20th New Zealand Parliament

The 20th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1919 general election in December of that year.

20th Parliament of New Zealand
← 19th Parliament 21st Parliament →
Parliament House, Wellington
Overview
Legislative body	New Zealand Parliament
Term	14 June 1920 – 31 October 1922
Election	1919 New Zealand general election
Government	Reform Government
House of Representatives
Members	80
Speaker of the House	Frederic Lang
Prime Minister	William Massey
Leader of the Opposition	Thomas Wilford from 8 September 1920 ––William MacDonald until 31 August 1920 †
Legislative Council
Members	43 (at start) 38 (at end)
Speaker of the Council	Sir Walter Carncross
Leader of the Council	Sir Francis Bell
Sovereign
Monarch	HM George V
Governor-General	HE Rt. Hon. The Viscount Jellicoe from 27 September 1920 HE Rt. Hon. The Earl of Liverpool until 8 July 1920

1919 general election

Main article: 1919 New Zealand general election

The 1919 general election was held on Tuesday, 16 December in the Māori electorates and on Wednesday, 17 December in the general electorates, respectively.[1] A total of 80 MPs were elected; 45 represented North Island electorates, 31 represented South Island electorates, and the remaining four represented Māori electorates.[2] 683,420 voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 80.5%.[1]

Sessions

The 20th Parliament sat for five sessions (there were two sessions in 1912 and 1913, respectively), and was prorogued on 30 November 1922.[3]

Session	Opened	Adjouned
first	24 June 1920	11 November 1920
second	10 March 1921	22 March 1921
third	22 September 1921	22 December 1921
fourth	11 January 1922	11 February 1922
fifth	28 June 1922	31 October 1922

Party standings

Start of Parliament

Party		Leader(s)	Seats at start
	Reform Party	William Massey	43
	Liberal Party	William MacDonald	17
	Labour Party	Harry Holland	8
	Independents		8

End of Parliament

Party		Leader(s)	Seats at end
	Reform Party	William Massey	44
	Liberal Party	Thomas Wilford	16
	Labour Party	Harry Holland	9
	Independents		7

Ministries

The wartime coalition between the Reform Party and the Liberal Party had come to an end by August 1919. William Massey of the Reform Party had been the leader of the coalition, with Joseph Ward of the Liberal Party as the deputy.[4] Ward left the coalition because it had become deeply unpopular with the population.[5] Massey then formed the second Massey Ministry on 25 August 1919 and remained in power during the term of the 20th Parliament and beyond until his death on 10 May 1925.[5][6]

Initial composition of the 20th Parliament

The table below shows the results of the 1919 general election:

Key

Reform		Liberal		Labour		Liberal–Labour
Independent Liberal			Independent Labour			Independent

