Jump to content

1902 New Zealand general election

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kiwichris (talk | contribs) at 03:36, 26 November 2016. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

1902 New Zealand general election

← 1899 25 November (general) & 22 December (Māori) 1902 1905 →

All 80 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives
41 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout76.7%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Richard Seddon William Massey
Party Liberal Conservative
Leader since 1893 1900[nb 1]
Leader's seat Westland Franklin
Last election 49 seats 19 seats
Seats won 47 19
Seat change Decrease 2 Steady
Popular vote 215,378 85,652
Percentage 51.8 20.6
Swing Decrease 1.9 Decrease 16.0

Prime Minister before election

Richard Seddon
Liberal

Prime Minister-designate

Richard Seddon
Liberal

The New Zealand general election of 1902 was held on Tuesday, 25 November in the general electorates, and on Monday, 22 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 15th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 415,789 (76.7%) voters turned out to vote.[2]

The Rev Frank Isitt was nominated as the Prohibitionist candidate for ten separate electorates, and came second in eight. Another candidate, D Whyte, was nominated for two. Both men stood to ensure that a local liquor licensing poll was held in each electorate for which they were nominated.

1902 electoral redistribution

The Representation Act 1900 had increased the membership of the House of Representatives from general electorates 70 to 76, and this was implemented through the 1902 electoral redistribution. In 1902, changes to the country quota affected the three-member electorates in the four main centres. The tolerance between electorates was increased to ±1,250 so that the Representation Commissions (since 1896, there had been separate commissions for the North and South Islands) could take greater account of communities of interest. These changes proved very disruptive to existing boundaries.[3] Six electorates were established for the first time: Courtenay, Newtown, Grey Lynn , Hurunui, Oroua, and Kaipara. Two electorates that previously existed were re-established: Mount Ida and Hutt.[4]

This boundary redistribution resulted in the abolition of three electorates:[4]

Results

Frank Isitt, a Methodist minister, stood in ten seats as a Prohibition candidate, and came second in eight.

Party totals

The following table gives party strengths and vote distribution according to Wilson (1985), who records Maori representatives as Independents prior to the 1905 election.[5]

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FFDF00;" data-sort-value="New Zealand Liberal Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #9999CC;" data-sort-value="Conservative (New Zealand)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent politician" |
Election results
Party Candidates Total votes Percentage Seats won Change
Liberal 105 215,378 51.8 47 -2
Conservative 53 85,652 20.6 19 ±0
Labour 4 6,010 1.4 0 ±0
Independent 50 109,163 26.2 14 +8

Votes summary

Popular Vote
Liberal
51.8%
Conservative
20.6%
Labour
1.4%
Independents
26.2%
Parliament seats
Liberal
58.75%
Conservative
23.75%
Independents
17.50%

Electorate results

Template:New Zealand general election, 1902


Notes

  1. ^ Gustafson, Barry. "Massey, William Ferguson". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  2. ^ "General elections 1853-2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  3. ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 67f.
  4. ^ a b McRobie 1989, pp. 63–68.
  5. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 287–289.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Massey, the Senior Conservative Whip, served as de facto leader[1]

References

  • McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)