1935 New Zealand general election

The 1935 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote held on 26 and 27 November to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 25th term. It resulted in the Labour Party's first electoral victory, with Michael Joseph Savage becoming the first Labour prime minister after defeating the governing coalition, consisting of the United Party and the Reform Party, in a landslide—to date, the worst defeat of a sitting government in New Zealand history.

1935 New Zealand general election

← 1931 26 (Māori) & 27 November (general) 1935 1938 →
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All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Michael Joseph Savage George Forbes Party Labour United/Reform Leader since 12 October 1933 18 September 1931 Leader's seat Auckland West Hurunui Last election 24 seats, 34.27% 47 seats, 54.03% Seats after 53 16 Seat change 29 31 Popular vote 389,911 285,422 Percentage 45.73% 33.48% Swing 11.46% 20.55%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Harold Rushworth Eruera Tirikatene Party Country Party Ratana Leader since November 1928 3 August 1932 Leader's seat Bay of Islands Southern Maori Last election 1 seat, 2.3% 0 seats, 1.00% Seats after 2 2 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 11,809 6,249 Percentage 1.67% 0.73% Swing 0.67% 0.27%
Results of the election.
Prime minister before election George Forbes United/Reform Subsequent prime minister Michael Joseph Savage Labour

The governing coalition lost 31 seats, which was attributed by many to their handling of the Great Depression: the year after the election, the United and Reform parties merged to form the modern National Party.

The election was originally scheduled to be held in 1934, in keeping with the country's three-year election cycle, but the governing coalition postponed the election by one year hoping that economic conditions would improve by 1935.

Background

Since 1931, New Zealand had been governed by a coalition of the United Party and the Reform Party, the United–Reform Coalition. United and Reform had traditionally been enemies – United was a revival of the old Liberal Party, a progressive party with a strong urban base, while Reform was a conservative party with a strong rural base. When the 1928 elections left United and Reform with an equal number of seats, United managed to obtain support from the growing Labour Party, but in 1931, the worsening depression prompted a dispute over economic policy, and Labour withdrew its backing. Reform then agreed to go into coalition with United, fearing that an election would lead to significant gains for the "socialistic" Labour. The coalition held on to power in the 1931 elections, but the ongoing economic troubles made the government deeply unpopular, and by the time of the 1935 elections, Labour's support was soaring.

Campaign

The Dominion, a Wellington newspaper, printed anti-Labour advertisements and editorials. On Sunday 24 November, shortly before the election, an address by Colin Scrimgeour ("Uncle Scrim") on the Friendly Road radio station, which was expected to urge listeners to vote Labour, was jammed by the Post Office.

The election

The number of electorates being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since the 1902 Electoral Redistribution.

Four of those were Māori electorates, and those elections were held on 26 November. 19 candidates contested the four available positions, and in three out of four cases, the incumbents were returned.

The election in the European electorates was held on the following day, a Wednesday. A total of 246 candidates contested the 76 European electorates, between two and six per electorate (Wellington East had six candidates, and there was a contest in all electorates), i.e. an average of 3.2 candidates per electorate. 919,798 people were registered to vote in European electorates (enrolment data for Māori electorates are only available since the 1954 election), and there was a turnout of 90.75%. This turnout was considerably higher than the turnout in the previous election (84.26%) and the highest turnout so far, but still about average for the next decades.

Elsie Andrews (1888–1948) was one of only three women who stood for election in this year.

Results

Summary

The 1935 election saw a massive win for the opposition Labour Party, which won fifty-three seats, and formed the First Labour Government. The governing coalition won only nineteen, and three ministers were defeated (in Hamilton, Tauranga and Waitaki). This difference was not so great in the popular vote, however, with Labour winning 45.7% to the coalition's 33.5%. Labour was more fortunate than its British namesake in not attaining office before the depression (thanks to Seddon's lengthy reign) "and so could hold the conservative coalition responsible if natural laws of economics behaved unnaturally".

Apart from Labour and the coalition, the only two groups to win places in Parliament were the Country Party and the Ratana movement, both of which won two seats.

Four independents were elected, Harry Atmore, David McDougall, Charles Wilkinson and Robert Wright. 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 supported the coalition while Atmore and McDougall supported Labour. Labour also did not stand candidates against the two Country Party members.

