24th New Zealand Parliament

The 24th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It opened on 23 February 1932, following the 1931 election. It was dissolved on 1 November 1935 in preparation for the 1935 election. The 24th Parliament was extended by one year because the 1935 election was held later than anticipated due to the ongoing depression, similarly the 1919, and the 1943 elections were held two years late, having been postponed during World War I and World War II respectively.

24th Parliament of New Zealand
← 23rd Parliament 25th Parliament →
Parliament House, Wellington
Overview
Legislative body	New Zealand Parliament
Term	23 February 1932 – 26 October 1935
Election	1931 New Zealand general election
Government	United–Reform coalition Government
House of Representatives
Members	80
Speaker of the House	Charles Statham
Prime Minister	George Forbes
Leader of the Opposition	Michael Joseph Savage from 12 October 1933 — Harry Holland until 8 October 1933 †
Legislative Council
Members	35 (at start) 28 (at end)
Speaker of the Council	Sir Walter Carncross
Leader of the Council	Robert Masters
Sovereign
Monarch	HM George V
Governor-General	HE Rt. Hon. The Viscount Galway from 12 April 1935 — HE Rt. Hon. The Lord Bledisloe until 15 March 1935
Sessions
1st 23 February 1932 – 28 October 1932 2nd 1 November 1932 – 10 March 1933 3rd 21 September 1933 – 22 December 1933 4th 28 June 1934 – 5 April 1935 5th 29 August 1935 – 26 October 1935

The Prime Minister during the 24th Parliament was George Forbes, leader of the United Party. Many commentators at the time, however, alleged that Gordon Coates, leader of the larger Reform Party, had the greater influence.

The 24th Parliament consisted of eighty representatives, each elected from separate geographical electorates.

Ministries

The 24th Parliament was led by a coalition of the Reform Party and the United Party;^[1] Reform had twenty-eight seats, United had nineteen, and there were four pro-coalition independents. The primary opposition was from the Labour Party, which had twenty-four seats. The small Country Party had one seat, and there were four non-aligned independents. The distribution of seats between three large parties (also a feature of the previous parliament) was relatively unusual, as New Zealand tended towards a two-party system at the time.

The coalition government had been formed on 22 September 1931 during the term of the previous Parliament. During the difficult times of the Great Depression, Forbes had wanted to form a grand coalition with the Labour Party and the Reform Party. Labour refused, but Reform went into a coalition government with United from September 1931.^[2][3]

Party standings

Start of Parliament

Party		Leader(s)	Seats at start
	Reform Party	Gordon Coates	28
	Labour Party	Harry Holland	24
	United Party	George Forbes	19
	Country Party	Harold Rushworth	1
	Independents		8

End of Parliament

Party		Leader(s)	Seats at end
	Reform Party	Gordon Coates	29
	Labour Party	Michael Joseph Savage	24
	United Party	George Forbes	16
	Democrat Party	Thomas Hislop (outside parliament)	2
	Country Party	Harold Rushworth	1
	Ratana	Eruera Tirikatene	1
	Independents		7

