New Zealand general election, 1931

New Zealand general election, 1931

1 (Māori) & 2 December (general) 1931

All 80 seats in the House of Representatives of New Zealand 41 seats were needed for a majority Turnout 714,511 (83.3%)   First party Second party   Leader Gordon Coates Harry Holland Party Reform Labour Alliance United/Reform Leader since 1925 1919 (party formation) Leader's seat Kaipara Buller Last election 27 seats, 34.8% 19 seats, 26.2% Seats won 28 24 Seat change 0 5 Popular vote 190,170 244,881 Percentage 26.6% 34.3% Swing 9.3% 8.1%   Third party Fourth party   Leader George Forbes Harold Rushworth Party United Country Party Alliance United/Reform Leader since 1930 1928 Leader's seat Hurunui Bay of Islands Last election 27 seats, 29.8% 1 seat, 1.6% Seats won 19 1 Seat change 8 0 Popular vote 120,801 16,710 Percentage 16.9% 2.3% Swing 13.3% 0.7%

Prime Minister before election George Forbes United Prime Minister-Designate George Forbes United/Reform

The 1931 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the Parliament of New Zealand's 24th term. It resulted in the newly formed coalition between the United Party and the Reform Party remaining in office as the United/Reform Coalition Government, although the opposition Labour Party made some minor gains.

Background

In the 1928 election, the Reform Party won 28 seats to the United Party's 27 seats. Shortly after the election the Reform Party lost a vote of no-confidence and the United Party managed to form a government, the United Government, with the support of the Labour Party, with governing Reform Party going into the opposition. In 1931, however, the agreement between United and Labour collapsed due to differing opinions on how to counter the Great Depression. The Reform Party, fearing that the Depression would give Labour a substantial boost, reluctantly agreed to form a coalition with United to avert elections. By forming a coalition, United and Reform were able to blunt Labour's advantage, ending the possibility of the anti-Labour vote being split.

The election

The date for the main 1931 elections was 2 December, a Wednesday. Elections to the four Māori electorates were held the day before. 874,787 people were registered to vote, and there was a turnout of 83.3%. This turnout was below average for the time period.

The number of seats was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.^[1] However in four electorates (Bay of Plenty, Oroua, Pahiatua, Waitomo) there was only one candidate.^[2][3]

Results

Crowd on intersection of Willis and Mercer Streets, Wellington, outside the offices of The Evening Post, awaiting the results of the 1931 general election

The 1931 election saw the recently formed governing coalition retain office as the United/Reform Coalition, winning fifty-one seats, including four independents. This was a drop of four seats from what the two parties had won in the previous elections, but was still considerably better than many had expected given the economic situation. The Labour Party won twenty-four seats, a gain of five. In the popular vote (including pro-coalition independents), the coalition won 54.0% of the vote, down from the 66.1% that the two parties had won previously. Labour won 34.3%. The only other party to gain a place in Parliament was the Country Party, which won a single seat. Four other independents were elected. Four candidates were elected unopposed: Walter Broadfoot in Waitomo, John Cobbe in Oroua, Alfred Ransom in Pahiatua, and Kenneth Williams in Bay of Plenty.^[4]

Result of the 24th election to the House of Representatives of New Zealand

Party totals

Votes summary

The following table shows the detailed results: Key

  Country Party     Independent     Labour     Reform     United     Independent Liberal     Ratana  

Table footnotes:

• Four of the eight independent MPs (Connolly, Hargest, McSkimming, and Polson) were aligned with the United-Reform coalition, and are not classified as independents by some sources.

Notes

References

• Bassett, Michael (1982). Three Party Politics in New Zealand 1911-1931. Auckland: Historical Publications. ISBN 0-86870-006-1. 
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. 

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