Electorate results for the 1919 New Zealand general election[7]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Ashburton		William Nosworthy			1,493		William Dickie
Auckland Central		Albert Glover		Bill Parry	786		Albert Glover
Auckland East		Arthur Myers			158		Clutha Mackenzie
Auckland West		Charles Poole		Michael Joseph Savage	533		Charles Frederick Bennett[8]
Avon		George Russell		Dan Sullivan	1,648		George Russell
Awarua		Joseph Ward		John Hamilton	757		Joseph Ward
Bay of Islands		Vernon Reed			1,195		St. Claire Jounneaux
Bay of Plenty		William MacDonald			1,234		Kenneth Williams
Bruce		James Allen			126		John Edie
Buller		James Colvin		Harry Holland	1,003		Denis Quinlan O'Brien[8]
Chalmers		James Dickson			883		John Gilchrist
Christchurch East		Henry Thacker			1,940		Hiram Hunter
Christchurch North		Leonard Isitt			2,403		Tim Armstrong
Christchurch South		Harry Ell		Ted Howard	1,675		Henry Holland
Clutha		Alexander Malcolm			134		Robert Alexander Rodger[9][10]
Dunedin Central		Charles Statham			497		Jim Munro
Dunedin North		Andrew Walker		Edward Kellett	806		Andrew Walker
Dunedin South		Thomas Sidey			84		Tom Paul
Dunedin West		William Downie Stewart			2,421		John Arthur Brown[11][12]
Eden		James Parr			1,854		Oscar McBrine
Egmont		Charles Wilkinson		Oswald Hawken	191		David Lyon Abbott Astbury
Ellesmere		Heaton Rhodes			749		George Barclay
Franklin		William Massey			3,030		Joseph Rea
Gisborne		James Carroll		Douglas Lysnar	373		James Carroll
Grey Lynn		John Payne		Fred Bartram	481		Ellen Melville
Hawke's Bay		John Findlay		Hugh Campbell	942		Gilbert McKay
Hurunui		George Forbes			667		John George Armstrong[13]
Hutt		Thomas Wilford			1,005		David Pritchard
Invercargill		Josiah Hanan			1,403		John Archer
Kaiapoi		David Buddo		David Jones	50		David Buddo
Kaipara		Gordon Coates			3,291		Alfred Gregory
Lyttelton		James McCombs			577		Robert Macartney[8]
Manawatu	New electorate			Edward Newman	866		Alfred Hillier
Manukau		Frederic Lang			2,508		Rex Mason
Marsden		Francis Mander			189		Alfred Murdoch
Masterton		George Sykes		George Sykes	344		A C Holms
Mataura		George Anderson			1,336		David McDougall
Motueka		Richard Hudson			661		Percy Power
Napier		Vigor Brown			54		Frederick Charles Evans[14][15]
Nelson		Thomas Field		Harry Atmore	510		Thomas Field
Oamaru		Ernest Lee			276		John MacPherson
Ohinemuri		Hugh Poland			555		J Clark
Oroua		David Guthrie			1,843		E J Tunnicliffe
Otaki		William Hughes Field			1,232		James McKenzie
Pahiatua		Harold Smith		Archibald McNicol	170		Robert Ross
Palmerston		Jimmy Nash			1,004		Moses Ayrton[16]
Parnell		James Samuel Dickson			3,419		Tom Bloodworth
Patea		George Pearce		Walter Powdrell	255		William Morrison
Raglan		Richard Bollard			988		Bill Jordan
Rangitikei		Edward Newman		William Glenn	635		F P Brady[17]
Riccarton		George Witty			626		William Russell Devereux[18]
Roskill	New electorate			Vivian Potter	1,854		James Gunson
Rotorua	New electorate			Frank Hockly	1,733		Malcolm Larney[19]
Stratford		John Hine		Robert Masters	61		John Hine
Taranaki		Sydney George Smith		Sydney George Smith	1,023		Buckeridge
Tauranga		William Herries			1,860		Benjamin Robbins[20]
Temuka		Charles Talbot		Thomas Burnett	31		Charles Talbot
Thames		Thomas William Rhodes			1,590		W J McCormick
Timaru		James Craigie		James Craigie	1,519		Percy Vinnell
Waikato		Alexander Young			2,893		P H Watts
Waimarino		Robert William Smith			643		Frank Langstone
Waipawa		George Hunter			274		Albert Jull
Wairarapa		J. T. Marryat Hornsby		Alexander McLeod	540		J. T. Marryat Hornsby
Wairau		Richard McCallum			796		B J Cooke
Waitaki		John Anstey		John Bitchener	472		John Anstey
Waitemata		Alexander Harris			1,419		Arthur Edwin Greenslade[21]
Waitomo	New electorate			William Jennings	377		K C Wilson
Wakatipu		William Fraser		James Horn	801		Robert Scott
Wallace		John Charles Thomson		Adam Hamilton	43		John Charles Thomson
Wanganui		Bill Veitch			1,703		W J Cuttle
Wellington Central		Peter Fraser			1,056		Frederick Pirani[8]
Wellington East		Alfred Newman			1,058		Alec Monteith
Wellington North		John Luke			1,065		H. Oakley Browne
Wellington South		Bob Semple		George Mitchell	1,426		Bob Semple
Wellington Suburbs		Robert Wright			1,127		Alexander Croskery
Westland		Tom Seddon			1,497		James O'Brien
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Āpirana Ngata			Uncontested
Northern Maori		Taurekareka Henare			1,629		Nau Parone Kawiti
Southern Maori		Hopere Uru			207		Riki te Mairaki Taiaroa
Western Maori		Māui Pōmare			1,424		Ngarangi Katitia

By-elections during 20th Parliament

There were a number of changes during the term of the 20th Parliament.

Electorate and by-election		Date	Incumbent		Cause	Winner
Bruce	1920	14 April		James Allen	Resignation		John Edie
Stratford	1920	6 May		Robert Masters	Election declared void		Robert Masters
Bay of Plenty	1920	30 September		William MacDonald	Death		Kenneth Williams
Patea	1921	13 April		Walter Powdrell	Death		Edwin Dixon
Auckland East	1921	2 November		Arthur Myers	Resignation		Clutha Mackenzie
Southern Maori	1922	25 January		Hopere Uru	Death		Henare Uru
Dunedin North	1922	21 June		Edward Kellett	Death		Jim Munro

Notes

1. "General elections 1853–2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
2. Scholefield 1950, p. 90.
3. Scholefield 1950, p. 69.
4. Scholefield 1950, p. 44.
5. Gustafson, Barry. "Massey, William Ferguson - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
6. Scholefield 1950, pp. 44–45.
7. Hislop, J. (1921). The General Election, 1919. National Library. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
8. Gustafson 1980, p. 181.
9. "Clutha". Otago Daily Times (17779). 11 November 1919. p. 6. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
10. Dickson, Amanda Rodger (23 September 2011). "West Otago A & P Society". Amanda Rodger Dickson at Wordpress. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
11. Gustafson 1980, p. 155.
12. "The election campaign". Evening Star (17218). 6 December 1919. p. 6. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
13. "Notice of nominations received". The Press. LV (16701). 9 December 1919. p. 10. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
14. "Notice of Nominations Received". Hawke's Bay Tribune. IX (303). 9 December 1919. p. 6. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
15. "Napier". Hawera & Normanby Star. LXXIV. 7 November 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
16. Brown, Colin. "Moses Ayrton". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
17. Gustafson 1980, p. 154.
18. "Notice of Nominations Received". The Press. LV (16702). 10 December 1919. p. 12. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
19. "Rotorua Seat". Auckland Star. L (282). 27 November 1919. p. 11. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
20. "Liberal Selection for Tauranga". Wairarapa Daily Times. 45 (13977). 11 November 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
21. "Waitemata Parliamentary Election". Observer. XL (14). 6 December 1919. p. 12. Retrieved 5 December 2014.

References

• Gustafson, Barry (1980). Labour's path to political independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1900–19. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press. ISBN 0-19-647986-X.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.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)