1946 New Zealand general election

The 1946 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 28th term. It saw the governing Labour Party re-elected, but by a substantially narrower margin than in the three previous elections. The National Party continued its gradual rise.

1946 New Zealand general election

26 November 1946 (Māori) 27 November 1946 (general)
All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	1,047,205 (93.5%)
First party Second party   Leader Peter Fraser Sidney Holland Party Labour National Leader since 4 April 1940 26 November 1940 Leader's seat Brooklyn Christchurch North Last election 45 seats, 47.6% 34 seats, 42.8% Seats won 42 38 Seat change 3 4 Popular vote 536,994 507,139 Percentage 51.3% 48.4% Swing 3.7% 5.6%
Prime Minister before election Peter Fraser Labour Elected Prime Minister Peter Fraser Labour

Background

The Labour Party had been in government since winning the 1935 elections, and had been re-elected twice. However, the National Party had managed to overcome the internal problems which had once troubled it, and now presented a credible threat to Labour. National's leader, Sidney Holland, was proving more effective than his predecessor, while the Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, was weary and in poor health. The after-effects of World War II, including ongoing shortages, were affecting the government's popularity.

The next New Zealand census was scheduled for 1946, but having had to postpone the 1941 census due to WWII, the government brought it forward. The 1945 census was held on Tuesday, 25 September, so that the results could be used for the 1946 electoral redistribution prior to the planned 1946 election.[1] In August 1945, there was a first hint that the government considered abolishing the country quota through the Electoral Amendment Act, 1945.[2] The amendment bill was introduced on 18 October 1845 and proposed the complete abolition of the country quota and that electorates be based on adult, as opposed to total, population.[3] The Electoral Amendment Act, 1945 was given royal assent on 12 November[4] and it reduced the number and increased the size of rural electorates. None of the existing electorates remained unchanged, 26 electorates were abolished, 19 electorates were created for the first time, and six former electorates were re-established.[5] The 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth and movements into account. The North Island gained a further two electorates from the South Island due to faster population growth.

Date of election

The election should have been held earlier. The 27th parliament "forgot to mark the calendar, forgot the previous election had been earlier than usual and accidentally ran for two extra months".[6]

The election

The date for the main 1946 elections was 27 November, a Wednesday. Elections to the four Māori electorates were held the day before. 1,081,898 people were registered to vote, and there was a turnout of 93.5%. This turnout was the highest ever recorded at this point. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.[7]

Election results

Party standings

The 1946 election saw the governing Labour Party retain office by a four-seat margin, winning forty-two seats to the National Party's thirty-eight. In the popular vote — Labour won 51.3% and National won 48.4%. The election was a straight fight between the two main parties (unlike the 1943 election), and only 8 of the 76 European electorates had more than two candidates. The Democratic Labour Party did not take part, and National absorbed many of the miscellaneous candidates and splinter movements. The European electorates divided equally and the Maori seats decided the issue. [8]

No other parties won any significant share of the vote, and no independents were elected — only 0.3% of voters did not support one of the two major parties. After Harry Atmore of Nelson died, no candidate who was not from the two main parties managed to enter Parliament until the 1966 elections, when the Social Credit Party won its first seat.

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	Change
	Labour	80	536,994	51.28	42	-3
	National	80	507,149	48.43	38	+4
	Communist	3	1,181	0.11	0	±0
	Independent	9	2,886	0.18	0	-1
	Total	172	1,047,210		80

Votes summary

Popular Vote Labour   51.28% National   48.43% Others   0.29%

Parliament seats Labour   52.50% National   47.50%

Initial MPs

The table below shows the results of the 1946 general election:

