New Zealand general election, 1938

New Zealand general election, 1938

14 (Māori) & 15 October (general) 1938

All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Michael Joseph Savage Adam Hamilton Party Labour National Leader since 1933 1936 Leader's seat Auckland West Wallace Last election 53 seats, 46.1%% 19 seats, 32.9% (as United/Reform Coalition) Seats won 53 25 Seat change 0 6 Popular vote 528,290 381,081 Percentage 55.8% 40.3% Swing 9.7% 7.4%

Prime Minister before election Michael Joseph Savage Labour Elected Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage Labour

The 1938 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 26th term. It resulted in the governing Labour Party being re-elected, although the newly founded National Party gained a certain amount of ground.

Background

The Labour Party had won a resounding victory in the 1935 elections, winning fifty-three seats. Shortly after the elections, the two Ratana-aligned MPs also merged into the Labour Party, giving Labour a total of fifty-five seats. The government, a coalition of the United Party and the Reform Party, had won only nineteen seats. Shortly after their defeat, United and Reform agreed to merge into the National Party, which positioned itself as the only alternative to the "socialist" Labour Party. However, Labour remained popular with the public, and the Prime Minister, Michael Joseph Savage, was widely praised for his welfare reform. The leadership of the National Party, by contrast, was closely associated by the public with the Great Depression, and struggled to gain traction.

The election

The date for the main 1938 elections was 15 October, a Saturday. Elections to the four Maori electorates were held the day before. 995,173 people were registered to vote, and there was a turnout of 92.9%. This turnout was the highest ever recorded at that point, although it was later exceeded in the two elections after World War II and in the 1984 elections. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.^[1]

Results

The 1938 election saw a decisive win for the governing Labour Party, which won fifty-three seats. This was a drop of two from what it held prior to the election. While Labour gained the seats of Bay of Islands, Motueka (previously held by Keith Holyoake), New Plymouth and Wellington Suburbs, it lost Tauranga and the rural seats of Manawatu, Rangitikei, Waikato and Waipawa.

The National Party won twenty-five seats, an increase of six from that the United/Reform coalition had previously won. Both Labour and National increased their share of the popular vote, with Labour winning 55.8% (up from 46.1%) and National winning 40.3% (up from 32.9%). This increase was at the expense of the Democrat Party and the Country Party, which saw their votes collapse completely — the Democrats again failed to win a place in Parliament. The Country Party lost the two seats it held (Bay of Islands and Franklin) as, unlike 1935, Labour stood candidates in the seats held by the two Country Party members. Hence Harold Rushworth did not stand in the Bay of Islands seat, and Arthur Sexton came third in Franklin.

Independent candidates also lost ground, with only two being elected, Harry Atmore (Nelson) and Charles Wilkinson (Egmont). As in 1935, 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 had supported National while Atmore had supported Labour. But Robert Wright was defeated for the new electorate of Wellington West by Labour despite National not running a candidate against him.^[2]

An analysis of men and women on the rolls against the votes recorded showed that in the 1938 election 92.85% of those on the European rolls voted; men 93.43% and women 92.27%. In the 1935 election the figures were 90.75% with men 92.02% and women 89.46%. As the Māori electorates did not have electoral rolls they could not be included.^[3][4]

Party standings

Election results
Party		Votes	Percentage	Seats won	change
	Labour	528,290	55.80	53	-2*
	National	381,081	40.30	25	+9
	Country Party	1,719	0.18	0	-2
	Independents (including Harry Atmore & Charles Wilkinson)	35,303	3.72	2	-3
Total		946,393		80

*includes two Ratana MPs (Toko Ratana, Eruera Tirikatene) who joined the Labour caucus after the 1935 election

Votes summary

Popular Vote
Labour			55.80%
National			40.30%
Country Party			0.18%
Independent			3.72%