Many commentators blamed the coalition's failure to win seats on vote splitting by the Democrat Party, an "anti-socialist" group founded by a former organiser for the governing coalition, Albert Davy, and headed by Thomas Hislop, the Mayor of Wellington. Perhaps as many as eight seats were an unexpected bonus to Labour because of the three-way split. The Democrats won 7.8% of the vote, but no seats.

Two future National MPs stood unsuccessfully: Frederick Doidge stood as an Independent for Rotorua and came second, and Matthew Oram stood for the Democrats in Manawatu and came fourth.

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

Party totals

Election results
Party			Candidates	Votes	Percentage	Seats	change
		Labour	70	389,911	45.73	53	+29
		Reform	74	285,422	33.48	9	−31
		United				7
		Democrats	53	66,695	7.82	0	–
		Country Party	6	11,809	1.67	2	+1
		Ratana	4	6,249	0.73	2	+2
		Communist	4	600	0.07	0	±0
		Independents	60	87,748	10.29	7	−1
Total:			267	852,637	100	80

Votes summary

Popular Vote

Labour			45.73%
United–Reform Coalition			33.48%
Democrats			7.82%
Country Party			1.67%
Ratana			0.73%
Independent			10.57%

Parliament seats

Labour			66.25%
United–Reform Coalition			23.75%
Country Party			2.50%
Ratana			2.50%
Independent			5.00%

Electorate results

The following table shows the detailed results:

Key

  Labour   Independent   United   Reform   United/Reform   Democrat   Ratana   Country Party