Key

  Labour     National     Independent  

Electorate results for the 1946 New Zealand general election[9][10]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Arch Hill	New electorate			Bill Parry[11]	6,585		Edward James Clark
Ashburton	New electorate			Geoff Gerard	1,453		Mabel Newlands
Auckland Central		Bill Parry[11]		Bill Anderton[12]	3,478		Leon Götz[13]
Avon		Dan Sullivan			5,180		Robert Alexander McDowell
Awarua		George Richard Herron			2,588		Gilbert Gregory Mitchell
Bay of Plenty		Bill Sullivan[14]			1,634		Ray Boord[15][9]
Brooklyn	New electorate			Peter Fraser[16]	3,935		Stewart Hardy
Buller		Paddy Webb		Jerry Skinner	2,912		Phil McDonald
Central Otago		William Bodkin			2,909		Claude Charles Capell
Christchurch Central	New electorate			Robert Macfarlane	4,420		Alan J. Wills
Clutha		James Roy			2,140		John Patrick Thompson
Dunedin Central		Peter Neilson		Phil Connolly	2,000		Stuart Sidey[17][9]
Dunedin North		Robert Walls			1,630		Norman Jones[18]
Eden		Bill Anderton[12]		Wilfred Fortune[19]	1,281		Warren Freer[20][9]
Egmont		Ernest Corbett[21]			3,398		Clarence Robert Parker
Fendalton	New electorate			Sidney Holland	3,004		Alan Williams
Franklin		Jack Massey			4,023		Alex Gunn
Gisborne		David Coleman			2,015		Harry Barker[22]
Grey Lynn		Fred Hackett			5,910		Harold Stapleton Barry
Hamilton		Hilda Ross			327		John Granville
Hastings	New electorate			Ted Cullen	483		Eric Pryor[23]
Hauraki		Andrew Sutherland			2,891		John William Neate
Hawke's Bay		Ted Cullen		Cyril Harker	2,014		Henry Edward Beattie
Hobson	New electorate			Sidney Walter Smith	3,580		Hubert Knox Hatrick
Hurunui		William Gillespie			1,440		John Mathison
Hutt		Walter Nash			2,587		Jim Vogel
Invercargill		William Denham		Ralph Hanan	224		William Denham
Island Bay	New electorate			Robert McKeen	3,958		Herbert Edward Childs
Karori	New electorate			Charles Bowden	2,042		Patrick Connolly McGavin
Lyttelton		Terry McCombs			1,543		Ted Taylor[24]
Manawatu		Matthew Oram			2,467		Phil Holloway
Marlborough		Ted Meachen		Tom Shand	179		Ted Meachen
Marsden		Alfred Murdoch			2,149		John Stewart
Miramar	New electorate			Bob Semple	2,482		Leonard Theodor Jacobsen[25]
Mornington	New electorate			Wally Hudson	4,681		Lewis Donald McIver
Mount Albert	New electorate			Arthur Shapton Richards	1,857		Frederick Ashley Hosking
Mount Victoria	New electorate			Jack Marshall	911		Eugene Casey
Napier		Tommy Armstrong			1,845		Alan John Price
Nelson		vacant[nb 1]		Edgar Neale	585		Cyril Harold Goodman
New Plymouth		Ernest Aderman			405		George Nimmo
North Shore	New electorate			Martyn Finlay	249		Henry Thorne Morton[26]
Oamaru		Arnold Nordmeyer			232		Thomas Ross Beatty
Onehunga		Arthur Osborne			3,424		William Kenneth King
Onslow	New electorate			Harry Combs	1,578		Philip Patrick Lynch
Otahuhu		Charles Robert Petrie			220		Albert Murdoch
Otaki		Leonard Lowry		Jimmy Maher	44		Jim Thorn
Pahiatua		Keith Holyoake			3,697		Otto Ernest Niederer
Palmerston North		Joe Hodgens		Ormond Wilson	928		Gus Mansford
Parnell	New electorate			Duncan Rae	206		Bill Schramm
Patea		William Sheat			870		Richard John O'Dea
Petone	New electorate			Mick Moohan	4,019		George London
Piako	New electorate			Stan Goosman	5,101		Ben Waters
Ponsonby	New electorate			Ritchie Macdonald	3,431		Peter E Dempsey[27]
Raglan		Hallyburton Johnstone		Alan Baxter	13		Hallyburton Johnstone
Rangitikei		Edward Gordon			2,307		John Capstick
Remuera		Ronald Algie			4,410		James Freeman
Riccarton		Jack Watts		Angus McLagan	3,875		Vic Wilson
Rodney	New electorate			Clifton Webb	2,850		Alex Dixon
Roskill		Arthur Shapton Richards		Frank Langstone	155		Roy McElroy[28]
St Albans	New electorate			Jack Watts	86		Morgan Williams[29]
St Kilda	New electorate			Fred Jones	1,248		Leonard James Tobin Ireland
Selwyn	New electorate			John McAlpine	472		Alan Sharp
Sydenham	New electorate			Mabel Howard	6,746		Ruric Hunter
Tamaki	New electorate			Tom Skinner	231		John George Concanon Wales
Tauranga		Frederick Doidge			2,704		Dudley Alexander Hill
Timaru		Clyde Carr			520		Jack Acland[30]
Waikato		Stan Goosman		Geoffrey Sim	4,385		John Dwyer
Waimarino		Frank Langstone		Paddy Kearins	681		Norman Robert Hill
Waimate	New electorate			David Campbell Kidd	789		William Roy Davison
Wairarapa		Ben Roberts		Garnet Hercules Mackley	235		George Anders Hansen
Waitakere	New electorate			Rex Mason	2,797		Archibald Morrison Laing
Waitomo		Walter Broadfoot			3,951		Alan George Goldsmith
Wallace		Adam Hamilton		Tom Macdonald	3,716		David Johnston Munro
Wanganui		Joe Cotterill			1,934		Eric Merewether
Wellington Central		Peter Fraser		Charles Henry Chapman	1,680		Agnes Louisa Weston[nb 2]
Westland		James O'Brien			4,716		E Frank Chivers[33][34]
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Tiaki Omana			1,517		Āpirana Ngata
Northern Maori		Tapihana Paraire Paikea			2,555		James Henare[35]
Southern Maori		Eruera Tirikatene			581		Vernon Ohaia Mason Thomas
Western Maori		Matiu Ratana			6,491		Hoeroa Marumaru[36]

