1949 New Zealand general election

1949 New Zealand general election

←  1946 29 (Māori) & 30 November (general) 1949 1951  →
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All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	1,113,852 (96.3%)
First party Second party   Leader Sidney Holland Peter Fraser Party National Labour Leader since 26 November 1940 4 April 1940 Leader's seat Fendalton Brooklyn Last election 38 seats, 48.4% 42 seats, 51.3% Seats won 46 34 Seat change 8 8 Popular vote 556,805 506,073 Percentage 51.9% 47.2% Swing 3.5% 4.1%
Results of the election.
Prime Minister before election Peter Fraser Labour Subsequent Prime Minister Sidney Holland National

The 1949 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 29th term. It saw the governing Labour Party defeated by the opposition National Party. This marked the end of the 14-year First Labour government and the beginning of the First National government.

Background

The Labour Party had formed its first ministry after winning the 1935 election, and had remained in power (with gradually decreasing majorities) since then. The National Party, formed by a merger of the parties which Labour had originally ousted, gradually increased its power in Parliament; the ineffectual Adam Hamilton was replaced by Sidney Holland, and internal disputes were gradually resolved. The Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, was increasingly weary. Ongoing shortages after World War II also eroded public support for the government. The National Party's decision not to repeal Labour's social welfare policies also increased its appeal.

MPs retiring in 1949

Two Labour MPs and one National MP intended to retire at the end of the Parliament.

Party		Name	Electorate
	Labour	David Coleman	Gisborne
		Charles Petrie	Otahuhu
	National	Garnet Mackley	Wairarapa

The election

The date for the main elections was a Wednesday 30 November. Elections to the four Māori electorates were held the day before—the 1949 elections were the last in which Māori voted on a different day. 1,113,852 people were registered to vote, although rolls for the Māori electorates were "woefully inadequate." Voter turnout for the elections is disputed, given the problems with the Māori roll—some sources place it at 93.5 percent, while others estimate 92.9 percent. Regardless, the turnout was relatively high for the time. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.

Election results

Party standings

The 1949 election saw the governing Labour Party defeated by a twelve-seat margin. It has previously held a four-seat majority. Labour won a total of 34 seats, as opposed to National's 46. The popular vote was considerably closer—Labour won 47.2 percent to National's 51.9 percent. No seats were won by minor party candidates or by independents.

John A. Lee stood for Grey Lynn as the sole Democratic Labour candidate and got 2,627 votes, coming third.

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	change
	National	80	556,805	51.88	46	+8
	Labour	80	506,073	47.16	34	−8
	Communist	16	3,499	0.33	0	±0
	Democratic Labour	1	2,627	0.24	0	±0
	Others	19	4,150	0.39	0	±0
Total		196	1,073,154		80

Votes summary

Popular Vote

National			51.88%
Labour			47.16%
Others			0.96%

Parliament seats

National			57.50%
Labour			42.50%

Initial MPs

The table below shows the results of the 1949 general election:

