New Zealand general election, 1943

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New Zealand general election, 1943






← 1938
24 (Māori) & 25 September (general) 1943
1946 →


elected members →



All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament
41 seats were needed for a majority



































 
First party
Second party
 

Peter Fraser.jpg

Sidney George Holland (1951).jpg
Leader

Peter Fraser

Sidney Holland
Party

Labour

National
Leader since

4 April 1940

26 November 1940
Leader's seat

Wellington Central

Christchurch North
Last election
53 seats, 55.8%
25 seats, 40.3%
Seats won
45
34
Seat change

Decrease 8

Increase 9
Percentage
47.6%
42.8%
Swing

Decrease 8.2%

Increase 2.5%





Prime Minister before election

Peter Fraser
Labour



Elected Prime Minister

Peter Fraser
Labour


The 1943 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 27th term. With the onset of World War II, elections were initially postponed, but it was eventually decided to hold a general election in September 1943, around two years after it would normally have occurred. The election saw the governing Labour Party re-elected by a comfortable margin, although the party nevertheless lost considerable ground to the expanding National Party.




Contents





  • 1 Background


  • 2 By-elections


  • 3 The election


  • 4 Election results

    • 4.1 Party standings


    • 4.2 Votes summary


    • 4.3 Initial MPs



  • 5 Notes


  • 6 References




Background


The Labour Party had formed its first government after its resounding victory in the 1935 elections and had been re-elected by a substantial margin in the 1938 elections. Michael Joseph Savage, the first Labour Prime Minister, died in 1940; he was replaced by Peter Fraser, who was widely viewed as competent even if he was less popular than Savage. In the same year as Fraser took power, however, the opposition National Party had replaced the ineffectual Adam Hamilton with Sidney Holland, and was beginning to overcome the internal divisions that had plagued Hamilton's time as leader.


As World War II continued, the issues surrounding it naturally came to dominate political debate. Shortages appeared, prompting a certain amount of dissatisfaction with the government. The matter of conscription was also contentious — although both Labour and National supported it, many traditional followers of Labour were angry at their party's stance. Many early Labour leaders, including Fraser, had been jailed for opposing conscription in World War I, and were branded hypocrites for later introducing it; Fraser justified his change of position by saying that World War I was a pointless war but that World War II was necessary. A faction of Labour, dissatisfied with the mainstream party's economic and conscription policies, followed dissident MP John A. Lee to his new Democratic Labour Party.


A general election was due to be held in 1941, but Fraser, who held a tight reign over the coalition war cabinet, persuaded Parliament to postpone it due to the war.[1]



By-elections


During April and May 1943, there were three deaths of sitting members:



  • Paraire Karaka Paikea – Northern Maori – died on 6 April[2]


  • Alfred Ransom – Pahiatua – died on 22 May[3]


  • Gordon Coates – Kaipara – died on 27 May[4]

This would have required three by-elections in a year where the government was planning to hold a general election, and in fact, the writ for the Northern Maori by-election was issued on 19 May. On 11 June, the government announced that a general election would be held in September, and at the same time they introduced legislation that postponed the three by-elections.[5] The By-elections Postponement Act 1943 [6] was passed, and amongst other things it revoked the writ issued for the Northern Maori by-election. This was the first time that legislation had been used to postpone by-elections (it happened once more in 1969).[7]



The election


The date for the main 1943 election was 25 September, a Saturday. The election to the four Māori electorates was held the day before. 1,021,034 civilians and an uncertain number of serving military personnel were registered to vote — special legislation provided voting rights to all serving members of the armed forces regardless of age, and they voted over several days prior to 25 September.[8][9] Among the civilian population, there was a turnout of 82.8%. The number of seats in Parliament was 80, a number that had been fixed since 1902.[8]


There were three minor movements participating with 45 candidates: the People's Movement or Independent People's Group (25), the Real Democracy Movement (17) and the Fighting Forces League (3). However these groups got only 12,867 votes (provisional count: PM or IPG 7,389 (0.89%); RDM 4,421 (0.53%); others or FFL 1,057 (0.13%)).[10] Two of the three Fighting Forces League candidates were also supported by the Real Democracy Movement,[11] which had been formed by the Social Credit Association.


