New Zealand general election, 1951

New Zealand general election, 1951

1 September 1951

All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority Turnout 1,069,791   First party Second party   Leader Sidney Holland Walter Nash Party National Labour Leader since 1940 1951 Leader's seat Fendalton Hutt Last election 46 seats, 51.9% 34 seats, 47.2% Seats won 50 30 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 577,630 490,143 Percentage 54.0% 45.8% Swing 2.1% 4.1%

Prime Minister before election Sidney Holland National Elected Prime Minister Sidney Holland National

The 1951 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 30th term. The First National Government was re-elected, with the National Party increasing its lead over the opposition Labour Party.

Background

The National Party had formed its first administration after the 1949 elections, in which it had ended four terms of government by the Labour Party.^[1] The National government, with Sidney Holland as Prime Minister, had undertaken a number of economic and constitutional reforms, although it had not seriously modified the new social welfare system which Labour had introduced. Labour's leader, Peter Fraser, had died in December 1950 after a long period of poor health, and had been replaced in January 1951 by Walter Nash. Nash had been Minister of Finance for the duration of the first Labour government.^[2]

The most significant issue in the 1951 elections was the growing industrial unrest of the time, particularly the ongoing dockworkers dispute. Holland condemned the strikers, calling the situation "industrial anarchy". The Labour Party, under Nash, attempted to take a moderate position in the dispute, but ended up displeasing both sides. Holland, seeking a mandate to respond strongly to the strike, called a snap election. Another issue was high inflation, which frustrated voters and without the strike, might have threatened Holland's government.

The election

The date for the main 1951 elections was 1 September, and for the first time, elections to the four Maori seats were held on the same day.^[3] The 1951 elections were also the first under the new regulations which required elections to be held on a Saturday. 1,205,762 people were registered to vote, and turnout was 89.1%.^[4] The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.^[5]

Results

Party standings

The 1951 election saw the governing National Party re-elected with a twenty-seat margin, a substantial improvement on the twelve-seat margin it previously held. National won fifty seats compared with the Labour Party's thirty.^[5] The popular vote was closer, however, with National winning 54% to Labour's 46%.^[6] No seats were won by minor party candidates or by independents.^[7] This was the last New Zealand general election in which any party has ever captured a majority of the popular vote.^[6]

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	change
	National	80	577,630	54.00	50	+4
	Labour	80	490,143	45.80	30	-4
	Communist	4	528	0.05	0	±0
	Others	7	1,490	0.14	0	±0
Total		171	1,069,791		80

