1890 New Zealand general election

The 1890 New Zealand general election was one of New Zealand's most significant. 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.

1890 general election

← 1887 27 November (Māori) & 5 December (general) 1890 1893 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 74 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	80.4%
First party Second party   Leader John Ballance Harry Atkinson Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 6 July 1889 25 September 1883 Leader's seat Wanganui Egmont Last election 34 seats 52 seats Seats won 40 25 Seat change 6 27 Popular vote 76,548 39,338 Percentage 56.1% 28.9%
Results of the election.
Premier before election Harry Atkinson Conservative Subsequent Premier John Ballance Liberal

It was also the first election in which there was no legal plural voting. Multi-member electorates were re-introduced in the four main centres and the 'country quota' (which gave more weight to rural votes) was increased to 28%.

Following the election and the resignation of the previous government headed by Harry Atkinson, John Ballance formed the first Liberal Party ministry, taking office on 24 January 1891. At this stage no formal party organisation existed, but the formation of the Liberal ministry signalled the end of the system by which governments were made up of a loose and unstable coalition of independent MPs and the beginning of the 'party system'.

Electoral redistribution

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. 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.

74 MPs were elected to the 11th session of the New Zealand Parliament. The Māori electorates voted on 27 November and the European (now known as General) electorates on 5 December. There were 183,171 voters registered in the sixty-two European electorates, which returned a total of 70 members. This figure includes 13,668 voters in the six electorates where there was an unopposed return. 136,337 valid votes were cast in European electorates, including additional votes cast in the four three-member electorates.

Results

Party totals

Note that as the election was held before the establishment of formal political parties, the figures should only be regarded as an approximate indication of the division of political opinion.

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won
	Liberal	69	76,548	56.1%	40
	Conservative	54	39,338	28.9%	25
	Independent	56	20,451	15.0%	9
	Total	179	136,337		74

Votes summary

Popular vote

Liberal			56.1%
Conservatives			28.9%
Independents			15.0%

Parliament seats

Liberal			54.1%
Conservatives			33.8%
Independents			12.2%

Mackie and Rose suggest there was a 74.4% turnout, based on valid votes cast as a percentage of the registered electors. The official turnout figure is 80.4%, calculated on a different basis (see the Elections New Zealand official results web-site link below for further details of the changing methods used to calculate the official turnout).

The Māori vote, for the remaining four seats, was held on 27 November. Maori electorates did not have electoral rolls so their voting figures and percentages are not included above.

Electorate results

The following table shows the results of the 1890 general election. Six European members were returned unopposed.

