New Zealand general election, 1935

New Zealand general election, 1935

1931 ← 26 (Māori) & 27 November (general) 1935 → 1938

All 80 seats in the Parliament of New Zealand 41 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Michael Joseph Savage George William Forbes Party Labour United/Reform Leader since 1933 1925 Leader's seat Auckland West Hurunui Last election 24 seats, 34.3% 51 seats, 55.4% Seats after 53 19 Seat change 29 29 Percentage 46.1% 32.9% Swing 11.8% 22.5%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Harold Rushworth Eruera Tirikatene Party Country Party Ratana Leader since 1928 1928 Leader's seat Bay of Islands Southern Maori Last election 1 seat, 2.3% Not yet founded Seats after 2 2 Seat change 1 1 Percentage 2.5% 1.0% Swing 0.2% 1.0%

Prime Minister before election George William Forbes United/Reform Elected Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage Labour

The 1935 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote 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. The governing coalition, consisting of the United Party and the Reform Party, suffered a major defeat, attributed by many to their handling of the Great Depression. The year after the election, United and Reform took their coalition further, merging to form the modern National Party.

Background

Since 1931, New Zealand had been governed by a coalition of the United Party and the Reform Party. 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.

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 date for the main 1935 elections was 27 November, a Wednesday. Elections to the four Maori electorates were held the day before. 919,798 people were registered to vote, and there was a turnout of 90.8%. This turnout was considerably higher than for the turnout in the previous election, but still about average for the time period. The number of electorates being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.

Results

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. This difference was not so great in the popular vote, however, with Labour winning 46.1% to the coalition's 32.9%. 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 gained 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 National while Atmore and McDougall supported Labour. And Labour 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 organizer for the coalition, Albert Davy and headed by Thomas Charles 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. Among their candidates were future National MP's Frederick Doidge and Matthew Oram.

Results and the 25th Parliament

For a list of Members of Parliament elected in 1935, see 25th New Zealand Parliament.

	Party	Leader	Percentage	Seats won	change
	Labour	Michael Joseph Savage	46.1%	53	+29
	United-Reform coalition	George William Forbes	32.9%	19	−29
	Democrats	Thomas Charles Hislop	7.8%	0	new party
	Country Party	Harold Rushworth	2.5%	2	+1
	Ratana	Eruera Tirikatene	1.0%	2	new party
	Independents (including Harry Atmore)		9.7%	4	−1
	Labour win from Coalition		100%	80