New Zealand general election, 1922

1922 general election

6 (Māori) & 7 December (general) 1922

All 80 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives 41 seats needed for a majority Turnout 87.7%   First party Second party Third party   Leader William Massey Thomas Wilford Harry Holland Party Reform Liberal Labour Leader since 1909 1920 1919 Leader's seat Franklin Hutt Buller Last election 43 seats, 35.7% 17 seats, 28.7% 8 seats, 24.2% Seats won 37 22 17 Seat change 6 5 9 Popular vote 249,735 166,708 150,448 Percentage 39.4% 26.3% 23.7% Swing 3.7% 2.4% 0.5%

Prime Minister before election William Massey Reform Prime Minister-designate William Massey Reform

The New Zealand general election of 1922 was held on Monday, 6 December in the Māori electorates, and on Tuesday, 7 December in the general electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 21st session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 700,111 (87.7%) voters turned out to vote.^[1] In one seat (Bay of Plenty) there was only one candidate.^[2][3]

1922 was the year residents of the Chatham Islands were enfranchised for the first time (included in Lyttelton and Western Māori electorates).

Result

Labour Party candidates in the 1922 election

William Massey formed a government, but with the loss in support for the Reform Party he had to negotiate for support with Independents, and with two Liberal Party members.^[4]

Liberal was in decline and disorganised. Just before the 1925 election (held on 4 November), two Liberal MPs from Christchurch who had supported Massey (along with Independents Harry Atmore and Allen Bell) were appointed to the Legislative Council. They were Leonard Isitt and George Witty who were both appointed to the Legislative Council by Gordon Coates on 28 October 1925. Both were Liberals and their retirement removed "a source of some bitterness from the Party’s ranks (Coates rewarded them with seats in the Legislative Council the day after the election)".^[5] Gordon Coates was Reform, and both of their seats went to Reform candidates in 1925.

Party Totals

Party totals

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won
	Reform Party	76	249,735	39.35	37
	Liberal Party	56	166,708	26.26	22
	Labour Party	41	150,448	23.70	17
	Others	39	67,837	10.69	4
Total		212	634,728		80

*Note: For numbers of candidates see Wilson (1985) p295; for numbers of votes and percentage see Wilson (1985) p289. Electorate results given below include 38 Reform and 21 Liberal members. The figures given in the table agree with Mackie and Rose, as well as the article on New Zealand elections.

Votes summary

Popular Vote
Reform			39.35%
Liberal			26.26%
Labour			23.70%
Others			10.69%

Parliament seats
Reform			46.25%
Liberal			27.50%
Labour			21.25%
Others			5.00%

Electorate results

The results of the 1922 election were as follows:

