The
1935 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's
25th termThe 25th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 25 March 1936, following the 1935 election. It was dissolved on 16 September 1938 in preparation for the 1938 election....
. It resulted in the
Labour PartyThe New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
's first electoral victory, with
Michael Joseph SavageMichael Joseph Savage was the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand.- Early life :Born in Tatong, Victoria, Australia, Savage first became involved in politics while working in that state. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1907. There he worked in a variety of jobs, as a miner, flax-cutter and...
becoming the first Labour
Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...
. The governing coalition, consisting of the
United PartyThe United Party of New Zealand, a party formed out of the remnants of the Liberal Party, formed a government between 1928 and 1935, and in 1936 merged with the Reform Party to establish the National Party...
and the
Reform PartyThe Reform Party, formally the New Zealand Political Reform League, was New Zealand's second major political party, having been founded as a conservative response to the original Liberal Party...
, suffered a major defeat, attributed by many to their handling of the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. The year after the election, United and Reform took their coalition further, merging to form the modern
National PartyThe New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...
.
Background
Since 1931, New Zealand had been governed by a coalition of the
United PartyThe United Party of New Zealand, a party formed out of the remnants of the Liberal Party, formed a government between 1928 and 1935, and in 1936 merged with the Reform Party to establish the National Party...
and the
Reform PartyThe Reform Party, formally the New Zealand Political Reform League, was New Zealand's second major political party, having been founded as a conservative response to the original Liberal Party...
. United and Reform had traditionally been enemies – United was a revival of the old
Liberal PartyThe New Zealand Liberal Party is generally regarded as having been the first real political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. Out of office, the Liberals gradually found themselves pressed between the conservative Reform Party and the growing Labour Party...
, a progressive party with a strong urban base, while Reform was a conservative party with a strong rural base. When the
1928 electionsThe New Zealand general election of 1928 was held on Tuesday, 13 November in the Māori electorates, and on Wednesday, 14 November in the general electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 23rd session of the New Zealand Parliament...
left United and Reform with an equal number of seats, United managed to obtain support from the growing
Labour PartyThe New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
, but in 1931, the worsening depression prompted a dispute over economic policy, and Labour withdrew its backing. Reform then agreed to go into coalition with United, fearing that an election would lead to significant gains for the "
socialisticSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
" Labour. The coalition held on to power in the
1931 electionsThe 1931 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 24th term. It resulted in the newly formed coalition between the United Party and the Reform Party remaining in office as the Liberal-Reform Government, although the opposition Labour...
, but the ongoing economic troubles made the government deeply unpopular, and by the time of the 1935 elections, Labour's support was soaring.
On Sunday 24 November, shortly before the election, an address by
Colin ScrimgeourRev. Colin Graham Scrimgeour, known as Uncle Scrim or Scrim was a New Zealand Methodist Minister and Broadcaster....
("Uncle Scrim") on the
Friendly Road radio station which was expected to urge listeners to vote Labour was jammed by the
Post OfficeThe New Zealand Post Office was a New Zealand government department.As a Government Department, the New Zealand Post Office or N.Z.P.O., previously the Post and Telegraph Department or P & T, had as the political head the Postmaster General who was a member of Cabinet, and, when it was a separate...
The election
The date for the main 1935 elections was 27 November, a Wednesday. Elections to the four Maori electorates were held the day before. 919,798 people were registered to vote, and there was a
turnoutVoter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
of 90.8%. This turnout was considerably higher than for the turnout in the previous election, but still about average for the time period. The number of electorates being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.
Results
The 1935 election saw a massive win for the opposition
Labour PartyThe New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
, which won fifty-three seats, and formed the
First Labour GovernmentThe First Labour Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 1935 to 1949. It set the tone of New Zealand's economic and welfare policies until the 1980s, establishing a welfare state, a system of Keynesian economic management, and high levels of state intervention...
. The governing coalition won only nineteen. This difference was not so great in the popular vote, however, with Labour winning 46.1% to the coalition's 32.9%. Apart from Labour and the coalition, the only two groups to win places in Parliament were the
Country PartyThe Country Party of New Zealand was a political party which based itself around rural voters. It was represented in Parliament from 1928 to 1938. Its policies were a mixture of rural advocacy and social credit theory....
and the
RatanaThe Rātana movement is a Māori religion and pan-tribal political movement founded by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana in early 20th century New Zealand...
movement, both of which gained two seats.
Four independents were elected,
Harry AtmoreHarry Atmore was a New Zealand Independent Member of Parliament for Nelson in the South Island.Harry Atmore held the Nelson seat as an Independent for a total of thirty years from 1911 to 1914 and then from 1919 to his death in 1946...
