Party. During this period, Peters served as minister of foreign affairs, minister for racing, and associate minister of senior citizens. Peters lost his parliamentary seat in the 2008 general election. He reentered Parliament following the 2011 general election.
From 2017 to 2020, New Zealand First was part of a coalition government with the Labour Party and the Green Party. During this period, under Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of the Labour Party, Peters served as deputy prime minister, minister of foreign affairs, and minister of racing. Later, he also served as minister of state-owned enterprises and minister of disarmament and arms control. In 2019, he became acting prime minister for six weeks during Ardern’s maternity leave. In parliamentary elections in 2020, New Zealand First lost all its seats in Parliament. Peters lost his positions in government, but he remained party leader.
Following the 2023 general election, Peters returned to Parliament. He then helped form a coalition government with the National Party and ACT New Zealand. He was appointed deputy prime minister, minister of foreign affairs, and minister of racing under Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of the National Party.