Table footnotes:

1. Harry Atmore, the previous holder of the Nelson electorate, died on 20 August 1946
2. Claude Weston died suddenly on 10 November 1946 and was replaced by his wife[31][32]

Notes

1. "Politics brought the 1946 Census forward to 1945". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
2. "Country quota". The Press. LXXXI (24635). 3 August 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
3. "Political storm bursts: electoral amendment sprung on House". Evening Star (25618). 19 October 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
4. "Stop press". Evening Star (25639). 13 November 1945. p. 8. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
5. McRobie 1989, pp. 91–96.
6. Maoate-Cox, Daniela; Smith, Phil (12 August 2020). "Dissolving Parliament - what is that?". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
7. "General elections 1853–2005 – dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
8. Lipson 2011, p. 220-21.
9. "The General Election, 1946". National Library. 1947. pp. 1–11, 14. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
10. "The Lists Close" (25951). Evening Star. 16 November 1946. p. 9.
11. Wilson 1985, p. 225.
12. Wilson 1985, p. 180.
13. Gustafson 1986, p. 315.
14. Wilson 1985, p. 237.
15. Norton 1988, p. 200.
16. Wilson 1985, p. 198.
17. Norton 1988, p. 212.
18. Gustafson 1986, pp. 323f.
19. Wilson 1985, p. 197.
20. Norton 1988, p. 220.
21. Wilson 1985, p. 190.
22. Milton-Tee, Ann. "Harry Heaton Barker". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
23. Gustafson 1986, p. 382.
24. Gustafson 1986, p. 387.
25. "Public Notices". The Evening Post. CXXXVI (136). 6 December 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
26. Gustafson 1986, p. 334.
27. Gustafson 1986, pp. 360f.
28. Gustafson 1986, p. 375.
29. Wilson 1985, p. 245.
30. Wilson 1985, p. 179.
31. Gustafson 1986, p. 389.
32. "Claude Horace Weston". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
33. "General Election". Auckland Star. LXXIV (203). 27 August 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
34. "Chivers, E Frank, DSM, MID". Torpedo Bay Navy Museum. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
35. Gustafson 1986, p. 367.
36. Gustafson 1986, p. 377.

References

• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Lipson, Leslie (2011) [1948]. The Politics of Equality: New Zealand’s Adventures in Democracy. Wellington: Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-0-86473-646-8.
• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)