,
David McDougallDavid McDougall was a United Party and an Independent Member of Parliament for Mataura, in the South Island of New Zealand.-Member of Parliament:...
,
Charles WilkinsonCharles Anderson Wilkinson CBE was a New Zealand Reform Party, then Independent Member of Parliament for Egmont, in the North Island.-Member of Parliament:...
and
Robert WrightRobert Alexander Wright was the Mayor of Wellington from 1921 to 1925, and a New Zealand politician of the Reform Party.He represented the Wellington South electorate in Parliament from 1908 to 1911 when he was defeated, then the Wellington Suburbs and Country electorate from 1914 to 1919 and the...
. The independents were tactically supported by one of the major parties who did not stand a candidate against them, and they generally voted with that party; Wilkinson and Wright supported National while Atmore and McDougall supported Labour. And Labour did not stand candidates against the two Country Party members.
Many commentators blamed the coalition's failure to win seats on
vote splittingVote splitting is an electoral effect in which the distribution of votes among multiple similar candidates reduces the chance of winning for any of the similar candidates, and increases the chance of winning for a dissimilar candidate....
by the
Democrat PartyThe New Zealand Democrat Party was a political party in New Zealand, founded in 1934 with the purpose of opposing "socialist" legislation by the government....
, an "anti-socialist" group founded by a former organizer for the coalition,
Albert DavyAlbert Ernest Davy was a New Zealand political organiser and campaign manager; and at the height of his career, was regarded by some as the best in the country...
. The Democrats won 7.8% of the vote, but no seats. Among their candidates were future
NationalThe New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...
MP's
Frederick DoidgeSir Frederick Widdowson Doidge, GCMG, was a journalist in New Zealand and England, then a National Party member in the New Zealand House of Representatives....
and
Matthew OramSir Matthew Henry Oram MBE was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He was the 13th Speaker of the House of Representatives, from 1950 to 1957....
.
Results and the 25th Parliament
For a list of Members of Parliament elected in 1935, see
25th New Zealand ParliamentThe 25th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 25 March 1936, following the 1935 election. It was dissolved on 16 September 1938 in preparation for the 1938 election....
.
|
Party |
Leader |
Percentage |
Seats won |
change |
|
Labour The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
|
Michael Joseph SavageMichael Joseph Savage was the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand.- Early life :Born in Tatong, Victoria, Australia, Savage first became involved in politics while working in that state. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1907. There he worked in a variety of jobs, as a miner, flax-cutter and...
|
46.1% |
53 |
+29 |
|
United The United Party of New Zealand, a party formed out of the remnants of the Liberal Party, formed a government between 1928 and 1935, and in 1936 merged with the Reform Party to establish the National Party...
-ReformThe Reform Party, formally the New Zealand Political Reform League, was New Zealand's second major political party, having been founded as a conservative response to the original Liberal Party...
coalition |
George William Forbes George William Forbes served as the 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1930 to 1935. Few expected him to become Prime Minister when he did, and some believed him unsuitable, but he nevertheless remained in that office for five years...
|
32.9% |
19 |
−29 |
|
Democrats The New Zealand Democrat Party was a political party in New Zealand, founded in 1934 with the purpose of opposing "socialist" legislation by the government....
|
Albert Davy Albert Ernest Davy was a New Zealand political organiser and campaign manager; and at the height of his career, was regarded by some as the best in the country...
|
7.8% |
0 |
new party |
|
Country Party The Country Party of New Zealand was a political party which based itself around rural voters. It was represented in Parliament from 1928 to 1938. Its policies were a mixture of rural advocacy and social credit theory....
|
Harold Rushworth Harold Montague Rushworth was a New Zealand politician of the Country Party.-Early life:Rushworth was born in Croydon, England and was educated at Rugby School and Jesus College, Oxford, graduating with a degree in law. He became a civil engineer and surveyor and worked for the London County...
|
2.5% |
2 |
+1 |
|
RatanaThe Rātana movement is a Māori religion and pan-tribal political movement founded by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana in early 20th century New Zealand...
|
Eruera Tirikatene Sir Eruera Tihema Te Aika Tirikatene, KCMG was a New Zealand Māori politician of the Ngai Tahu tribe. Known in early life as Edward James Te Aika Tregerthen, he was the first Ratana Member of Parliament and was elected in a by-election for Southern Maori in June 1932 after the death of Tuiti...
|
1.0% |
2 |
new party |
|
Independents In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
(including Harry AtmoreHarry Atmore was a New Zealand Independent Member of Parliament for Nelson in the South Island.Harry Atmore held the Nelson seat as an Independent for a total of thirty years from 1911 to 1914 and then from 1919 to his death in 1946...
) |
9.7% |
4 |
−1 |
|
Labour win from CoalitionThe New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...
|
100% |
80 |
|