Key

  Labour   National

Electorate results for the 1949 New Zealand general election ^[1]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Arch Hill		Bill Parry			5,174		Gordon Frederick Smith
Ashburton		Geoff Gerard			2,385		William Erle Rose
Auckland Central		Bill Anderton			2,799		Leonard Bradley
Avon		John Mathison			4,593		George Nelson Kinzett
Awarua		George Richard Herron			3,179		Neville Pickering [2]
Bay of Plenty		Bill Sullivan			3,680		Thomas Godfrey Santon
Brooklyn		Peter Fraser [3]			2,956		Berta Burns [4]
Buller		Jerry Skinner			2,206		Phil McDonald
Central Otago		William Bodkin			3,906		Thomas Augustus Rodgers
Christchurch Central		Robert Macfarlane			3,637		Kevin Marlow
Clutha		James Roy			3,231		John Edward Keenan
Dunedin Central		Phil Connolly			989		David Murdoch
Dunedin North		Robert Walls			668		Richard Brickell
Eden		Wilfred Fortune			2,259		Pat Curran
Egmont		Ernest Corbett			4,539		Brian Edgar Richmond
Fendalton		Sidney Holland			4,076		Robert Newman
Franklin		Jack Massey			5,481		John Parsons
Gisborne		David Coleman		Reginald Keeling	489		Harry Dudfield [5] [6]
Grey Lynn		Fred Hackett			4,203		John Leon Faulkner [7]
Hamilton		Hilda Ross			1,605		Jack Granville
Hastings		Ted Cullen		Sydney Jones	982		Ted Cullen
Hauraki		Andy Sutherland			3,944		Percival Peacock
Hawke's Bay		Cyril Harker			3,442		Dick Beattie
Hobson		Sidney Walter Smith			5,068		William Edmund Lane
Hurunui		William Gillespie			2,535		Arthur J. Smith
Hutt		Walter Nash			2,273		Horace Leonard Heatley
Invercargill		Ralph Hanan			1,159		William Denham
Island Bay		Robert McKeen			2,770		Herbert Edward Childs
Karori		Charles Bowden			3,585		Ethel Harris
Lyttelton		Terry McCombs			978		Richard Ralph Beauchamp
Manawatu		Matthew Oram			3,433		Basil A. Rodgers
Marlborough		Tom Shand			1,862		James Harrison Wilson
Marsden		Alfred Murdoch			3,276		Douglas L. Ross
Miramar		Bob Semple			1,315		Cuthbert Taylor
Mornington		Wally Hudson			4,185		Geoffrey Stephens
Mount Albert		Warren Freer			931		Reg Judson
Mount Victoria		Jack Marshall			1,808		Nathan Seddon
Napier		Tommy Armstrong			721		William Tucker
Nelson		Edgar Neale			1,373		Reynell Marshall
New Plymouth		Ernest Aderman			1,517		Clarence Robert Parker
North Shore		Martyn Finlay		Dean Eyre	1,344		Martyn Finlay
Oamaru		Arnold Nordmeyer		Thomas Hayman	694		Arnold Nordmeyer
Onehunga		Arthur Osborne			2,300		Alan A. Coates
Onslow		Harry Combs			1,927		John S. Meadowcroft [8]
Otahuhu		Charles Petrie		Leon Götz	1,275		Alex Dixon
Otaki		Jimmy Maher			374		Denzil Capstick
Pahiatua		Keith Holyoake			4,507		G P O'Leary
Palmerston North		Ormond Wilson		Blair Tennent	518		Ormond Wilson
Parnell		Duncan Rae			960		Bill Schramm
Patea		William Sheat			1,841		Frederick William Finer
Petone		Mick Moohan			2,527		Norm Croft
Piako		Stan Goosman			6,266		Gilbert Parsons Kenah
Ponsonby		Ritchie Macdonald			2,278		Brian Kingston
Raglan		Alan Baxter		Hallyburton Johnstone	1,022		Alan Baxter
Rangitikei		Edward Gordon			3,310		Eric De Malmanche
Remuera		Ronald Algie			5,079		Hugh Watt [9] [1]
Riccarton		Angus McLagan			2,707		Harry Lake [10]
Rodney		Clifton Webb			4,546		Arthur Leaming
Roskill		Frank Langstone		John Rae	1,415		James Freeman
St Albans		Jack Watts			1,142		George Manning [11]
St Kilda		Fred Jones			331		Gerald Lyon
Selwyn		John McAlpine			1,327		Alan Sharp
Sydenham		Mabel Howard			5,643		Oliver G. Moody [8]
Tamaki		Tom Skinner		Eric Halstead	1,095		Tom Skinner
Tauranga		Frederick Doidge			4,595		Hillary Joseph Pickett
Timaru		Clyde Carr			832		Jack Lockington
Waikato		Geoffrey Sim			5,923		John Ronald Burfitt
Waimarino		Paddy Kearins			202		Arthur Herbert MacPherson
Waimate		David Campbell Kidd			1,767		Roy Davison
Wairarapa		Garnet Mackley		Bert Cooksley	963		George Anders Hansen
Waitakere		Rex Mason			930		Robert Tapper
Waitomo		Walter Broadfoot			5,079		Frank Kitts
Wallace		Tom Macdonald			4,511		Herman Victor Freeman
Wanganui		Joe Cotterill			1,019		Ernest Victor O'Keefe
Wellington Central		Charles Chapman			575		Will Appleton
Westland		Jim Kent			2,744		Patrick Joseph O'Regan
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Tiaki Omana			3,211		Turi Carroll
Northern Maori		Tapihana Paraire Paikea			2,029		James Henare
Southern Maori		Eruera Tirikatene			687		Huro Nathanial Bates
Western Maori		vacant [nb 1]		Iriaka Rātana	6,317		Hoeroa Marumaru

Table footnotes:

1. Matiu Ratana, the previous holder of the Western Maori electorate, died on 7 October 1949. His wife Iriaka Rātana stood for election instead.

Notes

1. "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
2. Norton 1988, p. 197.
3. Wilson 1985, p. 198.
4. Gustafson 1986, p. 357.
5. Norton 1988, p. 228.
6. Gustafson 1986, p. 308.
7. Norton 1988, p. 419.
8. Gustafson 1986, p. 378.
9. Norton 1988, p. 331.
10. Gustafson 1986, p. 325.
11. Sharfe, Jean. "Manning, George". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture and Heritage . Retrieved 17 February 2010.

References

• Fraser, S. E. (1967). The 1949 General Election (MA thesis). Dunedin: University of Otago.
• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN   0-474-00177-6.
• McLennan, R. (1963). The Last Years of the First Labour Government 1945–1949 (MA thesis). Auckland: University of Auckland.
• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN   0-475-11200-8.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC   154283103.