Parliament seats
Labour			66.25%
National			31.25%
Independent			2.50%

Electorate results

The following table shows the detailed results: Key

  Labour     National     Country Party     Independent     Independent Liberal  

[] Electorate results for the New Zealand general election, 1938^[5][6]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Auckland Central		Bill Parry			6,181		Clifford Reid Dodd[7]
Auckland East		Frederick Schramm			2,626		Harry Tom Merritt[8][9]
Auckland Suburbs		Rex Mason			4,862		Maxwell Stuart Walker[10]
Auckland West		Michael Joseph Savage			8,007		John William Kealy[11]
Avon		Dan Sullivan			6,179		Hiram Hunter
Awarua		James Hargest			660		J A Beck
Bay of Islands		Harold Rushworth		Charles Boswell	163		Harold Fisher Guy[12]
Bay of Plenty		Gordon Hultquist			169		Bill Sullivan
Buller		Paddy Webb			6,144		T O Maddison
Central Otago		William Bodkin			1,231		J M MacKay
Christchurch East		Tim Armstrong			7,179		K I Armour
Christchurch North		Sidney Holland			492		Robert Macfarlane
Christchurch South		Ted Howard			5,995		Gladstone Ward[13]
Clutha		James Roy			714		John Edie
Dunedin Central		Peter Neilson			3,814		W J Meade
Dunedin North		James Wright Munro			3,557		Alexander Smith Falconer[14][15][16][17]
Dunedin South		Fred Jones			4,314		Rev. Ernest Aderman
Dunedin West		Dr Gervan McMillan			2,639		Thomas Kay Stuart Sidey[18]
Eden		Bill Anderton			2,333		Donald Pool[19]
Egmont		Charles Wilkinson			1,402		T E Trask
Franklin		Arthur Sexton		Jack Massey	2,057		Ernest Piggott[12]
Gisborne		David William Coleman			3,640		K F Jones
Grey Lynn		John A. Lee			8,607		Joseph Alexander Govan[8]
Hamilton		Charles Barrell			1,860		Albert William Grant[20][12]
Hauraki		Charles Robert Petrie		John Manchester Allen	1,188		Robert Coulter
Hawkes Bay		Edward Luttrell Cullen			2,658		George Maddison[21][22]
Hurunui		George Forbes			535		H E Denton
Hutt		Walter Nash			6,814		John William Andrews[23]
Invercargill		William Denham			2,156		Fred Hall-Jones[18]
Kaiapoi		Morgan Williams			1,535		G C Warren
Kaipara		Gordon Coates			1,689		Percy MacGregor Stewart[12]
Lyttelton		Terry McCombs			2,984		I J Wilson
Manawatu		Clifford Hunter		John Cobbe	1,644		Clifford Hunter
Marlborough	(new electorate)			Edwin Meachen	1,525		Edward Healy
Marsden		James Gillespie Barclay			557		Alfred Murdoch
Masterton		John Robertson			190		J H Irving
Mataura		David McDougall		Tom Macdonald	1,515		David McDougall
Mid-Canterbury		Horace Herring		Arthur Grigg	74		Horace Herring
Motueka		Keith Holyoake		Clarence Skinner	870		Keith Holyoake
Napier		Bill Barnard			3,937		John Ormond[24]
Nelson		Harry Atmore			886		J R Kerr
New Plymouth		Sydney George Smith		Frederick Frost	869		Sydney George Smith
Oamaru		Arnold Nordmeyer			758		Michael Francis Edward Cooney[25]
Onehunga	(new electorate)			Arthur Osborne	4,314		John Park[26][27]
Otahuhu	(new electorate)			Charles Robert Petrie	2,267		Kenneth Boor Tennent[28]
Otaki		Leonard Lowry			1,367		George Alexander Monk[29]
Pahiatua		Alfred Ransom			931		G A Hansen[30]
Palmerston North		Joe Hodgens			2,118		Jimmy Nash[31]
Patea		Harold Dickie			809		Charles Joseph Duggan[32][33]
Raglan		Lee Martin			604		Andrew Sutherland[34]
Rangitikei		Ormond Wilson		Edward Gordon	311		Ormond Wilson
Remuera	(new electorate)			Bill Endean	2,861		Mary Dreaver[35]
Riccarton		Herbert Kyle			87		Thomas Herbert Langford[36]
Roskill		Arthur Shapton Richards			2,141		Arthur Sagar Bailey[10]
Rotorua		Alexander Moncur			1,648		H W Nixon[37]
Stratford		William Polson			1,101		J W McMillan
Tauranga		Charles Harris Burnett		Frederick Doidge	1,138		Charles Harris Burnett
Temuka		Thomas Burnett			1,249		James Arnold Kearton
Thames		Jim Thorn			2,295		W A Clark
Timaru		Clyde Carr			2,196		W H Hall
Waikato		Robert Coulter		William Goosman	2,928		J W Neate
Waimarino		Frank Langstone			2,940		C A Boles
Waipawa		Hubert Christie		Albert Jull	446		Hubert Christie
Wairarapa		Ben Roberts			777		J F Thompson[38]
Waitaki		David Barnes		David Campbell Kidd	14		David Barnes
Waitemata		Jack Lyon			2,261		John Ernest Close[10]
Waitomo		Walter Broadfoot			329		Jack Jones[39]
Wallace		Adam Hamilton			844		J J Lynch
Wanganui		Joseph Cotterill			3,920		Bill Veitch
Wellington Central		Peter Fraser			3,837		Will Appleton[40]
Wellington East		Bob Semple			4,736		William Long Barker[41]
Wellington North		Charles Henry Chapman			3,278		Elizabeth Gilmer[42]
Wellington South		Robert McKeen			6,415		David Howlett[43]
Wellington Suburbs		Robert Alexander Wright		Harry Ernest Combs	3,163		Ossie Mazengarb
Wellington West	(new electorate)			Catherine Stewart	956		Robert Alexander Wright
Westland		James O'Brien			3,729		Edward Bickmore Ellison Taylor
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Apirana Ngata			1,064		Reweti Tuhorouta Kohere
Northern Maori		Taurekareka Henare		Paraire Karaka Paikea	2,011		Taurekareka Henare
Southern Maori		Eruera Tirikatene			485		Thomas Kaiporohu Bragg
Western Maori		Toko Ratana			4,267		Pei Te Hurinui Jones

