New Zealand general election, 1949

New Zealand general election, 1949

29 (Māori) & 30 November (general) 1949

All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority Turnout 1,113,852   First party Second party   Leader Sidney Holland Peter Fraser Party National Labour Leader since 1940 1940 Leader's seat Fendalton Brooklyn Last election 38 seats, 48.4% 42 seats, 51.3% Seats won 46 34 Seat change 8 8 Popular vote 556,805 506,073 Percentage 51.9% 47.2% Swing 3.5% 4.1%

Prime Minister before election Peter Fraser Labour Elected Prime Minister Sidney Holland National

The 1949 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 29th term. It saw the governing Labour Party defeated by the opposition National Party. This marked the end of the First Labour government and the beginning of the First National government.

Background

The Labour Party had formed its first administration after winning the 1935 elections, and had remained in power (with gradually decreasing majorities) since then. The National Party, formed by a merger of the parties which Labour had originally ousted, gradually increased its power in Parliament; the ineffectual Adam Hamilton was replaced by Sidney Holland, and internal disputes were gradually resolved. The Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, was increasingly weary. Ongoing shortages after World War II also eroded public support for the government. The National Party's decision not to repeal Labour's social welfare policies also increased its appeal.

The election

The date for the main elections was a Wednesday 30 November. Elections to the four Māori electorates were held the day before—the 1949 elections were the last in which Māori voted on a different day. 1,113,852 people were registered to vote, although rolls for the Māori seats were "woefully inadequate." Voter turnout for the elections is disputed, given the problems with the Māori roll—some sources place it at 93.5 percent, while others estimate 92.9 percent. Regardless, the turnout was relatively high for the time. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.

Election results

Party standings

The 1949 election saw the governing Labour Party defeated by a twelve-seat margin. It has previously held a four-seat majority. Labour won a total of 34 seats, as opposed to National's 46. The popular vote was considerably closer—Labour won 47.2 percent to National's 51.9 percent. No seats were won by minor party candidates or by independents.

John A. Lee stood for Grey Lynn as the sole Democratic Labour candidate and got 2,627 votes, coming third.

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	change
	National	80	556,805	51.88	46	+8
	Labour	80	506,073	47.16	34	-8
	Communist	16	3,499	0.33	0	±0
	Democratic Labour	1	2,627	0.24	0	±0
	Others (including Frank Langstone)	19	4,150	0.39	0	±0
Total		196	1,073,154		80

Votes summary

Popular Vote
National			51.88%
Labour			47.16%
Others			0.96%

Parliament seats
National			57.50%
Labour			42.50%

Initial MPs

The table below shows the results of the 1949 general election:

Key

  Labour     National  

Electorate results for the New Zealand general election, 1949^[1]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Arch Hill		Bill Parry			5,174		G. F. Smith
Ashburton		Richard Geoffrey Gerard			2,385		W. E. Rose
Auckland Central		Bill Anderton			2,799		L. G. Bradley
Avon		John Mathison			4,593		G. W. Kinzett
Awarua		George Richard Herron			3,179		Neville Pickering[2]
Bay of Plenty		Bill Sullivan			3,680		T. G. Santon
Brooklyn		Peter Fraser[3]			2,956		Mrs Berta S. Burns[4]
Buller		Clarence Skinner			2,206		F. E. McDonald
Central Otago		William Bodkin			3,906		T. A. Rodgers
Christchurch Central		Robert Macfarlane			3,637		K. J. Marlow
Clutha		James Roy			3,231		J. E. Keenan
Dunedin Central		Philip Connolly			989		D. Murdoch
Eden		Wilfred Fortune			2,259		P. T. Curran
Egmont		Ernest Corbett			4,539		B. Richmond
Fendalton		Sidney Holland			4,076		R. T. Newman
Franklin		Jack Massey			5,481		J. Parsons
Gisborne		David William Coleman		Reginald Keeling	489		Harry Dudfield[5][6]
Grey Lynn		Fred Hackett			4,203		J. L. Faulkner[7]
Hamilton		Hilda Ross			1,605		J. Granville
Hastings		Edward Luttrell Cullen		Sydney Jones	982		Edward Luttrell Cullen
Hauraki		Andrew Sutherland			3,944		P. Peacock
Hawke's Bay		Cyril Harker			3,442		H. E. Beattie
Hobson		Sidney Walter Smith			5,068		W. E. Lane
Hurunui		William Gillespie			2,535		A. J. Smith
Hutt		Walter Nash			2,273		H. L. Heatley
Invercargill		Ralph Hanan			1,159		William Denham
Island Bay		Robert McKeen			2,770		H. E. Childs
Karori		Charles Bowden			3,585		Mrs E. Harris
Lyttelton		Terry McCombs			978		R. R. Beauchamp
Manawatu		Matthew Oram			3,433		B. A. Rodgers
Marlborough		Tom Shand			1,862		J. H. Wilson
Marsden		Alfred Murdoch			3,276		D. L. Ross
Miramar		Bob Semple			1,315		C. H. Taylor
Mornington		Walter Arthur Hudson			4,185		G. C. Stephens
Mount Albert		Warren Freer			931		R. F. Judson
Mount Victoria		Jack Marshall			1,808		N. R. Seddon
Napier		Tommy Armstrong			721		W. Tucker
Nelson		Edgar Neale			1,373		R. C. A. Marshall
New Plymouth		Ernest Aderman			1,517		C. R. Parker
North Dunedin		Robert Walls			668		R. G. Brickell
North Shore		Martyn Finlay		Dean Eyre	1,344		Martyn Finlay
Oamaru		Arnold Nordmeyer		Thomas Hayman	694		Arnold Nordmeyer
Onehunga		Arthur Osborne			2,300		A. A. Coates
Onslow		Harry Ernest Combs			1,927		John S. Meadowcroft[8]
Otahuhu		Charles Robert Petrie		Leon Götz	1,275		A. B. Dixon
Otaki		James Joseph Maher			374		J. J. D. Chapstick
Pahiatua		Keith Holyoake			4,507		G. P. O'Leary
Palmerston North		Ormond Wilson		Blair Tennent	518		Ormond Wilson
Parnell		Duncan Rae			960		Frederick Schramm
Patea		William Sheat			1,841		F. W. Finer
Petone		Michael Moohan			2,527		N. P. Croft
Piako		William Goosman			6,266		G. P. Kenah
Ponsonby		Ritchie Macdonald			2,278		B. H. Kingston
Raglan		Alan Baxter		Hallyburton Johnstone	1,022		Alan Baxter
Rangitikei		Edward Gordon			3,310		E. R. De Malmanche
Remuera		Ronald Algie			5,079		Hugh Watt[9][1]
Riccarton		Angus McLagan			2,707		Harry Lake[10]
Rodney		Clifton Webb			4,546		A. Leaming
Roskill		Frank Langstone		John Rae	1,415		J. Freeman
St Albans		Jack Watts			1,142		George Manning[11]
St Kilda		Fred Jones			331		G. Lyon
Selwyn		John McAlpine			1,327		E. A. Sharp
Sydenham		Mabel Howard			5,643		Oliver G. Moody[8]
Tamaki		Tom Skinner		Eric Halstead	1,095		Tom Skinner
Tauranga		Frederick Doidge			4,595		H. J. Pickett
Timaru		Clyde Carr			832		J. F. Lockington
Waikato		Geoffrey Sim			5,923		J. R. Burfitt
Waimarino		Paddy Kearins			202		A. H. MacPherson
Waimate		David Campbell Kidd			1,767		W. R. Davison
Wairarapa		Garnet Hercules Mackley		Bertie Cooksley	963		G. A. Hansen
Waitakere		Rex Mason			930		R. Tapper
Waitomo		Walter Broadfoot			5,079		Frank Kitts
Wallace		Tom Macdonald			4,511		H. V. Freeman
Wanganui		Joseph Cotterill			1,019		E. V. O'Keefe
Wellington Central		Charles Henry Chapman			575		Will Appleton
Westland		James Begg Kent			2,744		P. J. O'Regan
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Tiaki Omana			3,211		Turi Carroll
Northern Maori		Tapihana Paraire Paikea			2,029		James Henare
Southern Maori		Eruera Tirikatene			687		Huro Nathanial Bates
Western Maori		vacant[nb 1]		Iriaka Matiu Ratana	6,317		Hoeroa Marumaru

Table footnotes:

1. Matiu Ratana, the previous holder of the Western Maori electorate, died on 7 October 1949. His wife Iriaka Ratana stood for election instead.

Notes

1. "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
2. Norton 1988, p. 197.
3. Wilson 1985, p. 198.
4. Gustafson 1986, p. 357.
5. Norton 1988, p. 228.
6. Gustafson 1986, p. 308.
7. Norton 1988, p. 419.
8. Gustafson 1986, p. 378.
9. Norton 1988, p. 331.
10. Gustafson 1986, p. 325.
11. Sharfe, Jean. "Manning, George". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 17 February 2010.

References

• Fraser, S. E. (1967). The 1949 General Election (MA thesis). Dunedin: University of Otago.
• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
• McLennan, R. (1963). The Last Years of the First Labour Government 1945–1949 (MA thesis). Auckland: University of Auckland.
• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.