1931 New Zealand general election 1 (Māori) & 2 December (general) 1931
New Zealand House of Representatives Turnout 714,511 (83.3%) Results of the election.
The1931 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of theNew Zealand Parliament 's24th term . It resulted in thenewly formed coalition between theUnited Party and theReform Party remaining in office as theUnited–Reform Coalition Government , although the oppositionLabour Party made some minor gains despite tallying more votes than any other single party.
In the1928 election , theReform Party won 28 seats to theUnited Party 's 27 seats. Shortly after the election the Reform Party lost a vote of no-confidence and the United Party managed to form a government, theUnited Government , with the support of theLabour Party , with governing Reform Party going into the opposition. In 1931, however, the agreement between United and Labour collapsed due to differing opinions on how to counter theGreat Depression . The Reform Party, fearing that the Depression would give Labour a substantial boost, reluctantly agreed to form a coalition with United to avert elections. By forming a coalition, United and Reform were able to blunt Labour's advantage, ending the possibility of the anti-Labour vote being split.
The date for the main 1931 elections was 2 December, a Wednesday. Elections to the fourMāori electorates were held the day before. 874,787 people were registered to vote, and there was aturnout of 83.3%. This turnout was below average for the time period.
The number of seats was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.[ 1] Bay of Plenty ,Oroua ,Pahiatua ,Waitomo ) there was only one candidate.[ 2] [ 3]
Crowd on intersection ofWillis and Mercer Streets inWellington , outside the offices ofThe Evening Post The 1931 election saw the recently formed governing coalition retain office as theUnited–Reform Coalition , winning fifty-one seats, including fourindependents . This was a drop of four seats from what the two parties had won in the previous elections, but was still considerably better than many had expected given the economic situation. TheLabour Party won twenty-four seats, a gain of five. In the popular vote (including pro-coalition independents), the coalition won 54.0% of the vote, down from the 66.1% that the two parties had won previously. Labour won 34.3%. The only other party to gain a place in Parliament was theCountry Party , which won a single seat. Four other independents were elected. Four candidates were elected unopposed:Walter Broadfoot inWaitomo ,John Cobbe inOroua ,Alfred Ransom inPahiatua , andKenneth Williams inBay of Plenty .[ 4]
Winning party by electorate. Popular Vote All Coalition Parties
54.03% Labour
34.27% Coalition Reform
26.60% Coalition United
16.90% Country Party
2.34% Coalition Independent
10.53% Independent
9.36%
Parliament seats All Coalition Parties
63.75% Coalition Reform
35.00% Labour
30.00% Coalition United
23.75% Country Party
1.25% Coalition Independent
5.00% Independent
5.00%
The following table shows the detailed results:
Key
Reform Labour United Country Party Independent Liberal Ratana Independent
Electorate results for the 1931 New Zealand general election[ 5] [ 6] Electorate Incumbent Winner Majority Runner up General electorates Auckland Central Bill Parry 3,793[ 7] Harold Penfound Congdon Auckland East James Donald Bill Schramm 2,256[ 8] Harold Percy Burton Auckland Suburbs Rex Mason 1,223 Richard Herbert Marryatt[ 9] Auckland West Michael Joseph Savage 4,517 Hugh Ross Mackenzie[ 9] Avon Dan Sullivan 3,039 Harben Robert Young Awarua Philip De La Perrelle 2,148 Norman McIntyre[ 10] Bay of Islands Harold Rushworth 1,209 Allen Bell Bay of Plenty Kenneth Williams Uncontested Buller Harry Holland 3,631 John Menzies [ 11] Central Otago William Bodkin 2,516 Charles Todd Chalmers Alfred Ansell 172 Norman Hartley Campbell Christchurch East Tim Armstrong 3,206 George Frederick Allen Christchurch North Henry Holland 2,077 Elizabeth McCombs Christchurch South Ted Howard 2,798[ 12] Charlie McCully[ 13] Clutha Fred Waite Peter McSkimming 1,530 Fred Waite Dunedin Central Charles Statham 262 Peter Neilson Dunedin North Jim Munro 524 John McCrae[ 14] [ 15] Dunedin South William Taverner Fred Jones 3,644 William Taverner Dunedin West William Downie Stewart Jr 924 John Gilchrist Eden Arthur Stallworthy 1,270[ 12] Bill Anderton Egmont Charles Wilkinson 1,308 F. Gawith Franklin