New Zealand general election, 1931

New Zealand general election, 1931

1 (Māori) & 2 December (general) 1931

All 80 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives 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 Coalition Leader since 1925 1919 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 Coalition 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

The 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 United-Reform coalition Government, although the opposition Labour Party made some minor gains despite tallying more votes than any other single party.

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

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

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

Party totals

Election results
Party			Leader	Votes	Percentage		Seats	change
		Reform	Gordon Coates	190,170	26.60	54.03	28	±0
		United	George Forbes	120,801	16.90		19	-8
		Independents (in support of Coalition)		75,069	10.53		4	+3
		Labour	Harry Holland	244,867	34.27		24	+5
		Country Party	Harold Rushworth	16,710	2.34		1	±0
		Independents (including Harry Atmore)		66,894	9.36		4	-1
Total				714,511	100%		80

Votes summary

Popular Vote
All Coalition Parties			54.03%
Labour			34.27%
Coalition Reform			26.60%
Coalition United			16.90%
Country Party			2.34%
Coalition Independent			10.53%
Independent			9.36%

Parliament seats
All Coalition Parties			63.75%
Coalition Reform			35.00%
Labour			30.00%
Coalition United			23.75%
Country Party			1.25%
Coalition Independent			5.00%
Independent			5.00%

The following table shows the detailed results: Key

  Country Party     Independent     Labour     Reform     United     Independent Liberal     Ratana  