Two seats were uncontested: Awarua and Matarura. Both seats were held for the National Party by serving officers; James Hargest (Awarua) was interned in Switzerland, and Tom Macdonald (Mataura) had just been invalided home.[12] Labour did not contest those two electorates or Nelson where Harry Atmore stood. National did not contest three electorates: Kaipara and Palmerston North where Independent Nationalists stood, or Buller. 1943 was the last general election when some candidates were elected unopposed.[13]


With seamen's and servicemen's votes taking time to come in, it took until mid-October before all results were finalised. Initially, the outcome in at least ten electorates was in doubt: Oamaru, Eden, Raglan, New Plymouth, Otaki, Wairarapa, Waitemata, Hamilton, Nelson, and Motueka.[14] In its 27 September edition, The New Zealand Herald posted profiles of new members of parliament. This included National's T. R. Beatty, a building contractor from Oamaru who had supposedly beaten Arnold Nordmeyer, a sitting cabinet minister.[15] In initial results, Beatty had a majority of just six votes,[16] but incumbents had strong support by military staff,[17] and Nordmeyer had a final majority of 125 votes.[18]



Election results




The leaders of National and Labour, plus the 24 new MPs following the 1943 general election


The 1943 election saw the governing Labour Party retain office by a ten-seat margin, winning forty-five seats to the National Party's thirty-four, with one independent. The popular vote was considerably closer — Labour won 47.6%, while National won 42.8%. Holland was stunned by the result, and called for a Commission of Inquiry to look at the servicemens’ vote, but was answered by a report from the Chief Electoral Officer. The Labour vote dropped, particularly in rural areas where the now more prosperous farmers returned to their normal political allegiance. There were strikes by the miners, and resentment at wartime restrictions. Lee’s "Democratic Soldier Labour" party took votes in closely contested seats, and there was a "vast and weird variety of miscellaneous candidates under strange labels". However the forces vote favoured both Labour and Democratic Soldier Labour, see table below. And 22 seats were won on a minority vote. [19]


On the morning of election day, overseas counts from London, Ottawa and the Middle East indicated a majority for Labour, but domestic results coming in during the evening suggested to several government officials and even to Walter Nash thal Labour would lose. By 10.30 pm only 35 of the 80 seats were certain for Labour, with Barclay (Marsden) defeated and even Nordmeyer (Oamaru) uncertain. But with 73,000 servicemens’ votes that came in during the day, Lowry (Otaki), Hodgens (Palmerston North) and Roberts (Wairarapa) scraped in. Over subsequent days with 60,000 special votes plus over 20,000 more servicemens’ votes, both Nordmeyer and Anderton (Eden) also scraped in. Fraser, who had campaigned among the troops, quipped that it was not only North Africa that the Second Division had saved.[20][21] By 7 October, National's lead in four seats had been overturned by the services votes,[22] and by 12 October, it was apparent that the result in six seats (Eden, Nelson, Oamaru, Otaki, Palmerston North and Wairarapa) had been overturned by the services vote.[23]


John A. Lee's new Democratic Labour Party won only 4.3% of the vote, and no seats. Bill Barnard and Colin Scrimgeour were formerly on the Labour left. Barnard had left the Labour Party with John A. Lee but had fallen out with him and left Lee's Democratic Labour Party, standing as an independent. Scrimgeour stood as an independent against Prime Minister Peter Fraser in Wellington Central and polled well, reducing Fraser's majority so that Fraser only sneaked back on a minority vote.


Albert Davy the organiser of the Independent People’s Group (IPG) or People's Movement complained that the election was decided on "strictly party" lines, and said that the effect of the Democratic Labour Party standing was to give six seats to the National Party.
[24]


Two defeated Labour MPs, James Barclay and Charles Boswell, were appointed to diplomatic posts in Australia and Russia, respectively.


The election was also notable for the defeat of Āpirana Ngata a renowned Māori statesman and member for Eastern Maori after 38 years in parliament, by Rātana–Labour candidate Tiaki Omana. Labour now held all four Māori electorates and would continue to do so until 1993.


