Green Party MP Chloe Swarbrick's 'Hey Boomer' quip sparked a debate about the generations in Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Green Party MP Chloe Swarbrick's 'Hey Boomer' quip sparked a debate about the generations in Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The current generational "war" is between the Baby Boomers and Millennials, but it is Generation X which rules the roost in Parliament.
The Herald broke down Parliament into generations*, and found 66 of the 120 MPs were Gen X (55 per cent), while a mere 31 per cent were Boomersand 13 per cent Millennials.
There is only one MP in the generation above the Boomers – the so-called Silent Generation. That is NZ First leader Winston Peters, who at 74 years old, is in the youngest year group of the Silent Generation, and does not exactly live up to his generation's nickname.
Parliament's only Silent Generation MP Winston Peters at a SuperGold Card event with his Gen X colleague Tracey Martin. Photo / Will Trafford
The look at the generations was prompted by the "OK Boomer" retort by Parliament's youngest MP, Chloe Swarbrick, to an interjection by National MP Todd Muller – a 50-year-old Generation Xer.
National MP Todd Muller was the target of Chloe Swarbrick's "OK Boomer" quip - but he is Gen X. Photo / George Novak
The leaders of Labour (PM Jacinda Ardern), National (Simon Bridges) and the Green Party (James Shaw and Marama Davidson) are also all Gen X.
The only party leader who is a Millennial is Act's David Seymour.
Labour is the least generationally diverse – while it is home to the youngest Prime Minister since 1856, it only has three Millennials in its caucus of 46.
Two thirds of its ranks are Gen X and just three of its 46 MPs are Millennials (6.5 per cent). About one quarter are Boomers.
Gen X (just) PM Jacinda Ardern with Boomer MP Damien O'Connor and Slient Generation Winston Peters. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Gen X members include Ardern, who is in the youngest year group of the generation at 39 years old.
Almost half of National's 55 MPs are Gen X, while it has seven Millennials (13 per cent) and 21 Boomers (38 per cent).
However, Labour's caucus overall is younger than National's – the average age in Labour is 49.3 compared to National's 51.2 years.
Gen X makes up half of the Green Party caucus but it has highest proportion of Millennials - three of its eight MPs. Its solitary Boomer is Eugenie Sage.
NZ First has just one Millennial (Darroch Ball) and is otherwise evenly split between Gen X and the older generations – four Gen X MPs, three Boomers and Peters.
NZ First's only Millennial Darroch Ball. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Other than the two one-man bands (Act's David Seymour (36) and Independent MP Jami-Lee Ross (33), the Green Party has the youngest caucus – the average age of its eight MPs is 42.75.
The ages of its MPs range from Chloe Swarbrick (25) to Eugenie Sage (61).
NZ First is the oldest party. The average age of its nine MPs is 54.
The average age of Parliament overall is 49.8 years.
It was last calculated in 2017 after the election, when it was 49. The MPs were two years younger then, but several have left and been replaced by younger versions.
MILLENNIALS
GEN_X
BOOMERS
SILENT
Average age of political parties:
Green Party: Average age 42.8 years 50 per cent Gen X 35.5 per cent Millennial 12.5 per cent Boomer
Labour Party: Average age 49.3 years 67 per cent Gen X 6.5 per cent Millennial 26 per cent Boomer
National Party: Average age 51.2 years 49 per cent Gen X 13 per cent Millennial 38 per cent Boomer
NZ First: Average age 54 years 44 per cent Gen X 11 per cent Millennial 33 per cent Boomer 11 per cent Silent Generation
