Rainbow Labour is part of the New Zealand Labour Party. It started as a branch in Chris Carter's Auckland Waipareira electorate in 1997, just after Chris Carter had been narrowly defeated in the election the previous year. At about the same time, Tim Barnett, newly elected to Parliament as an openly gay man, started a Rainbow branch in Christchurch. During the next few years the branches expanded in size, with the Auckland branch becoming one of the largest in the Labour Party. This led to the formation of a Rainbow "Sector Council" within the Labour Party, which gave the branches a nationwide focus and co-ordinating body. In 2004, at a vote at the Party's Annual Conference, Rainbow Labour was invited to nominate candidates for a representative position on the Party's controlling body, the