One independent was re-elected: Harry Atmore from Nelson — this was the last electoral victory by a candidate not from the major parties until the 1966 election. Atmore had the tactical support of Labour who (as in 1935 and 1938) did not stand a candidate against him, and he generally voted with Labour.[25] The slight margin to National in Nelson on civilian votes was reversed by the service votes.[26]



Party standings
























































Election results
Party
Candidates
Votes
Percentage
Seats won
change


Labour
77
447,919
47.56
45
-8


National
77
402,887
42.78
34
+9


Democratic Labour
54
40,443
4.29
0
±0


People's Movement
25
7,389
0.89
0
±0


Real Democracy
25
4,421
0.53
0
±0


Independents
38
38,789
3.95
1
-1
Total
291
941,828


80


Votes summary
























Popular Vote
Labour
47.60%
National
42.80%
Democratic Labour
4.30%
Independent
3.90%
Others
1.50%

















Parliament seats
Labour
56.25%
National
42.50%
Independent
1.25%


Initial MPs


The table below shows the results of the 1943 general election:


Key


 Labour  
 National  
 Democratic Labour  
 Real Democracy  
 Independent  





















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Electorate results for the New Zealand general election, 1943[18]
ElectorateIncumbentWinnerMajorityRunner up

General electorates

Auckland Central


Bill Parry
4,769

William George Stanley Swabey[27]

Auckland East


Frederick Schramm
962

Harry Tom Merritt[28]

Auckland Suburbs


Rex Mason
3,028

Thomas Augustus Bishop[27]

Auckland West


Peter Carr
5,402


John W. Kealy

Avon


Dan Sullivan
4,460

James Neil Clarke[29]

Awarua


James Hargest
Uncontested

Bay of Islands


Charles Boswell


Sidney Walter Smith
1,276


Charles Boswell

Bay of Plenty


Bill Sullivan
1,679

Walter William Jonasen[30]

Buller


Paddy Webb
4,635

E W Nicolaus

Central Otago


William Bodkin
2,723

James McIndoe Mackay[31]

Christchurch East


Mabel Howard
5,537

Reginald Gilbert Brown[29]

Christchurch North


Sidney Holland
2,645


George Manning[32]

Christchurch South


Robert Macfarlane
4,416


Ron Guthrey[33]

Clutha


James Roy
1,587

H K Edie

Dunedin Central


Peter Nielson
2,155

L J T Ireland

Dunedin North


James Wright Munro
2,798

A L S Castle

Dunedin South


Fred Jones
3,061

David Murdoch

Dunedin West


Gervan McMillan


Philip Connolly
1,338

Alexander Smith Falconer

Eden


Bill Anderton
14


Wilfred Fortune

Egmont


Charles Wilkinson


Ernest Corbett
2,422


Edwin Thoms Cox[34]

Franklin


Jack Massey
3,285

Aaron Best[35][36]

Gisborne


David William Coleman
572


Harry Barker[37]

Grey Lynn


John A. Lee


Fred Hackett
6,059


John A. Lee

Hamilton


Charles Barrell


Frank Findlay
454


Charles Barrell

Hauraki


Andrew Sutherland
2,723

Edmund Colin Nigel Robinson[35]

Hawke's Bay


Edward Luttrell Cullen
1,636

Eric N. Pryor[38]

Hurunui


George Forbes


William Gillespie
1,566

James William Morgan[29]

Hutt


Walter Nash
5,260

John H. Hogan

Invercargill


William Denham
987

William Bell[39]

Kaiapoi


Morgan Williams
761

William Harold Overton[40]

Kaipara


Gordon Coates


Clifton Webb
2,800


John Stewart[27]

Lyttelton


Terry McCombs
1,374


Edward Bickmore Ellison Taylor[33][41]

Manawatu


John Cobbe


Matthew Oram
2,305

William Henry Oliver[nb 1]

Marlborough


Edwin Meachen
450


Tom Shand

Marsden


James Gillespie Barclay


Alfred Murdoch
1,006


James Gillespie Barclay

Masterton


John Robertson


Garnet Hercules Mackley
494


John Robertson

Mataura


Tom Macdonald
Uncontested

Mid-Canterbury


Mary Grigg


Richard Gerard
634


David Barnes[33]

Motueka


Jerry Skinner
301

J R Haldane

Napier


Bill Barnard


Tommy Armstrong
1,273

Morris Spence[43]

Nelson


Harry Atmore
191

Frederick William Huggins[44][45][46]

New Plymouth


Frederick Frost


Ernest Aderman
1,276


Frederick Frost

Oamaru


Arnold Nordmeyer
125

T R Beatty[47]

