1931 New Zealand general election

The 1931 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 24th term. It resulted in the newly formed coalition between the United Party and the Reform Party remaining in office as the United–Reform Coalition Government, although the opposition Labour Party made some minor gains despite tallying more votes than any other single party.

1931 New Zealand general election

← 1928 1 (Māori) & 2 December (general) 1931 1935 →
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All 80 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives 41 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	714,511 (83.3%)
First party Second party   Leader Gordon Coates Harry Holland Party Reform Labour Alliance United–Reform Coalition Leader since 27 May 1925 27 August 1919 Leader's seat Kaipara Buller Last election 27 seats, 34.8% 19 seats, 26.2% Seats won 28 24 Seat change 0 5 Popular vote 190,170 244,881 Percentage 26.6% 34.3% Swing 9.3% 8.1%   Third party Fourth party   Leader George Forbes Harold Rushworth Party United Country Party Alliance United–Reform Coalition Leader since 21 May 1930 November 1928 Leader's seat Hurunui Bay of Islands Last election 27 seats, 29.8% 1 seat, 1.6% Seats won 19 1 Seat change 8 0 Popular vote 120,801 16,710 Percentage 16.9% 2.3% Swing 13.3% 0.7%
Results of the election.
Prime Minister before election George Forbes United Subsequent Prime Minister George Forbes United

Background

In the 1928 election, the Reform Party won 28 seats to the United Party's 27 seats. Shortly after the election the Reform Party lost a vote of no-confidence and the United Party managed to form a government, the United Government, with the support of the Labour Party, with governing Reform Party going into the opposition. In 1931, however, the agreement between United and Labour collapsed due to differing opinions on how to counter the Great Depression. The Reform Party, fearing that the Depression would give Labour a substantial boost, reluctantly agreed to form a coalition with United to avert elections. By forming a coalition, United and Reform were able to blunt Labour's advantage, ending the possibility of the anti-Labour vote being split.

The election

The date for the main 1931 elections was 2 December, a Wednesday. Elections to the four Māori electorates were held the day before. 874,787 people were registered to vote, and there was a turnout of 83.3%. This turnout was below average for the time period.

The number of seats was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.^[1] However, in four electorates (Bay of Plenty, Oroua, Pahiatua, Waitomo) there was only one candidate.^[2][3]

Results

Crowd on intersection of Willis and Mercer Streets in Wellington, outside the offices of The Evening Post, awaiting the results of the 1931 general election.

The 1931 election saw the recently formed governing coalition retain office as the United–Reform Coalition, winning fifty-one seats, including four independents. This was a drop of four seats from what the two parties had won in the previous elections, but was still considerably better than many had expected given the economic situation. The Labour Party won twenty-four seats, a gain of five. In the popular vote (including pro-coalition independents), the coalition won 54.0% of the vote, down from the 66.1% that the two parties had won previously. Labour won 34.3%. The only other party to gain a place in Parliament was the Country Party, which won a single seat. Four other independents were elected. Four candidates were elected unopposed: Walter Broadfoot in Waitomo, John Cobbe in Oroua, Alfred Ransom in Pahiatua, and Kenneth Williams in Bay of Plenty.^[4]

Party totals

Winning party by electorate.

Election results
Party			Leader	Votes	Percentage		Seats	change
		Reform	Gordon Coates	190,170	26.60	54.03	28	±0
		United	George Forbes	120,801	16.90		19	-8
		Independents (in support of Coalition)		75,069	10.53		4	+3
		Labour	Harry Holland	244,867	34.27		24	+5
		Country Party	Harold Rushworth	16,710	2.34		1	±0
		Ratana		7,154	1.00		0	±0
		Independents		66,894	8.36		4	-1
Total				714,511	100%		80

Votes summary

Popular Vote All Coalition Parties   54.03% Labour   34.27% Coalition Reform   26.60% Coalition United   16.90% Country Party   2.34% Coalition Independent   10.53% Independent   9.36%

Parliament seats All Coalition Parties   63.75% Coalition Reform   35.00% Labour   30.00% Coalition United   23.75% Country Party   1.25% Coalition Independent   5.00% Independent   5.00%

The following table shows the detailed results:

Key

  Reform   Labour   United   Country Party   Independent Liberal   Ratana   Independent

