11th New Zealand Parliament

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The 11th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand.

Elections for this term were held in 4 Māori electorates and 62 European electorates on 27 November and 5 December 1890, respectively. A total of 74 MPs were elected - a reduction on the 95 MPs of the previous Parliament.

Sessions

The 11th Parliament opened on 23 January 1891, following the 1890 general election. It sat for four sessions (with two sessions in 1891), and was prorogued on 8 November 1893.^[1][2]

Session	Opened	Adjouned
first	23 January 1891	30 January 1891
second	11 June 1891	25 September 1891
third	23 June 1892	11 October 1892
fourth	22 June 1893	6 October 1893

Historical context

In December 1887, the House of Representatives voted to reduce its membership from general electorates from 91 to 70. The 1890 electoral redistribution used the same 1886 census data used for the 1887 electoral redistribution. In addition, three-member electorates were introduced in the four main centres.^[3] This resulted in a major restructuring of electorates, with 12 new electorates created. Of those, four electorates were created for the first time: Te Aroha, Halswell, Dunedin Suburbs, and Palmerston. The remaining eight electorates had previously existed and were re-created through the 1890 electoral redistribution: City of Auckland, City of Christchurch, City of Dunedin, City of Wellington, Ellesmere, Franklin, Geraldine, and Westland.

The 11th Parliament was most significant,^[4] as following the 1890 general election, it marked the beginning of party politics in New Zealand with the formation of the Liberal Government, which was to enact major welfare, labour and electoral reforms, including giving the vote to women.

Ministries

The fourth Atkinson Ministry, known as the Scarecrow Ministry, had been the government. The election had returned several "Independent" or "Labour" members as well as the Liberals. Some of Atkinson’s conservative colleagues proposed schemes that would keep him in office, but Atkinson, who had been Premier on and off for 14 years, announced that the house would be called on 23 January 1891 to decide. On 21 January Atkinson told his colleagues that he was retiring on doctor’s orders, resigned his seat and was sworn into the Legislative Council, and appointed Speaker. When William Rolleston lost the ministerial nomination for Speaker, Edwin Mitchelson announced the resignation of the government. The Governor asked John Ballance to form a government, which he did on 24 January. It was found to have a majority in the house. After a week of debate, the house went into recess until June.^[5]

Atkinson was appointed to the Council with six colleagues, on 20 or 22 January 1891. He was widely regarded as having stacked the council before leaving office. There was a 5000-signature petition against the appointments, but they were approved by the Governor, The Earl of Onslow. ^[6] The seven appointments on 20 or 22 January to the Council were Atkinson himself plus Charles Bowen, James Fulton, Charles John Johnston, John Davies Ormond, William Downie Stewart, Sr. and John Blair Whyte.

Ballance had considerable difficulty in achieving reform of the Legislative Council, with new appointments to be for seven years rather than life, and he had major disagreements with the Governor. Ballance's victory is seen as establishing an important precedent in the relationship between Governor and Prime Minister.

The Ballance Ministry was the beginning of the Liberal Government, which lasted until 1912.^[7][8] John Ballance died suddenly on 27 April 1893^[9] and whilst Ballance had favoured Robert Stout as his successor, the caucus selected Richard Seddon instead. The Seddon Ministry was in power from 1 May 1893 until 10 June 1906, when Seddon in turn died.^[7][10]

Initial composition of the 11th Parliament

74 seats were created across 66 electorates.^[11][12][13]

While the Liberal party was the only established party structure at the time, many independent conservative MPs coalesced as a semi-formal Opposition under the leadership of John Bryce. Due to the loose nature of this grouping it is difficult to determine the affiliation of some Independent MPs.