Onehunga


Arthur Osborne
3,324

John Park

Otahuhu


Charles Petrie
464

Gordon Glover Hamilton[27]

Otaki


Leonard Lowry
191


Bert Cooksley

Pahiatua


Alfred Ransom


Keith Holyoake
1,825

G A Hansen

Palmerston North


Joe Hodgens
212

Augustus Edward Mansford

Patea


Harold Dickie


William Sheat
912

Alex Langslow[36]

Raglan


Lee Martin


Robert Coulter
108

Robert James Glasgow[48]

Rangitikei


Edward Gordon
1,612

R Freeman[36]

Remuera


Bill Endean


Ronald Algie
4,183


Martyn Finlay

Riccarton


Herbert Kyle


Jack Watts
1,322

Harold Ernest Denton[29]

Roskill


Arthur Richards
962


Roy McElroy[49]

Rotorua


Alexander Moncur


Geoffrey Sim
715


Alexander Moncur[35]

Stratford


William Polson
2,059

Brian Richmond[50]

Tauranga


Frederick Doidge
3,625

Dudley Alexander Hill[30]

Temuka


Jack Acland
1,690

George Harris[51]

Thames


Jim Thorn
935

William Alexander Clark[48]

Timaru


Clyde Carr
1,701

Jack Satterthwaite[52]

Waikato


William Goosman
4,615

Charles Croall[53]

Waimarino


Frank Langstone
1,404

Roger Oswald Montgomerie

Waipawa


Cyril Harker
2,091

Archie Low[54]

Wairarapa


Ben Roberts
151


James Joseph Maher

Waitaki


David Campbell Kidd
821

J S Adams

Waitemata


Mary Dreaver


Henry Thorne Morton
321


Mary Dreaver

Waitomo


Walter Broadfoot
1,881


Ben Waters

Wallace


Adam Hamilton
1,607

John James Lynch[55]

Wanganui


Joseph Cotterill
2,437

E J Kirk

Wellington Central


Peter Fraser
1,206


Will Appleton

Wellington East


Bob Semple
2,588

Leonard Theodor Jacobsen[56]

Wellington North


Charles Henry Chapman
1,897


Thomas Hislop

Wellington South


Robert McKeen
4,156


Ernest Toop

Wellington Suburbs


Harry Ernest Combs
2,581


Bill Veitch

Wellington West


Catherine Stewart


Charles Bowden
1,183


Catherine Stewart

Westland


James O'Brien
2,600

E Frank Chivers[57][58]

Māori electorates

Eastern Maori


Āpirana Ngata


Tiaki Omana
240

Āpirana Ngata

Northern Maori


Paraire Karaka Paikea


Tapihana Paraire Paikea
2,438

Eru Moka Pou[28]

Southern Maori


Eruera Tirikatene
558

John Piuraki Tikao-Barrett

Western Maori


Toko Ratana
3,309


Pei Te Hurinui Jones

Table footnotes:




  1. ^ Father of the historian W. H. Oliver[42]




Notes




  1. ^ King 2003, pp. 395f.


  2. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 225.


  3. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 228.


  4. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 189.


  5. ^ "Early Election". The New Zealand Herald. 80 (24607). 11 June 1943. p. 2. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  6. ^ "By-elections Postponement Act 19431". New Zealand Law online. 


  7. ^ "By-elections Postponement Act 1943 (7 GEO VI 1943 No 7)". Parliamentary Counsel Office. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  8. ^ ab "General elections 1853–2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Retrieved 12 January 2011. 


  9. ^ Wood 1996, p. 108.


  10. ^ "Party Support: Results analysed". Papers Past. 27 September 1943. 


  11. ^ "Election Today". The New Zealand Herald. 25 September 1943. 


  12. ^ "To-Morrow's Election". Bay of Plenty Beacon. 7 (9). 24 September 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 28 August 2013. 


  13. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 285–286.


  14. ^ "Ten in Doubt". Auckland Star. LXXIV (230). 28 September 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  15. ^ "The New Parliament". The New Zealand Herald. 80 (24699). 27 September 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  16. ^ "Not Definite". The New Zealand Herald. 80 (24699). 27 September 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  17. ^ "The Election". The Press. LXXIX (24082). 19 October 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  18. ^ ab "The General Election, 1943". National Library. 1944. pp. 1–12. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 


  19. ^ Lipson 2011, p. 218-19.


