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An election for the leadership of the United Party was held on 21 May 1930 to choose the next leader of the party. The election was won by Hurunui MP and co-deputy leader of the party George Forbes.
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An election for the leadership of the United Party was held on 21 May 1930 to choose the next leader of the party. The election was won by Hurunui MP and co-deputy leader of the party George Forbes.
Sir Joseph Ward had been elected leader of the United Party at its inception in 1928. [1] He then led the party at the 1928 election which resulted in United being able to form a government with support, albeit reluctant, from the Labour Party. By the end of its first year, Ward's government was not living up to expectation. During the election campaign Ward promised that £70 million would be loaned from overseas to fund government programmes, though little was, or could be, borrowed. This left the government without the funds to deal with the rapidly worsening economic recession and growing unemployment. Ward's health declined and his workload was reduced to little more than state administration and chairing cabinet meetings, leaving most of the political management to his two co-deputy leaders, George Forbes and Alfred Ransom. By September 1929 Ward's health worsened after he had a series of heart attacks. He was hospitalised, but improved enough to then travel to Rotorua for treatment and use of its medicinal spa baths. No cabinet meeting were held in the opening months of 1930 but Ward continued to fulfil the administrate affairs of state However, many of his colleagues and family assembled at his bedside on 14 May 1930 where he agreed to resign as leader and Prime Minister. [2]
The MP for Nelson, Harry Atmore was an independent MP who was involved in the discussions that established the United Party, though he did not join it. A decades long friend and supporter of Ward he was still aligned with United (who did not run a candidate against him in 1928) and supported it in the house and was one of four independent MPs who caucused with the United MPs. Ward invited him to join his cabinet in December 1928 and appointed him as Minister of Education and Minister for Science and Industrial Research, ranked fifth in the cabinet. [3]
Forbes had been the MP for Hurunui since 1908 and was Senior Whip of the Liberal Party from 1912 to 1923. In 1925 Forbes had been elected leader of the Liberal Party after Thomas Wilford's resignation. He then led the party to a disastrous result at the 1925 general election, losing eleven seats while Reform totaled fifty-five. He even lost his status as Leader of the Opposition afterwards. He had remained the leader of the party in parliament whilst working with Davy on launching the United Party. He lost the leadership to Ward in 1928 but was appointed co-deputy leader for the South Island. He was ranked second in Ward's cabinet and served as Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Lands. [4]
Alfred Ransom was a former Mayor of Dannevirke who had been MP for Pahiatua since 1922. In 1926 he had become the party's senior whip. He narrowly lost the leadership to Ward in 1928 but was appointed co-deputy leader for the North Island. He was ranked seventh in Ward's cabinet and served as Minister of Public Works. [5]
Veitch had been the MP for Wanganui since 1911. Previously aligned with Labour he had become an independent before joining the Liberal Party at the 1922 election. As Liberal leader Forbes was not well known outside the South Island the Liberal campaign in the North Island had been run by Veitch. In March 1927 he had begun a campaign to revive the Liberal Party. He led a group of Liberals who wanted to rejuvenate the party and had recently toured the country giving speeches to attract more members and candidates for the party. He lost the leadership to Ward in 1928 but was appointed president of the party. He was ranked sixth in Ward's cabinet and served as Minister of Labour, Minister of Mines and Minister of Transport. [6]
For the leadership four nominees were voted for in an exhaustive ballot by the United Party caucus which consisted of 25 United MPs, one United MLC (Sir Thomas Sidey) and four independent MPs who caucused with United (Atmore, James Thomas Hogan, William Polson and Charles Wilkinson). Ward was still recuperating in Rotorua and was the only absence. The caucus was held in Wellington in the evening (just after 9pm) on 21 May 1930. In the first ballot Atmore and Veitch polled equal lowest and it was agreed both candidates were eliminated. In the next ballot Forbes beat Ransom to win the leadership. The precise numbers were not revealed but it was reported in the media that the final ballot result was very close. [7]
Ward was telephoned to inform him of the result but he was asleep. He then travelled from Rotorua to Wellington to tender his resignation as Prime Minister to the Governor-General on 28 May. Forbes became Prime Minister but struggled to govern the country in the mounting crisis of the Great Depression. Forbes appointed Ward to his cabinet as a Minister without portfolio, ranked second in the ministry. [8] In 1931 he lost support from the Labour Party who opposed his policy of retrenchment. To continue to govern United had to seek support from the Reform Party. United and Reform contested the 1931 election as a coalition and were re-elected, though Reform were the larger of the two. Forbes still remained Prime Minister despite United being the smaller coalition partner. The United–Reform Coalition was defeated at the 1935 election. Forbes continued as leader of the United Party until 1936 when it was absorbed into the new National Party. [4]
George William Forbes was a New Zealand politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of New Zealand from 28 May 1930 to 6 December 1935.
Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and United ministries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Joseph Gordon Coates served as the 21st prime minister of New Zealand from 1925 to 1928. He was the third successive Reform prime minister since 1912.
William Andrew Veitch was a New Zealand politician. He began his career in the labour movement, but became a strong opponent of more militant socialism, and rejected the radical views held by many of his colleagues.
Alfred Humphrey Hindmarsh was a New Zealand politician, lawyer and unionist. He died in the 1918 influenza epidemic. He served as the first leader of the modern New Zealand Labour Party.
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William Donald Stuart MacDonald was a New Zealand politician, Cabinet Minister, and briefly Leader of the Opposition.
Harry Atmore was a New Zealand Independent Member of Parliament for Nelson in the South Island. He held the Nelson seat as an Independent for a total of thirty years from 1911 to 1914 and then from 1919 to his death in 1946. He was Minister of Education and Minister in charge of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) in Sir Joseph Ward's United Government of 1928 to 1931.
Robert Masters was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal and later United parties, as well as a cabinet minister.
Sir Ethelbert Alfred Ransom was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party, then its successor the United Party, and from 1936, the National Party. He was a cabinet minister from 1928 to 1935 in the United Government, and was acting Prime Minister in 1930 and in 1935.
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