Key

  Liberal     Reform     Labour     Independent Liberal     Independent  

Electorate results for the New Zealand general election, 1922^[6][7][8]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Ashburton		William Nosworthy			1,482[9]		Henry Manwell Jones
Avon		Dan Sullivan			2,036		George Warren Russell
Awarua		John Hamilton		Philip De La Perrelle	51[10]		John Hamilton
Auckland Central		Bill Parry			1,003		Albert Glover
Auckland East		Clutha Mackenzie		John A. Lee	751		Clutha Mackenzie
Auckland West		Michael Joseph Savage			1,349		J Farrell
Bay of Islands		Vernon Reed		Allen Bell	188		Vernon Reed
Bay of Plenty		Kenneth Williams			(uncontested)
Buller		Harry Holland			1,541[9]		John Menzies
Chalmers		James McColl Dickson			679		Joseph Stephens[11]
Christchurch East		Henry Thacker		Tim Armstrong	1,094		Henry Thacker
Christchurch North		Leonard Isitt			1,950		John Archer
Christchurch South		Ted Howard			3,140		H C Lane
Clutha		Alexander Malcolm		John Edie	120		Alexander Malcolm
Dunedin Central		Charles Statham			723		John Gilchrist
Dunedin North		James Wright Munro			55		J J Clark
Dunedin West		Thomas Sidey			1,281		John McManus
Dunedin South		William Downie Stewart			1,727		C M Moss
Eden		James Parr			675		Rex Mason
Egmont		Oswald Hawken			372		D L A Astbury
Ellesmere		Heaton Rhodes			732		J C Free
Franklin		William Massey			2,750		J Rea
Grey Lynn		Fred Bartram			1,407		W J Holdsworth
Gisborne		Douglas Lysnar			500[9]		George Wildish[12]
Hamilton	(new electorate)			Alexander Young	2,043		Arthur Shapton Richards
Hawke's Bay		Hugh Campbell		Gilbert McKay	317		Andrew Hamilton Russell[13]
Hurunui		George Forbes			1,198		S Andrew
Hutt		Thomas Wilford			802[9]		David Pritchard
Invercargill		Josiah Hanan			993		J Armstead
Kaipara		Gordon Coates			2,464		R E Hornblow
Kaiapoi		David Jones		David Buddo	65[14]		David Jones
Lyttelton		James McCombs			614		R MacCartney
Manawatu		Edward Newman		Joseph Linklater	1,505		F D Whibley
Manukau		Frederic Lang		William Joseph Jordan	209		Frederic Lang
Marsden		Francis Mander		Alfred Murdoch	136		William Jones
Masterton		George Sykes			556[9]		A. C. Holmes
Mataura		George Anderson			1,041		David McDougall
Motueka		Richard Hudson			538		R Patterson
Napier		Vigor Brown		Lewis McIlvride	763		John Mason
Oamaru		Ernest Lee		John MacPherson	14		Ernest Lee
Ohinemuri		Hugh Poland			939		Stephen Shepherd Allen
Oroua		David Guthrie			43		John Cobbe
Nelson		Harry Atmore			2,164[9]		A. Gilbert
Otaki		William Hughes Field			58[9]		G. H. M. McClure
Pahiatua		Archibald McNicol		Alfred Ransom	59		Archibald McNicol
Palmerston		Jimmy Nash			1,067		J Hodgens
Parnell		James Samuel Dickson			2,324		S M Wren
Patea		Edwin Dixon		James Randall Corrigan	151		Edwin Dixon
Raglan		Richard Bollard			776		S C G Lye
Rangitikei		William Spiers Glenn			1,007		F P Brady
Riccarton		George Witty			235		Herbert Kyle
Roskill		Vivian Potter			2,007		Alfred Hall-Skelton[15]
Rotorua		Frank Hockly			404		Cecil Clinkard
Stratford		Robert Masters			363		John Hine
Taranaki		Sydney George Smith			134		Charles Bellringer
Tauranga		William Herries			1,440[16]		Laurence Johnstone
Temuka		Thomas Burnett			407		Thomas Herbert Langford
Thames		Thomas William Rhodes			790		W A Allan
Timaru		James Craigie		Frank Rolleston	288[9]		Percy Vinnell
Waikato		Alexander Young		Frederick Lye	44		J T Johnson
Waimarino		Robert William Smith		Frank Langstone	887		Robert William Smith
Waipawa		George Hunter			1,076		John Joshua Langridge
Wairarapa		Alexander Donald McLeod			698		J W Card
Waitemata		Alexander Harris			1,271		Frank Henry Burbush[15]
Wairau		Richard McCallum		William Girling	186		Richard McCallum
Waitaki		John Bitchener					William Paul
Waitomo		William Thomas Jennings		John Rolleston	25		William Thomas Jennings
Wakatipu		James Horn			1,637		J Ritchie
Wallace		Adam Hamilton		John Charles Thomson	205		Adam Hamilton
Wanganui		Bill Veitch			1,072		John Coull
Wellington Central		Peter Fraser			4,202		W H Bennett
Wellington North		John Luke			375		Harry Combs
Wellington East		Alfred Newman		Alec Monteith	473		Thomas Forsyth
Wellington South		George Mitchell		Robert McKeen	422		George Mitchell
Wellington Suburbs		Robert Wright			291		Alexander Croskery
Westland		Tom Seddon		James O'Brien	487		Tom Seddon
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Apirana Ngata			1,501		Taranaki Kanara te Uamairangi
Northern Maori		Taurekareka Henare			1,441		Nau Parone Kawiti
Southern Maori		Henare Uru			87		Peter MacDonald
Western Maori		Maui Pomare			798		Ngarangi Katitia

Summary of changes

A boundary redistribution resulted in the abolition of one seat:

• Bruce, held by John Edie

At the same time, one new seat was created:

• Hamilton

Notes

1. "General elections 1853-2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
2. Bassett 1982, p. 666.
3. Wilson 1985, p. 286.
4. Bassett 1982, p. 32.
5. Bassett 1982, p. 35.
6. The New Zealand Official Year-Book. Government Printer. 1924. Retrieved 24 November 2013 Note that this source does not give election results, but shows the composition of the House in September 1923
7. McRobie 1989, pp. 83f.
8. Hislop 1923, pp. 1–6.
9. "Official Counts". The Evening Post CIV (144). 15 December 1922. p. 8. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
10. "Awarua". Hawera & Normanby Star XLII. 14 December 1922. p. 7. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
11. "Labour's Candidates". Maoriland Worker 12 (299). 22 November 1922. p. 12. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
12. "Women Take Part". The Evening Post CXX (107). 1 November 1935. p. 14. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
13. Pugsley, Chris. "Russell, Andrew Hamilton". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
14. "The Official Count". Auckland Star LIII (295). 13 December 1922. p. 5. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
15. "Electoral". Auckland Star LIII (296). 14 December 1922. p. 16. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
16. "The Final Counts". The New Zealand Herald LIX (18276). 18 December 1922. p. 6. Retrieved 3 March 2014.

References

• Bassett, Michael (1982). Three Party Politics in New Zealand 1911–1931. Auckland: Historical Publications. ISBN 0-86870-006-1.
• Chapman, Robert M. (1948). The Significance of the 1928 General Election: A Study in Certain Trends in New Zealand Politics During the Nineteen-Twenties (Thesis). Massey University.
• Chapman, Robert M. (1969). The Political Scene 1919–1931. Heinemann.
• Hislop, J. (1923). The General Election, 1922. Government Printer. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
• Mackie, Thomas T.; Rose, Richard (1991). The International Almanac of Electoral History (3rd ed.). Macmillan.
• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.