  20. ^ Atkinson 2003, p. 154.


  21. ^ Bassett 2000, p. ?.


  22. ^ "Turned the Scales: Servicemen's Votes". Papers Past. 7 October 1943. 


  23. ^ "Election Result: State of Parties". Papers Past. 12 October 1943. 


  24. ^ "On Party Lines: Mr Davys' analysis". Papers Past. 27 September 1943. 


  25. ^ Milne 1966, p. 76.


  26. ^ "Big Influence: Service votes". Papers Past. 7 October 1943. 


  27. ^ abcd "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. 80 (24713). 13 October 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 15 May 2017. 


  28. ^ ab "Electoral". Auckland Star. LXXIV (290). 7 December 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 15 May 2017. 


  29. ^ abcd "Public Notices". The Press. LXXIX (24076). 12 October 1943. p. 1. Retrieved 15 May 2017. 


  30. ^ ab "Public Notices". Bay of Plenty Beacon. 7 (15). 15 October 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  31. ^ "Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Central Otago". Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette. 13 October 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 15 May 2017. 


  32. ^ Sharfe, Jean. "Manning, George". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 17 February 2010. 


  33. ^ abc "Public Notices". The Press. LXXIX (24077). 13 October 1943. p. 1. Retrieved 15 May 2017. 


  34. ^ "Labour Candidate for Egmont". The Press. LXXIX (24021). 9 August 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 14 May 2017. 


  35. ^ abc "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. 80 (24714). 14 October 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  36. ^ abc "Labour Candidates". The Evening Post. CXXXVI (24). 28 July 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 15 May 2017. 


  37. ^ Milton-Tee, Ann. "Harry Heaton Barker". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 


  38. ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 382.


  39. ^ "General Election". Auckland Star. LXXIV (148). 24 June 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 15 May 2017. 


  40. ^ "Public Notices". The Press. LXXIX (24076). 12 October 1943. p. 1. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  41. ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 387.


  42. ^ "William Henry Oliver". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 2 October 2015. 


  43. ^ "General Election". Auckland Star. LXXIV (161). 9 July 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  44. ^ "Nelson Seat". The Evening Post. CXXXVI (13). 15 July 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  45. ^ "Obituary". The Evening Post. CXL (126). 24 November 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  46. ^ "Frederick William Huggins". New Zealand War Graves Project. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  47. ^ "The New Parliament". The New Zealand Herald. 80 (24699). 27 September 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 15 May 2017. 


  48. ^ ab "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. 80 (24764). 11 December 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  49. ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 375.


  50. ^ "General Election". The Press. LXXIX (23989). 2 July 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  51. ^ "General Election". The Press. LXXIX (23981). 23 June 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  52. ^ "Timaru Electorate". The Press. LXXIX (23941). 7 May 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  53. ^ "Candidates Chosen". Auckland Star. LXXIV (177). 28 July 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  54. ^ "General Election". The Evening Post. CXXXVI (48). 25 August 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  55. ^ "Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Wallace". Lake Wakatip Mail (4637). 7 October 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 16 May 2017. 


  56. ^ "Public Notices". The Evening Post. CXXXVI (136). 6 December 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 4 May 2015. 


  57. ^ "General Election". Auckland Star. LXXIV (203). 27 August 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 3 November 2014. 


  58. ^ "Chivers, E Frank, DSM, MID". Torpedo Bay Navy Museum. Retrieved 3 November 2014. 



References



  • Atkinson, Neill (2003). Adventures in Democracy: A History of the Vote in New Zealand. Dunedin: University of Otago Press. 


  • Bassett, Michael (2000). Tomorrow Comes the Song: A life of Peter Fraser. Auckland: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-029793-6. 


  • Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6. 


  • King, Michael (2003). Penguin History of New Zealand. Penguin Books. ISBN 0 14 301867 1. 


  • Lipson, Leslie (2011) [1948]. The Politics of Equality: New Zealand’s Adventures in Democracy. Wellington: Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-0-86473-646-8. 


  • Milne, Robert Stephen (1966). Political Parties in New Zealand. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. 


  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. 


  • Wood, G. A. (1996) [First ed. published 1987]. Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament (2 ed.). Dunedin: University of Otago Press. ISBN 1-877133-00-0. 





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