Key

  Liberal   Conservative   Liberal–Labour   Independent Liberal   Independent

Electorate results for the 1890 New Zealand general election

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Akaroa		Alexander McGregor		John Joyce	107		Alexander McGregor
Ashburton		William Campbell Walker		Edward George Wright	16		Rev. James Wright Sawle
Ashley		John Verrall		Richard Meredith	38		James Dupré Lance
City of Auckland	New electorate			William Lee Rees	260		Adam Porter
				Thomas Thompson	442		William Joseph Napier
				John Shera	1,013		James Wallis
Avon		Edwin Blake			186		George Stead
Awarua		Joseph Ward			Uncontested
Bay of Islands		Richard Hobbs		Robert Houston	11		James Trounsen
Bruce		Crawford Anderson		James William Thomson	494		James Smith
Buller		Eugene O'Conor			Uncontested
City of Christchurch	New electorate			William Pember Reeves	802		John Tippett Smith
				Westby Perceval	945		Edward Wingfield Humphreys
				Richard Molesworth Taylor	2,494		Eden George
Clutha		Thomas Mackenzie			Uncontested
Dunedin Suburbs	New electorate			William Dawson	420		Archibald Hilson Ross
City of Dunedin	New electorate			David Pinkerton	348		James Allen
				Henry Fish	995		Richard Henry Leary
				William Hutchison	998		Alfred Lee Smith
East Coast		Alexander Creighton Arthur		William Kelly	14		Alexander Creighton Arthur
Eden		Edwin Mitchelson			91		Joseph Greenwood
Egmont		Harry Atkinson			305		Felix McGuire
Ellesmere	New electorate			John Hall	105		John McLachlan
Franklin		Ebenezer Hamlin			102		Benjamin Harris
Geraldine	New electorate			Arthur Rhodes	323		Searby Buxton
Grey		Arthur Guinness			19		William Hugh Jones
Halswell	New electorate			William Rolleston	200		Francis Samuel Parker
Hawke's Bay		William Russell			659		Charles William Reardon
Heathcote		Frederic Jones		William Tanner	212		Heaton Rhodes
Hutt	New electorate			Alfred Newman	178		George Thomas London
Inangahua		Richard Reeves			1		John Drake
Invercargill		Henry Feldwick		James Kelly	116		James Walker Bain
Kaiapoi		Edward Richardson		Richard Moore	387		William Hoban
Manukau		Sir Maurice O'Rorke		Frank Buckland	80		Sir Maurice O'Rorke
Marsden		Robert Thompson			176		Albert Elliot
Masterton		George Beetham		Alexander Hogg	18		George Beetham
Mataura		George Richardson			123		John Gideon Fraser
Mount Ida		Scobie Mackenzie			105		Vincent Pyke
Napier		John Davies Ormond		George Swan	133		Michael Gannon
Nelson		Joseph Harkness			15		John Kerr
New Plymouth		Oliver Samuel		Edward Smith	23		John Elliot
Newton		David Goldie			Uncontested
Oamaru		Thomas William Hislop		Thomas Duncan	470		Thomas William Hislop
Palmerston		James Wilson			61		Frederick Pirani
Parnell		Frank Lawry			209		J M Lennox
Peninsula		William Larnach		William Earnshaw	128		William Larnach
Port Chalmers		James Mills			227		John A. Millar
Rangitikei		Robert Bruce		Douglas Macarthur	32		F Arkwright
Selwyn		John Hall		Alfred Saunders	51		Thomas Anson
Taieri		Walter Carncross			124		William Snow
Te Aroha	New electorate			William Allen	175		William Fraser
Thames		William Fraser		Alfred Cadman	104		Edmund Taylor
Timaru		William Hall-Jones			52		Edward George Kerr
Tuapeka		James Clark Brown		Hugh Valentine	63		James Clark Brown
Waikato		John Bryce			Uncontested
Waimate		William Steward			296		Alpheus Hayes
Waimea-Sounds		Arthur Seymour		Charles H. Mills	210		Richmond Hursthouse
Waipawa		Thomas Tanner		William Cowper Smith	349		George Hunter
Wairarapa		Walter Clarke Buchanan			275		Henry Bunny
Wairau		Henry Dodson		Lindsay Buick	77		Arthur Seymour
Waitaki		Thomas Young Duncan		John McKenzie	352		John Buckland
Waitemata		Richard Monk		Jackson Palmer	91		Richard Monk
Waitotara		George Hutchison			22		Robert Bruce
Wakatipu		Thomas Fergus			Uncontested
Wallace		Samuel Hodgkinson		James Mackintosh	178		Samuel Hodgkinson
Wanganui		John Ballance			27		Gilbert Carson
Wellington, City of	New electorate			George Fisher	183		Francis Bell
				John Duthie	561		Edwin George Jellicoe
				Kennedy Macdonald	727		Francis Fraser
Westland	New electorate			Richard Seddon	338		Joseph Grimmond
Maori electorates
Eastern Maori		James Carroll			185		Wi Pere
Northern Maori		Sydney Taiwhanga			267		Tinoti Pupipupi
Southern Maori		Tame Parata					Honi Maaka Hape
Western Maori		Hoani Taipua					Kipa Te Whatanui

Table footnotes:

1. Lawry stood in support of the Atkinson Ministry but changed allegiance to the Liberals in 1891
2. The affiliation of many of the Maori candidates is unknown or uncertain
3. Sydney Taiwhanga won the election and, despite having died on election day, was declared elected. Taiwhanga also stood in Eastern Maori and came third
4. Final results were not reported in contemporary media
5. Final results were not reported in contemporary media

See also

• Elections in New Zealand