Electorate results for the 1935 New Zealand general election

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Auckland Central		Bill Parry			5,301		Clifford Reid Dodd
Auckland East		Bill Schramm			2,337		Harold Percy Burton
Auckland Suburbs		Rex Mason			4,896		William Alexander Bishop
Auckland West		Michael Joseph Savage			6,180		Ernest David Stallworthy
Avon		Dan Sullivan			5,410		Lancelot Charles Walker
Awarua		Philip De La Perrelle		James Hargest	950		Thomas Francis Doyle
Bay of Islands		Harold Rushworth			2,121		Clive Cameron
Bay of Plenty		vacant		Gordon Hultquist	555		John Tom Merry
Buller		Paddy Webb			4,499		John H Powell
Central Otago		William Bodkin			1,819		Herbert Kerr Edie
Chalmers		Alfred Ansell		Archie Campbell	1,071		Alfred Ansell
Christchurch East		Tim Armstrong			5,728		Sydney Richardson
Christchurch North		Henry Holland		Sidney Holland	971		Robert Macfarlane
Christchurch South		Ted Howard			5,585		Tom Milliken
Clutha		Peter McSkimming		James Roy	1,930		Rev. Edwin Thoms Cox
Dunedin Central		Charles Statham		Peter Neilson	1,729		Donald Cameron
Dunedin North		Jim Munro			1,668		Alexander Smith Falconer
Dunedin South		Fred Jones			3,378		Stuart Sidey
Dunedin West		William Downie Stewart		Gervan McMillan	945		William Downie Stewart
Eden		Arthur Stallworthy		Bill Anderton	2,465		Arthur Stallworthy
Egmont		Charles Wilkinson			3,172		James Ross
Franklin		Jack Massey		Arthur Sexton	685		Jack Massey
Gisborne		David Coleman			1,817		Douglas Lysnar
Grey Lynn		John A. Lee			8,012		George Wildish
Hamilton		Alexander Young		Charles Barrell	1,391		Alexander Young
Hauraki		Walter William Massey		Charles Robert Petrie	544		Walter William Massey
Hawke's Bay		Hugh Campbell		Ted Cullen	1,010		Hugh Campbell
Hurunui		George Forbes			1,203		Donald Cyrus Davie
Hutt		Walter Nash			7,757		Victor Emmanuel Jacobson
Invercargill		James Hargest		William Denham	346		Gordon Reed
Kaiapoi		Richard Hawke		Morgan Williams	1,424		Richard Hawke
Kaipara		Gordon Coates			302		William Grounds
Lyttelton		Terry McCombs			2,775		Seton Fulton Marshall
Manawatu		Joseph Linklater		Lorrie Hunter	60		Joseph Linklater
Manukau		Bill Jordan			6,402		Herbert Jenner Wily
Marsden		Alfred Murdoch		Jim Barclay	347		Alfred Murdoch
Masterton		George Sykes		John Robertson	325		George Sykes
Mataura		David McDougall			1,658		Thomas Golden
Mid-Canterbury		vacant		Horace Herring	462		James Carr
Motueka		Keith Holyoake			280		Rubert York
Napier		Bill Barnard			4,057		Frank Bannerman Logan
Nelson		Harry Atmore			2,610		Herbert Everett
New Plymouth		Sydney George Smith			831		Fred Frost
Oamaru		John Andrew MacPherson		Arnold Nordmeyer	1,142		John Andrew MacPherson
Oroua		John Cobbe			2,333		William Henry Oliver
Otaki		William Hughes Field		Leonard Lowry	1,720		G. A. Monk
Pahiatua		Alfred Ransom			1,175		R A Gower
Palmerston		Jimmy Nash		Joe Hodgens	115		Gus Mansford
Parnell		Bill Endean			731		Arthur Osborne
Patea		Harold Dickie			649		W G Simpson
Raglan		Lee Martin			1,695		Stewart Reid
Rangitikei		Alexander Stuart		Ormond Wilson	907		Alexander Stuart
Riccarton		Bert Kyle			1,139		G T Thurston
Roskill		Arthur Shapton Richards			4,023		Thomas James Fleming
Rotorua		Cecil Clinkard		Alexander Moncur	1,452		Frederick Doidge
Stratford		William Polson			339		Philip Skoglund
Tauranga		Charles Macmillan		Charles Burnett	41		Charles Macmillan
Temuka		Thomas Burnett			605		Thomas Herbert Langford
Thames		Albert Samuel		Jim Thorn	1,262		Albert Samuel
Timaru		Clyde Carr			1,059		W Thomas
Waimarino		Frank Langstone			1,863		Cecil Boles
Waipawa		Albert Jull		Max Christie	259		Albert Jull
Waikato		Frederick Lye		Robert Coulter	784		Frederick Lye
Wairarapa		Alex McLeod		Ben Roberts	33		John Wiltshire Card
Wairau		Edward Healy		Ted Meachen	352		Edward Healy
Waitaki		John Bitchener		David Barnes	479		John Bitchener
Waitemata		Alexander Harris		Jack Lyon	2,684		Alexander Harris
Waitomo		Walter Broadfoot			1,526		Jack Jones
Wallace		Adam Hamilton			2,034		Lawrence Edmond
Wanganui		Bill Veitch		Joe Cotterill	1,569		Bill Veitch
Wellington Central		Peter Fraser			4,479		Will Mason
Wellington East		Bob Semple			3,323		Ossie Mazengarb
Wellington North		Charles Chapman			794		Elizabeth Gilmer
Wellington South		Robert McKeen			6,059		Henry Featherston Toogood
Wellington Suburbs		Robert Wright			1,856		Peter Butler
Westland		James O'Brien			3,677		H R Young
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Āpirana Ngata			3,224		Tiaki Omana
Northern Maori		Taurekareka Hēnare			983		Paraire Karaka Paikea
Southern Maori		Eruera Tirikatene			43		Thomas Kaiporohu Bragg
Western Maori		Taite Te Tomo		Toko Ratana	47		Taite Te Tomo

Table footnotes:

1. James Hargest ran as an Independent, but was aligned to the Reform Party
2. Kenneth Williams, the previous representative, died two days prior to the election
3. James Roy ran as an Independent, but was aligned to the United–Reform Coalition
4. Jeremiah Connolly, the previous representative, died just prior to the election
5. Father of the historian W. H. Oliver
6. William Polson ran as an Independent, but was aligned to the United–Reform Coalition

Post-election events

A number of local by-elections were required due to the resignations of incumbent local body politicians following the general election:

• In February 1936 Dan Sullivan resigned as Mayor of Christchurch owing to a heavy workload after becoming a cabinet minister following Labour's victory. This sparked two by-elections, one for the mayoralty and another for three vacancies on the city council. Sullivan was replaced by John Beanland. Among the successful city council candidates was Robert Macfarlane who had contested Christchurch North in 1935.
• Likewise Peter Fraser resigned his seat on the Wellington City Council in order to focus on his new ministerial duties. A by-election was avoided however when Andrew Parlane, the highest polling unsuccessful candidate from the previous election, was the only nominated candidate.
• Later in the parliamentary term Fred Jones resigned his membership of the Dunedin City Council due to his ministerial obligations. An appointment was made instead of holding a by-election with Ralph Harrison succeeding Jones.