	Party	Name	Electorate	Term
	Liberal	Joyce, JohnJohn Joyce	Akaroa	Second
	Opposition	George, EdwardEdward George	Ashburton	Third
	Liberal	Meredith, RichardRichard Meredith	Ashley	First
	Liberal	Rees, WilliamWilliam Rees	City of Auckland	Second
	Liberal	Shera, JohnJohn Shera	City of Auckland	First
	Liberal	Thompson, ThomasThomas Thompson	City of Auckland	Third
	Liberal	Blake, EdwinEdwin Blake	Avon	Third
	Liberal	Ward, JosephJoseph Ward	Awarua (unopposed)	Second
	Liberal	Houston, RobertRobert Houston	Bay of Islands	First
		Thomson, JamesJames Thomson	Bruce	Sixth
		O'Conor, EugeneEugene O'Conor	Buller (unopposed)	Fourth
	Liberal	Perceval, WestbyWestby Perceval	City of Christchurch	Second
	Liberal	Reeves, WilliamWilliam Reeves	City of Christchurch	Second
	Independent	Taylor, RichardRichard Taylor	City of Christchurch	Third
	Liberal	Mackenzie, ThomasThomas Mackenzie	Clutha (unopposed)	Second
	Liberal	Fish, HenryHenry Fish	City of Dunedin	Third
	Liberal	Hutchison, WilliamWilliam Hutchison	City of Dunedin	Third
	Liberal-Labour	Pinkerton, DavidDavid Pinkerton	City of Dunedin	First
	Liberal	Dawson, WilliamWilliam Dawson	Dunedin Suburbs	First
	Liberal	Kelly, WilliamWilliam Kelly	East Coast	Third
	Opposition	Mitchelson, EdwinEdwin Mitchelson	Eden	Fourth
	Opposition	Atkinson, HarryHarry Atkinson	Egmont	Ninth
	Opposition	Hall, JohnJohn Hall	Ellesmere	Seventh
	Independent	Hamlin, EbenezerEbenezer Hamlin	Franklin	Sixth
		Rhodes, ArthurArthur Rhodes	Geraldine	Second
	Liberal	Guinness, ArthurArthur Guinness	Grey	Third
		Rolleston, WilliamWilliam Rolleston	Halswell	Seventh
		Russell, WilliamWilliam Russell	Hawke's Bay	Fifth
	Liberal-Labour	Tanner, WilliamWilliam Tanner	Heathcote	First
		Newman, AlfredAlfred Newman	Hutt	Third
	Liberal	Reeves, RichardRichard Reeves	Inangahua	Third
	Liberal-Labour	Kelly, JamesJames Kelly	Invercargill	First
		Moore, RichardRichard Moore	Kaiapoi	First
	Opposition	Buckland, WilliamWilliam Buckland	Manukau	Second
	Opposition	Thompson, RobertRobert Thompson	Marsden	Second
	Liberal	Hogg, AlexanderAlexander Hogg	Masterton	First
		Richardson, GeorgeGeorge Richardson	Mataura	Third
	Opposition	Mackenzie, ScobieScobie Mackenzie	Mount Ida	Third
	Opposition	Swan, GeorgeGeorge Swan	Napier	First
	Opposition	Harkness, JosephJoseph Harkness	City of Nelson	Second
	Liberal	Smith, EdwardEdward Smith	New Plymouth	First
	Liberal	Goldie, DavidDavid Goldie	Newton (unopposed)	Third
	Liberal	Duncan, ThomasThomas Duncan	Oamaru	Fourth
	Opposition	Wilson, JamesJames Wilson	Palmerston	Fourth
	Independent	Lawry, FrankFrank Lawry	Parnell	Second
	Liberal-Labour	Earnshaw, WilliamWilliam Earnshaw	Peninsula	First
		Mills, JamesJames Mills	Port Chalmers	Third
	Opposition	Macarthur, DouglasDouglas Macarthur	Rangitikei	Third
		Saunders, AlfredAlfred Saunders	Selwyn	Fifth
	Liberal	Carncross, WalterWalter Carncross	Taieri	First
		Allen, WilliamWilliam Allen	Te Aroha	First
	Liberal	Cadman, AlfredAlfred Cadman	Thames	Fourth
	Independent Liberal	Hall-Jones, WilliamWilliam Hall-Jones	Timaru	Second
	Opposition	Valentine, HughHugh Valentine	Tuapeka	Second
	Opposition	Bryce, JohnJohn Bryce	Waikato (unopposed)	Eighth
	Liberal	Steward, WilliamWilliam Steward	Waimate	Fifth
	Liberal	Mills, Charles HCharles H Mills	Waimea-Picton	First
	Liberal	Smith, WilliamWilliam Smith	Waipawa	Fourth
	Opposition	Buchanan, WalterWalter Buchanan	Wairarapa	Fourth
	Liberal-Labour	Buick, LindsayLindsay Buick	Wairau	First
	Liberal	McKenzie, JohnJohn McKenzie	Waitaki	Fourth
	Independent Liberal	Palmer, JacksonJackson Palmer	Waitemata	First
		Hutchinson, GeorgeGeorge Hutchinson	Waitotara	Second
		Fergus, ThomasThomas Fergus	Wakatipu (unopposed)	Fourth
	Liberal	Mackintosh, JamesJames Mackintosh	Wallace	First
	Liberal	Ballance, JohnJohn Ballance	Wanganui	Sixth
		Duthie, JohnJohn Duthie	City of Wellington	First
	Liberal	Fisher, GeorgeGeorge Fisher	City of Wellington	Third
	Liberal	Macdonald, KennedyKennedy Macdonald	City of Wellington	First
	Liberal	Seddon, RichardRichard Seddon	Westland	Fifth
	Independent	Carroll, JamesJames Carroll	Eastern Maori	Second
	Independent	Taiwhanga, SydneySydney Taiwhanga	Northern Maori	Second
	Liberal	Parata, TameTame Parata	Southern Maori	Third
	Independent	Taipua, HoaniHoani Taipua	Western Maori	Third