Electoral boundaries

Members

Initial MPs

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^[4][5]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Auckland Central		Bill Parry			3,793[6]		Harold Penfound Congdon
Auckland East		James Donald		Bill Schramm	2,256[7]		Harold Percy Burton
Auckland Suburbs		Rex Mason			1,223		Richard Herbert Marryatt[8]
Auckland West		Michael Joseph Savage			4,517		Hugh Ross Mackenzie[8]
Avon		Dan Sullivan			3,039		Harben Robert Young
Awarua		Philip De La Perrelle			2,148		Norman McIntyre[9]
Bay of Islands		Harold Rushworth			1,209		Allen Bell
Bay of Plenty		Kenneth Williams			Uncontested
Buller		Harry Holland			3,631		John Menzies[10]
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[11]		Charlie McCully[12]
Clutha		Fred Waite		Peter McSkimming	1,530		Fred Waite
Dunedin Central		Charles Statham			262		Peter Neilson
Dunedin North		Jim Munro			524		John McCrae[13][14]
Dunedin South		William Taverner		Fred Jones	3,644		William Taverner
Dunedin West		William Downie Stewart Jr			924		John Gilchrist
Eden		Arthur Stallworthy			1,270[11]		Bill Anderton
Egmont		Charles Wilkinson			1,308		F. Gawith
Franklin		Jack Massey			2,457		Harry Oswald Mellsop[15]
Gisborne		Douglas Lysnar		David Coleman	317[11]		Douglas Lysnar
Grey Lynn		John Fletcher		John A. Lee	3,242[6]		John Fletcher
Hamilton		Alexander Young			3,072[16]		Hubert Beebe
Hauraki		Walter William Massey			2,750[6]		Charles Robert Petrie
Hawke's Bay		Hugh Campbell			2,259		Ted Cullen[17]
Hurunui		George Forbes			3,953		R. J. Logan[18]
Hutt		Walter Nash			2,823		James Kerr[nb 1]
Invercargill		Vincent Ward		James Hargest	508		William McChesney
Kaiapoi		Richard Hawke			1,414		John Archer[19]
Kaipara		Gordon Coates			2,084		Albert Edward Robinson[20]
Lyttelton		James McCombs			32		Frederick Willie Freeman[21]
Manawatu		Joseph Linklater			2,246		Lorrie Hunter
Manukau		Bill Jordan			3,394[11]		Stanley Rickards[8]
Marsden		Alfred Murdoch			2,942		Jim Barclay
Masterton		George Sykes			1,951		Peter Butler
Mataura		David McDougall			943		Thomas Golden[22]
Mid-Canterbury		David Jones		Jeremiah Connolly	136[23]		David Jones
Motueka		George Black			517		Keith Holyoake
Napier		Bill Barnard			1,456		John Butler
Nelson		Harry Atmore			100		Herbert Everett[24]
New Plymouth		Sydney George Smith			3,472		William Sheat
Oamaru		John Andrew MacPherson			1,046[11]		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[6]		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[6]		William John Holdsworth[25]
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[27]
Timaru		Clyde Carr			820		Herbert N. Armstrong[28][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[30]
Waitemata		Alexander Harris			2,378[6]		Arthur Osborne[31]
Waitomo		Walter Broadfoot			Uncontested
Wallace		Adam Hamilton			2,842		Peter Gilfedder[32]
Wanganui		Bill Veitch			590		Bill Rogers
Wellington Central		Peter Fraser			2,471[33]		Robert Darroch
Wellington East		Bob Semple			593[33]		Thomas Forsyth
Wellington North		Charles Chapman			1,061[33]		George Troup
Wellington South		Robert McKeen			2,659		Will Appleton[34]
Wellington Suburbs		Robert Wright			2,570[33]		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^[26]
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^[29]
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.

By-elections during 24th Parliament

There were a number of changes during the term of the 24th Parliament.

Electorate and by-election		Date	Incumbent		Cause	Winner
Southern Maori	1932	3 August[35]		Tuiti Makitānara	Death		Eruera Tirikātene
Motueka	1932	1 December[36]		George Black	Death		Keith Holyoake
Lyttelton	1933	13 September[37]		James McCombs	Death		Elizabeth McCombs
Buller	1933	22 November[38]		Harry Holland	Death		Paddy Webb
Lyttelton	1935	24 July[37]		Elizabeth McCombs	Death		Terry McCombs

Summary of changes

• Tuiti Makitanara, the United MP for Southern Maori, died on 26 June 1932. The resulting 1932 by-election was won by Eruera Tirikatene, an independent candidate associated with the Rātana religious movement.
• George Black, the independent MP for Motueka, died on 7 October 1932. The resulting 1932 by-election was won by Keith Holyoake of the Reform Party.
• James McCombs, the Labour MP for Lyttelton, died on 2 August 1933. The resulting 1933 by-election Labour victory by his wife, Elizabeth McCombs, made her the first woman to win election to the New Zealand Parliament.
• Harry Holland, leader of the Labour Party and MP for Buller, died on 8 October 1933. The resulting 1933 by-election was won by Paddy Webb, also of the Labour Party.
• Elizabeth McCombs died on 7 June 1935, twenty-two months after her husband's death, and the resulting 1935 by-election returned her son, Terry McCombs.