Votes summary

Popular Vote
National			54.00%
Labour			45.80%
Others			0.20%

Parliament seats
National			62.50%
Labour			37.50%

[] Electorate results for the New Zealand general election, 1951^[8]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Key   Labour     National
Arch Hill		Bill Parry		John Stewart	3,965		T P B Hope
Ashburton		Richard Gerard			2,867		W E Rose
Auckland Central		Bill Anderton			2,168		P G Hillyer
Avon		John Mathison			4,212		D W Russell
Awarua		George Herron			3,755		Neville Pickering
Bay of Plenty		Bill Sullivan			4,047		T G Santon
Brooklyn		Arnold Nordmeyer			1,826		C W Clift
Buller		Clarence Skinner			1,227		P E McDonald
Central Otago		William Bodkin			3,620		T A Rodgers
Christchurch Central		Robert Macfarlane			4,103		Mrs A Schumacher
Clutha		James Roy			3,583		J M Sanders
Dunedin Central		Philip Connolly			373		W P MacDougall
Eden		Wilfred Fortune			2,802		J R Burfitt
Egmont		Ernest Corbett			4,896		B E Richmond
Fendalton		Sidney Holland			4,366		P J Alley
Franklin		Jack Massey			5,358		Arthur Faulkner
Gisborne		Reginald Keeling		Harry Dudfield	338		Reginald Keeling
Grey Lynn		Fred Hackett			3,813		H G Barry
Hamilton		Hilda Ross			2,252		E A Waters
Hastings		Sydney Jones			1,138		H E Beattie
Hauraki		Andrew Sutherland			4,468		B W Dynes
Hawke's Bay		Cyril Harker			4,153		A Lowe
Hobson		Sidney Smith			5,337		Norman King
Hurunui		William Gillespie			2,921		J W Andrews
Hutt		Walter Nash			2,248		J W Andrews
Invercargill		Ralph Hanan			2,123		F G Spurdle
Island Bay		Robert McKeen			1,680		J E Duncan
Karori		Charles Bowden			3,453		Jim Bateman
Lyttelton		Terry McCombs		Harry Lake	133		Terry McCombs
Manawatu		Matthew Oram			3,465		B A Rodgers
Marlborough		Tom Shand			2,452		Edwin Meachen
Marsden		Alfred Murdoch			4,001		M A Hosking
Miramar		Bob Semple			301		C H Taylor
Mornington		Walter Arthur Hudson			3,783		R G Pilling
Mount Albert		Warren Freer			604		R F Judson
Mount Victoria		Jack Marshall			2,198		Frank Kitts
Napier		Tommy Armstrong		Peter Tait	44		Tommy Armstrong
Nelson		Edgar Neale			2,831		Stanley Whitehead
New Plymouth		Ernest Aderman			2,335		C R Parker
North Dunedin		Robert Walls			307		Sir Donald Cameron
North Shore		Dean Eyre			2,155		R N S J Wrathall
Oamaru		Thomas Hayman			1,315		C J Ryan
Onehunga		Arthur Osborne			1,966		L G Bradley
Onslow		Harry Combs			1,106		John S Meadowcroft[9]
Otahuhu		Leon Götz			2,128		James Deas
Otaki		James Joseph Maher			1,142		Phil Holloway
Pahiatua		Keith Holyoake			4,598		O Jones
Palmerston North		Blair Tennent			200		Joe Hodgens
Parnell		Duncan Rae			1,587		Hugh Watt[10]
Patea		William Sheat			2,467		F W Finer
Petone		Michael Moohan			2,135		N P Croft
Piako		William Goosman			6,364		G P Kenah
Ponsonby		Ritchie Macdonald			1,504		Peter Dempsey[11]
Raglan		Hallyburton Johnstone			1,766		J H Wilson
Rangitikei		Edward Gordon			3,677		F A Dalzell
Remuera		Ronald Algie			5,346		Bob Tizard
Riccarton		Angus McLagan			2,265		Eric Philip Wills[12]
Rodney		Clifton Webb			4,893		A L Leaming
Roskill		John Rae			440		P A Curran
St Albans		Jack Watts			1,415		J B Mora
St Kilda		Fred Jones		Jim Barnes	336		Fred Jones
Selwyn		John McAlpine			1,836		J G Barclay
Sydenham		Mabel Howard			4,403		A H Stott
Tamaki		Eric Halstead			1,461		Tom Skinner
Tauranga		Frederick Doidge		George Walsh	5,400		H J Pickett
Timaru		Clyde Carr			564		W L Richards
Waikato		Geoffrey Sim			6,369		W H Bayly
Waimarino		Paddy Kearins			67		A M MacPherson
Waimate		David Kidd			2,232		A G Braddick
Wairarapa		Bertie Cooksley			2,032		G A Hansen
Waitakere		Rex Mason			641		R Tapper
Waitomo		Walter Broadfoot			5,286		J Dwyer
Wallace		Tom Macdonald			5,060		J W Cleary
Wanganui		Joseph Cotterill			226		E V O'Keefe
Wellington Central		Charles Chapman			277		Mrs B S Burns
Westland		James Kent			2,325		Mrs I C Brown
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Tiaki Omana			3,706		Turi Carroll
Northern Maori		Tapihana Paikea			2,132		James Henare[13]
Southern Maori		Eruera Tirikatene			659		William Beaton
Western Maori		Iriaka Matiu Ratana			7,352		Hoeroa Marumaru

Notes

1. Wilson 1985, p. 58.
2. Wilson 1985, pp. 82–83.
3. Wilson 1985, p. 138.
4. Wilson 1985, p. 286.
5. Wilson 1985, pp. 287–288.
6. Wilson 1985, p. 290.
7. Wilson 1985, p. 288.
8. "The New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1951–52". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
9. Gustafson 1986, p. 378.
10. Norton 1988, p. 314.
11. Gustafson 1986, pp. 360f.
12. Gustafson 1986, p. 390.
13. Gustafson 1986, p. 247.

References

• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
• 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 ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.