Electorate results for the 1931 New Zealand general election^[5][6]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Auckland Central		Bill Parry			3,793[7]		Harold Penfound Congdon
Auckland East		James Donald		Bill Schramm	2,256[8]		Harold Percy Burton
Auckland Suburbs		Rex Mason			1,223		Richard Herbert Marryatt[9]
Auckland West		Michael Joseph Savage			4,517		Hugh Ross Mackenzie[9]
Avon		Dan Sullivan			3,039		Harben Robert Young
Awarua		Philip De La Perrelle			2,148		Norman McIntyre[10]
Bay of Islands		Harold Rushworth			1,209		Allen Bell
Bay of Plenty		Kenneth Williams			Uncontested
Buller		Harry Holland			3,631		John Menzies[11]
Central Otago		William Bodkin			2,516		Charles Todd
Chalmers		Alfred Ansell			172		Norman Hartley Campbell
Christchurch East		Tim Armstrong			3,206		George Frederick Allen
Christchurch North		Henry Holland			2,077		Elizabeth McCombs
Christchurch South		Ted Howard			2,798[12]		Charlie McCully[13]
Clutha		Fred Waite		Peter McSkimming	1,530		Fred Waite
Dunedin Central		Charles Statham			262		Peter Neilson
Dunedin North		Jim Munro			524		John McCrae[14][15]
Dunedin South		William Taverner		Fred Jones	3,644		William Taverner
Dunedin West		William Downie Stewart Jr			924		John Gilchrist
Eden		Arthur Stallworthy			1,270[12]		Bill Anderton
Egmont		Charles Wilkinson			1,308		F. Gawith
Franklin		Jack Massey			2,457		Harry Oswald Mellsop[16]
Gisborne		Douglas Lysnar		David Coleman	317[12]		Douglas Lysnar
Grey Lynn		John Fletcher		John A. Lee	3,242[7]		John Fletcher
Hamilton		Alexander Young			3,072[17]		Hubert Beebe
Hauraki		Walter William Massey			2,750[7]		Charles Robert Petrie
Hawke's Bay		Hugh Campbell			2,259		Ted Cullen[18]
Hurunui		George Forbes			3,953		R. J. Logan[19]
Hutt		Walter Nash			2,823		James Kerr[nb 1]
Invercargill		Vincent Ward		James Hargest	508		William McChesney
Kaiapoi		Richard Hawke			1,414		John Archer[20]
Kaipara		Gordon Coates			2,084		Albert Edward Robinson[21]
Lyttelton		James McCombs			32		Frederick Willie Freeman[22]
Manawatu		Joseph Linklater			2,246		Lorrie Hunter
Manukau		Bill Jordan			3,394[12]		Stanley Rickards[9]
Marsden		Alfred Murdoch			2,942		Jim Barclay
Masterton		George Sykes			1,951		Peter Butler
Mataura		David McDougall			943		Thomas Golden[23]
Mid-Canterbury		David Jones		Jeremiah Connolly	136[24]		David Jones
Motueka		George Black			517		Keith Holyoake
Napier		Bill Barnard			1,456		John Butler
Nelson		Harry Atmore			100		Herbert Everett[25]
New Plymouth		Sydney George Smith			3,472		William Sheat
Oamaru		John Andrew MacPherson			1,046[12]		John Kirkness
Oroua		John Cobbe			Uncontested
Otaki		William Hughes Field			1,321		Jim Thorn
Pahiatua		Alfred Ransom			Uncontested
Palmerston		Jimmy Nash			1,245		Joe Hodgens
Parnell		Bill Endean			4,821[7]		John William Yarnall
Patea		Harold Dickie			3,495		W. G. Simpson
Raglan		Lee Martin		Stewart Reid	806		Lee Martin
Rangitikei		James Thomas Hogan		Alexander Stuart	15		James Thomas Hogan
Riccarton		Bert Kyle			589		Archibald Albany McLachlan[nb 2]
Roskill		George Munns		Arthur Shapton Richards	171[7]		William John Holdsworth[26]
Rotorua		Cecil Clinkard			57		Alexander Moncur
Stratford		William Polson			1,518		J W McMillan[nb 3]
Tauranga		Charles Macmillan			658		Bill Sullivan[nb 4]
Temuka		Thomas Burnett			1,237		Thomas Herbert Langford
Thames		Albert Samuel			464		John Sommerville Montgomerie[28]
Timaru		Clyde Carr			820		Herbert N. Armstrong[29][nb 5]
Waikato		Frederick Lye			981		Solomon Netheim Ziman[nb 6]
Waimarino		Frank Langstone			591		William Henry Wackrow
Waipawa		Albert Jull[nb 7]			386		John Davies Ormond, Jr.[nb 8]
Wairarapa		Thomas McDonald		Alex McLeod	616		Thomas McDonald
Wairau		Edward Healy			1,424		William Girling
Waitaki		John Bitchener			885		Alexander McLean Paterson[31]
Waitemata		Alexander Harris			2,378[7]		Arthur Osborne[32]
Waitomo		Walter Broadfoot			Uncontested
Wallace		Adam Hamilton			2,842		Peter Gilfedder[33]
Wanganui		Bill Veitch			590		Bill Rogers
Wellington Central		Peter Fraser			2,471[34]		Robert Darroch
Wellington East		Bob Semple			593[34]		Thomas Forsyth
Wellington North		Charles Chapman			1,061[34]		George Troup
Wellington South		Robert McKeen			2,659		Will Appleton[35]
Wellington Suburbs		Robert Wright			2,570[34]		Tom Brindle
Westland		James O'Brien			1,121		John Greenslade
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Āpirana Ngata			3,211		Pita Moko
Northern Maori		Taurekareka Henare			1,188		Paraire Karaka Paikea
Southern Maori		Tuiti Makitanara			19		Eruera Tirikatene
Western Maori		Taite Te Tomo			1,436		Toko Ratana

Table footnotes:

1. For some biographical details of James Kerr refer to his father's article
2. For some biographical details of McLachlan refer to his grandfather's article
3. McMillan claimed to stand for the Reform Party, but he was not the official candidate, as the United–Reform Coalition endorsed William Polson, who ran as an Independent^[27]
4. Bill Sullivan was a member of the United Party, but Charles Macmillan was the official candidate of the United–Reform Coalition, hence Sullivan stood as an Independent
5. The Reform and United parties could not agree on an official coalition candidate for the Timaru electorate, so neither Armstrong (Reform) nor Herbert Hall (United) were official candidates, and many sources show them as Independents
6. Ziman was the father of John Ziman^[30]
7. Jull was the official candidate of the United–Reform Coalition
8. Ormond was the son of John Davies Ormond and the father of John Ormond

• Four of the eight independent MPs (Connolly, Hargest, McSkimming, and Polson) were aligned with the United–Reform Coalition, and are not classified as independents by some sources.