Notes

1. "General elections 1853-2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
2. Milne, Robert Stephen (1966). Political Parties in New Zealand. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. p. 76.
3. New Zealand Official Year-book, 1942 p778
4. "The New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1942". Government Printer. 28 June 2015.
5. "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
6. "Candidates for tomorrow's election". Evening Post. CXXVI (91). 14 October 1938. p. 18. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
7. "Notice of Nominations Received and Polling Places Appointed". Auckland Star LXVI (268). 12 November 1935. p. 9. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
8. "Parliamentary Election". Auckland Star LXIX (254). 27 October 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
9. Gustafson 1986, pp. 26, 28.
10. "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald LXXV (23180). 28 October 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
11. Gustafson 1986, p. 370.
12. "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald LXXV (23181). 29 October 1938. p. 25. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
13. "The By-Election". Evening Post. CXXVII (128). 2 June 1939. p. 8. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
14. Ammentorp, Steen. "Falconer". generals.dk. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
15. "Cenotaph Record". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
16. "Brigadier A. S. Falconer". New Zealand Electronic Text Centre. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
17. Gustafson 1986, p. 362.
18. "The Mantle of Seddon". Evening Post. CXXVI (90). 13 October 1938. p. 24. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
19. "Election Review". Evening Post. CXXVI (83). 5 October 1938. p. 15. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
20. Gustafson 1986, p. 366.
21. Webb, Brendan (20 September 2010). "No Sign of Mayors". BayBuzz. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
22. "Hawke's Bay Seats". Evening Post. CXXVI (90). 13 October 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
23. "Public Notices". The Evening Post. CXXVI (82). 4 October 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
24. Bremer, Robert James. "Ormond, John Davies Wilder". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
25. "Otago Contests". Evening Post. CXXVI (73). 23 September 1938. p. 10. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
26. "The Onehunga Seat". Evening Post. CXXVI (59). 7 September 1938. p. 5. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
27. "Discover Onehunga's Rich History". Onehunga Business Association. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
28. "Parliamentary Elections". Auckland Star LXIX (233). 3 October 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
29. "Public Notices". Evening Post. CXXVI (82). 4 October 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
30. "Labour Candidates". Evening Post CXXV (82). 7 April 1938. p. 17. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
31. "J. A. Nash". Evening Post. CXXVI (89). 12 October 1938. p. 18. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
32. "The Labour Party". Auckland Star LXIX (192). 16 August 1938. p. 5. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
33. "Labour Candidates". Evening Post CX (61). 9 September 1925. p. 6. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
34. Gustafson 1986, p. 345.
35. Laracy, Hugh. "Dreaver, Mary Manson". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
36. "Tammany Hall". Evening Post CXL (52). 30 August 1945. p. 9. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
37. "General Election". Auckland Star LXIX (116). 19 May 1938. p. 10. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
38. "Wairarapa Electorate". Upper Hutt Weekly Review III (43). 14 October 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
39. "Mrs. R. Bleasel". Auckland Star LXIX (277). 23 November 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
40. Buchan, Allison. "Appleton, William". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
41. "Public Notices". Evening Post. CXXVI (98). 22 October 1938. p. 5. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
42. Labrum, Bronwyn. "Gilmer, Elizabeth May". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved January 2013.
43. "General Election". Evening Post. CXXVI (45). 22 August 1938. p. 10. Retrieved 10 November 2013.

References

• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
• Lipson, Leslie (2011) [1948]. The Politics of Equality: New Zealand’s Adventures in Democracy. Wellington: Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-0-86473-646-8.
• Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First published in 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.