Electorate results for the New Zealand general election, 1931^[5][6]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Auckland Central		Bill Parry			3,793[7]		Harold Penfound Congdon
Auckland East		James Donald		Frederick Schramm	2,256[8]		Harold Percy Burton
Auckland Suburbs		Rex Mason			1,223		Richard Herbert Marryatt[9]
Auckland West		Michael Joseph Savage			4,517		Hugh Ross Mackenzie[9]
Avon		Dan Sullivan			3,039		Harben Robert Young
Awarua		Philip De La Perrelle			2,148		Norman McIntyre[10]
Bay of Islands		Harold Rushworth			1,209		Allen Bell
Bay of Plenty		Kenneth Williams			(uncontested)
Buller		Harry Holland			3,631		John Menzies[11]
Central Otago		William Bodkin			2,516		Charles Todd
Chalmers		Alfred Ansell			172		Norman Hartley Campbell
Christchurch East		Tim Armstrong			3,206		George Frederick Allen
Christchurch North		Henry Holland			2,077		Elizabeth McCombs
Christchurch South		Ted Howard			2,798[12]		Charles Samuel "Charlie" McCully[13]
Clutha		Fred Waite		Peter McSkimming	1,530		Fred Waite
Dunedin Central		Charles Statham			262		Peter Neilson
Dunedin North		James Wright Munro			524		John McCrae[14][15]
Dunedin South		William Burgoyne Taverner		Fred Jones	3,644		William Burgoyne Taverner
Dunedin West		William Downie Stewart, Jr.			924		John Gilchrist
Eden		Arthur Stallworthy			1,270[12]		Bill Anderton
Egmont		Charles Wilkinson			1,308		F. Gawith
Franklin		Jack Massey			2,457		Harry Oswald Mellsop[16]
Gisborne		Douglas Lysnar		David William Coleman	317[12]		Douglas Lysnar
Grey Lynn		John Fletcher		John A. Lee	3,242[7]		John Fletcher
Hamilton		Alexander Young			3,072[17]		Hubert Beebe
Hauraki		Walter William Massey			2,750[7]		Charles Robert Petrie
Hawke's Bay		Hugh Campbell			2,259		Edward Cullen[18]
Hurunui		George Forbes			3,953		R. J. Logan[19]
Hutt		Walter Nash			2,823		James Kerr[nb 1]
Invercargill		Vincent Ward		James Hargest	508		W. McChesney
Kaiapoi		Richard Hawke			1,414		John Archer[20]
Kaipara		Gordon Coates			2,084		Albert Edward Robinson[21]
Lyttelton		James McCombs			32		Frederick Willie Freeman[22]
Manawatu		Joseph Linklater			2,246		Clifford Hunter
Manukau		William Joseph Jordan			3,394[12]		Stanley Rickards[9]
Marsden		Alfred Murdoch			2,942		James Gillespie Barclay
Masterton		George Sykes			1,951		Peter Butler
Mataura		David McDougall			943		Thomas Golden[23]
Mid-Canterbury		David Jones		Jeremiah Connolly	136[24]		David Jones
Motueka		George Black			517		Keith Holyoake
Napier		Bill Barnard			1,456		John Butler
Nelson		Harry Atmore			100		Herbert Everett[25]
New Plymouth		Sydney George Smith			3,472		William Sheat
Oamaru		John Andrew MacPherson			1,046[12]		John Craigie Kirkness
Oroua		John Cobbe			(uncontested)
Otaki		William Hughes Field			1,321		Jim Thorn
Pahiatua		Alfred Ransom			(uncontested)
Palmerston		Jimmy Nash			1,245		Joe Hodgens
Parnell		Bill Endean			4,821[7]		John William Yarnall
Patea		Harold Dickie			3,495		W. G. Simpson
Raglan		Lee Martin		Stewart Reid	806		Lee Martin
Rangitikei		James Thomas Hogan		Alexander Stuart	15		James Thomas Hogan
Riccarton		Herbert Kyle			589		Archibald Albany McLachlan[nb 2]
Roskill		George Munns		Arthur Shapton Richards	171[7]		William John Holdsworth[26]
Rotorua		Cecil Clinkard			57		Alexander Moncur
Stratford		William Polson			1,518		J W McMillan[nb 3]
Tauranga		Charles MacMillan			658		Bill Sullivan[nb 4]
Temuka		Thomas Burnett			1,237		Thomas Herbert Langford
Thames		Albert Samuel			464		John Sommerville Montgomerie[28]
Timaru		Clyde Carr			820		Herbert N. Armstrong[29][nb 5]
Waikato		Frederick Lye			981		Solomon Netheim Ziman[nb 6]
Waimarino		Frank Langstone			591		William Henry Wackrow
Waipawa		Albert Jull[nb 7]			386		John Davies Ormond, Jr.[nb 8]
Wairarapa		Thomas McDonald		Alexander McLeod	616		Thomas McDonald
Wairau		Edward Healy			1,424		William Girling
Waitaki		John Bitchener			885		Alexander McLean Paterson[31]
Waitemata		Alexander Harris			2,378[7]		Arthur Osborne[32]
Waitomo		Walter Broadfoot			(uncontested)
Wallace		Adam Hamilton			2,842		Peter Gilfedder[33]
Wanganui		Bill Veitch			590		Bill Rogers
Wellington Central		Peter Fraser			2,471[34]		Robert Darroch
Wellington East		Bob Semple			593[34]		Thomas Forsyth
Wellington North		Charles Henry Chapman			1,061[34]		George Troup
Wellington South		Robert McKeen			2,659		Will Appleton[35]
Wellington Suburbs		Robert Alexander Wright			2,570[34]		Tom Brindle
Westland		James O'Brien			1,121		John Greenslade
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Apirana Ngata			3,211		Pita Moko
Northern Maori		Taurekareka Henare			1,188		Paraire Karaka Paikea
Southern Maori		Tuiti Makitanara			19		Eruera Tirikatene
Western Maori		Taite Te Tomo			1,436		Toko Ratana

Table footnotes:

1. For some biographical details of James Kerr refer to his father's article
2. For some biographical details of McLachlan refer to his grandfather's article
3. McMillan claimed to stand for the Reform Party, but he was not the official candidate, as the United/Reform Coalition endorsed William Polson, who ran as an Independent^[27]
4. Bill Sullivan was a member of the United Party, but Charles MacMillan was the official candidate of the United/Reform Coalition, hence Sullivan stood as an Independent
5. The Reform and United parties could not agree on an official coalition candidate for the Timaru electorate, so neither Armstrong (Reform) nor Herbert Hall (United) were official candidates, and many sources show them as Independents
6. Ziman was the father of John Ziman^[30]
7. Jull was the official candidate of the United/Reform Coalition
8. Ormond was the son of John Davies Ormond and the father of John Ormond

• 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

1. "General elections 1853–2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
2. Bassett 1982, p. 67.
3. Wilson 1985, p. 286.
4. "Nominations Close". Evening Post CXII (123). 20 November 1931. p. 11. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
5. McRobie 1989, pp. 87f.
6. Skinner 1932, pp. 1–10.
7. "Election Counts". Auckland Star LXII (291). 9 December 1931. p. 9. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
8. "Recount of Votes". Auckland Star LXII (289). 7 December 1931. p. 9. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
9. "Parliamentary Elections". Auckland Star LXII (275). 20 November 1931. p. 5. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
10. "Page 4 Advertisements Column 4". Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser LV (5636). 1 December 1931. p. 4. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
11. "Buller Electorate". The Evening Post CXII (127). 25 November 1931. p. 10. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
12. "Election Results". Auckland Star LXII (290). 8 December 1931. p. 3. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
13. "Straight Grained". New Zealand Truth (1197). 8 November 1928. p. 6. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
14. "John McCrae". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
15. "Dunedin North". Auckland Star LXII (264). 7 November 1931. p. 11. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
16. "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. LXVIII (21053). 11 December 1931. p. 22. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
17. "Electors' Choice". Auckland Star LXII (286). 3 December 1931. p. 8. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
18. "A Coalition Certainty". The Evening Post CXII (120). 17 November 1931. p. 10. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
19. "In Canterbury". Auckland Star LXII (281). 27 November 1931. p. 8. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
20. Gustafson, Barry. "Archer, John Kendrick". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
21. "Notice of Nominations received and Polling Places appointed". Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette. 25 November 1931. p. 7. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
22. "Notice of Nominations Received and Polling Places Appointed". Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser LV (5634). 24 November 1931. p. 2. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
23. "Mr McDougall Opposed". The Evening Post CXII (120). 17 November 1931. p. 10. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
24. "Public Notices". Ellesmere Guardian LII (99). 11 December 1931. p. 1. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
25. "Opposing Mr Atmore". The Evening Post CXII (110). 5 November 1931. p. 10. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
26. "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. LXVIII (21051). 9 December 1931. p. 18. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
27. "Stratford Electorate". The New Zealand Herald. LXVIII (21029). 13 November 1931. p. 11. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
28. "Reform Triumph". The Northern Advocate. 18 June 1925. p. 5. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
29. Kerr, Stephen (2003). "Good Old Clyde": Clyde Carr M.P., Timaru and the Art of Incumbency, 1928–1962 (PDF) (Thesis). University of Canterbury. p. 66. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
30. "Ziman, John Michael" (PDF). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
31. Facer, Wayne Arthur Pickard (2012). "In New Zealand: Timaru 1923–1925". William Jellie: Unitarian, Scholar and Educator (PDF) (M.Phil.). Massey University. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
32. "Parliamentary Elections". Auckland Star LXII (275). 20 November 1931. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
33. "Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Wallace". Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle. XXVII (1349). 15 December 1931. p. 2. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
34. "Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Wellington Suburbs". The Evening Post CXII (140). 10 December 1931. p. 2. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
35. "Coalition Selection". The Evening Post CXII (117). 13 November 1931. p. 8. Retrieved 17 March 2015.

References

• Bassett, Michael (1982). Three Party Politics in New Zealand 1911-1931. Auckland: Historical Publications. ISBN 0-86870-006-1.
• Skinner, W. A. G. (1932). The General Election, 1931. Government Printer. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.