Country Party (New Zealand)

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New Zealand Country Party
Leader Harold Rushworth
Founded1922;103 years ago (1922)
Dissolved1938;87 years ago (1938)
Split from Reform Party
Succeeded by Social Credit Party [1]
Ideology Agrarianism
Social Credit
Political position Centre
Colours  Green

The Country Party of New Zealand was a political party which appealed to rural voters. It was represented in Parliament from 1928 to 1938. Its policies were a mixture of rural advocacy and social credit theory.

Contents

History

The Country Party had its origins in the Auckland Farmers' Union, a branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union which covered the old Auckland Province. Members of the branch increasingly came to believe that the Reform Party, which traditionally enjoyed much support in rural areas, was now putting the interests of farmers behind those of businesses in the city. The Auckland branch was also strongly influenced by the social credit theory of monetary reform, promoted by C. H. Douglas. Many farmers believed that the country's financial system did not treat them fairly and that they were being exploited by big-city bankers and moneylenders. [2]

The Auckland branch grew increasingly frustrated with the Farmers' Union leadership, which did not support having an independent rural party. Eventually, members of the Auckland branch established the Country Party without the Union's backing. In 1928, the branch broke away from the Union altogether and gave its full backing to the Country Party. [2]

In the 1925 elections, the Country Party fielded five candidates but won only 0.3% of the vote. In the 1928 elections it won the Bay of Islands seat. In Parliament, the Country Party tended to align itself with the growing Labour Party, primarily because both parties were distrustful of the financial and banking industries. [2]

In the 1931 elections, the Country Party increased its share of the vote to 2.3%. In the 1935 elections, the party's share of the vote dropped slightly, but it won two seats. Arthur Sexton was elected in the Franklin electorate. [2]

In the 1938 elections, the Country Party lost both its seats, as Labour decided to contest them. Rushworth had retired, partly because of Labour's intervention, and Sexton was defeated by the National Party. The party won only 0.23% of the vote and disappeared soon afterwards. Most rural voters who had supported it turned to the National Party, which incorporated the Reform Party. Later, however, the Social Credit Party would gain a certain amount of success in rural areas using much the same formula, and some see the Country Party as a forerunner to the more long-lived Social Credit. [3]

Country Party, 1969

The Country Party was revived for the 1969 election by Clifford Stanley Emeny of New Plymouth (1920–2000), a World War II air force veteran. The party put forward candidates in 15 seats, and they attracted 6,715 votes. Emeny stood in Stratford where he got 1130 votes, the largest vote for the party; and in Egmont, New Plymouth, Tauranga and Waimarino. The other seats contested were Ashburton, Hamilton West, Otago, Pahiatua, Raglan, Rangitikei, Rodney, Waikato, Waitomo and Wallace.

The Country Party had changed its name to the Liberal Reform Party in 1970. In the 1972 election, Emeny stood as a Liberal Reform candidate. [4]

Electoral results

Harold Rushworth, party leader and MP, 1928-38. Harold Montague Rushworth (1920).jpg
Harold Rushworth, party leader and MP, 1928-38.
ElectionCandidates# of seats wonTotal votes % of popular vote
1925
5
0 / 80
2,398
0.35%
1928
5
1 / 80
11,990
1.59%
1931
6
1 / 80
16,710
2.34%
1935
5
2 / 80
9,468
1.67%
1938
5
0 / 80
2,199
0.23%
1969
15
0 / 84
6,715
0.08%

Electorate results

1925 general election

ElectorateCandidateVotes %
Bay of Islands Hugh Sweeny1,42419.0%
Raglan Robert Duxfield2223.1%
Rotorua Frank Colbeck2042.8%
Thames Alexander Ross4095.4%
Waikato F. C. S. Lawson1392.0%

1928 general election

ElectorateCandidateVotes %
Bay of Islands Harold Rushworth 3,82047.8%
Franklin Harry Mellsop3,82149.2%
Rotorua S. H. Judd6247.5%
Tauranga Frank Colbeck1,75823.0%
Waikato P. Keegan1,89724.4%

1931 general election

ElectorateCandidateVotes %
Bay of Islands Harold Rushworth 4,97056.9%
Franklin Harry Mellsop2,51132.4%
Kaipara Albert Robinson2,92436.9%
Rotorua D. R. F. Campbell1,41115.0%
Tauranga Frank Colbeck1,80324.2%
Waikato Solomon Ziman3.09143.2%

1935 general election

ElectorateCandidateVotes %
Bay of Islands Harold Rushworth 6,00459.4%
Franklin Arthur Sexton 4,80351.4%
Tauranga Alexander Ross2,24321.8%
Waikato Solomon Ziman1,22112.6%
Waitomo J. H. Penniket2,43123.7%

1938 general election

ElectorateCandidateVotes %
Eden Albert Robinson1551.0%
Franklin Arthur Sexton 1,56414.8%
Kaipara James Scott-Davidson2572.7%
Raglan Albert James Gallichan1151.2%
Tauranga H. C. Barker780.7%

By-elections

By-electionCandidateVotes %
Raglan, 1927 Cornelius Augustus Magner5328.8%
Bay of Islands, 1929 Harold Rushworth 4,38552.9%
Hauraki, 1931 Alexander Ross5136.3%

References

  1. ↑ Gully, John Sidney (1966). "Social Credit Political League". In McLintock, A. H. (ed.). An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Derbyshire, Noel William (2016). Serving the Community: a history of the Pukekohe Anglican Parish. Wily Publications. pp. 96–97. ISBN   978-1-927167-30-4.
  3. ↑ Gully 1966.
  4. ↑ 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.
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