By-elections during 11th Parliament

There were a number of changes during the term of the 11th Parliament.

Electorate and by-election		Date	Incumbent		Cause	Winner
Northern Maori	1891	7 February		Sydney Taiwhanga	Death[14][15]		Eparaima Te Mutu Kapa
Egmont	1891	17 February		Harry Atkinson[16]	Appointed to Legislative Council		Felix McGuire[17]
Newton	1891	31 March		David Goldie	Resignation		George Grey
Te Aroha	1891	9 July		William Allen	Disallowed on petition		William Fraser
Waikato	1891	6 October		John Bryce	Resignation		Edward Lake
City of Christchurch	1891	9 October		Westby Perceval	Appointed Agent General		Ebenezer Sandford
City of Wellington	1892	15 January		Kennedy Macdonald	Resignation		William McLean
Bruce	1892	4 May		James Thomson	Resignation		James Allen
Rangitikei	1892	8 July		Douglas Macarthur	Death		Robert Bruce
Inangahua	1893	8 June		Richard Reeves	Bankruptcy		Robert Stout
Wanganui	1893	9 June		John Ballance	Death		Archibald Willis
Thames	1893	26 July		Alfred Cadman	Resignation		James McGowan
City of Auckland	1893	4 August		William Rees	Resignation		Alfred Cadman

Notes

1. Scholefield 1950, p. 68.
2. McRobie 1989, p. 55.
3. McRobie 1989, pp. 54ff.
4. Atkinson 2003, p. 81.
5. Bassett 1982, p. 2.
6. McIvor 1989, p. 179-180.
7. Scholefield 1950, p. 40.
8. McLintock 1966.
9. McIvor, Tim. "Ballance, John - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
10. Hamer, David. "Seddon, Richard John - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
11. "General elections 1853-2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
12. "General Elections.". Wanganui Herald XXIV (7283). 6 December 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
13. "The New House". The Evening Post. 8 December 1890. p. 2. Retrieved September 2011.
14. "Obituary". The Star (7022). 28 November 1890. p. 3. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
15. "The Maori Elections". Northern Advocate. 6 December 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
16. Scholefield 1950, p. 93.
17. Scholefield 1950, p. 122.

References

• Atkinson, Neill (2003). Adventures in Democracy: A History of the Vote in New Zealand. University of Otago Press. ISBN 978-1-877276-58-3. OCLC 469393822.
• Bassett, Michael (1982). Three Party Politics in New Zealand 1911–1931. Auckland: Historical Publications. ISBN 0-86870-006-1.
• McIvor, Timothy (1989). The Rainmaker: A biography of John Ballance. Auckland: Heinemann Reed. ISBN 0-7900-0024-5.
• McLintock, A. H. (22 April 2009) [1966]. "Liberal Party". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.
• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
• Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.