Jack Massey 2,457 Harry Oswald Mellsop[ 16] Gisborne Douglas Lysnar David Coleman 317[ 12] Douglas Lysnar Grey Lynn John Fletcher John A. Lee 3,242[ 7] John Fletcher Hamilton Alexander Young 3,072[ 17] Hubert Beebe Hauraki Walter William Massey 2,750[ 7] Charles Robert Petrie Hawke's Bay Hugh Campbell 2,259 Ted Cullen [ 18] Hurunui George Forbes 3,953 R. J. Logan[ 19] Hutt Walter Nash 2,823 James Kerr[ nb 1] Invercargill Vincent Ward James Hargest 508 William McChesney Kaiapoi Richard Hawke 1,414 John Archer [ 20] Kaipara Gordon Coates 2,084 Albert Edward Robinson[ 21] Lyttelton James McCombs 32 Frederick Willie Freeman[ 22] Manawatu Joseph Linklater 2,246 Lorrie Hunter Manukau Bill Jordan 3,394[ 12] Stanley Rickards[ 9] Marsden Alfred Murdoch 2,942 Jim Barclay Masterton George Sykes 1,951 Peter Butler Mataura David McDougall 943 Thomas Golden[ 23] Mid-Canterbury David Jones Jeremiah Connolly 136[ 24] David Jones Motueka George Black 517 Keith Holyoake Napier Bill Barnard 1,456 John Butler Nelson Harry Atmore 100 Herbert Everett[ 25] New Plymouth Sydney George Smith 3,472 William Sheat Oamaru John Andrew MacPherson 1,046[ 12] John Kirkness Oroua John Cobbe Uncontested Otaki William Hughes Field 1,321 Jim Thorn Pahiatua Alfred Ransom Uncontested Palmerston Jimmy Nash 1,245 Joe Hodgens Parnell Bill Endean 4,821[ 7] John William Yarnall Patea Harold Dickie 3,495 W. G. Simpson Raglan Lee Martin Stewart Reid 806 Lee Martin Rangitikei James Thomas Hogan Alexander Stuart 15 James Thomas Hogan Riccarton Bert Kyle 589 Archibald Albany McLachlan[ nb 2] Roskill George Munns Arthur Shapton Richards 171[ 7] William John Holdsworth[ 26] Rotorua Cecil Clinkard 57 Alexander Moncur Stratford William Polson 1,518 J W McMillan[ nb 3] Tauranga Charles Macmillan 658 Bill Sullivan [ nb 4] Temuka Thomas Burnett 1,237 Thomas Herbert Langford Thames Albert Samuel 464 John Sommerville Montgomerie[ 28] Timaru Clyde Carr 820 Herbert N. Armstrong[ 29] [ nb 5] Waikato Frederick Lye 981 Solomon Netheim Ziman[ nb 6] Waimarino Frank Langstone 591 William Henry Wackrow Waipawa Albert Jull [ nb 7] 386 John Davies Ormond, Jr.[ nb 8] Wairarapa Thomas McDonald Alex McLeod 616 Thomas McDonald Wairau Edward Healy 1,424 William Girling Waitaki John Bitchener 885 Alexander McLean Paterson[ 31] Waitemata Alexander Harris 2,378[ 7] Arthur Osborne [ 32] Waitomo Walter Broadfoot Uncontested Wallace Adam Hamilton 2,842 Peter Gilfedder[ 33] Wanganui Bill Veitch 590 Bill Rogers Wellington Central Peter Fraser 2,471[ 34] Robert Darroch Wellington East Bob Semple 593[ 34] Thomas Forsyth Wellington North Charles Chapman 1,061[ 34] George Troup Wellington South Robert McKeen 2,659 Will Appleton [ 35] Wellington Suburbs Robert Wright 2,570[ 34] Tom Brindle Westland James O'Brien 1,121 John Greenslade Māori electorates Eastern Maori Āpirana Ngata 3,211 Pita Moko Northern Maori Taurekareka Henare 1,188 Paraire Karaka Paikea Southern Maori Tuiti Makitanara 19 Eruera Tirikatene Western Maori Taite Te Tomo 1,436 Toko Ratana
Table footnotes:
Four of the eight independent MPs (Connolly, Hargest, McSkimming, and Polson) were aligned with the United–Reform Coalition, and are not classified as independents by some sources. ^ "General elections 1853–2005 - dates & turnout" . Elections New Zealand. Archived fromthe original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved12 January 2011 .^ Bassett 1982 , p. 67.^ Wilson 1985 , p. 286.^ "Nominations Close" .Evening Post . Retrieved3 August 2013 .^ McRobie 1989 , pp. 87f.^ Skinner 1932 , pp. 1–10.^a b c d e f "Election Counts" .Auckland Star . Retrieved28 October 2014 .^ "Recount of Votes" .Auckland Star . Retrieved31 October 2014 .^a b c "Parliamentary Elections" .Auckland Star . Retrieved7 November 2014 .^ "Page 4 Advertisements Column 4" .Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser . Vol. LV, no. 5636. 1 December 1931. p. 4. Retrieved8 November 2014 .^ "Buller Electorate" .The Evening Post . Retrieved8 November 2014 .^a b c d e "Election Results" .Auckland Star . Retrieved1 November 2014 .^ "Straight Grained" .New Zealand Truth . Retrieved2 November 2014 .^ "John McCrae" .Auckland War Memorial Museum . Retrieved9 July 2022 – via Online Cenotaph.^ "Dunedin North" .Auckland Star . Retrieved11 November 2014 .^ "Electoral" .The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved15 November 2014 .^ "Electors' Choice" .Auckland Star . Retrieved1 November 2014 .^ "A Coalition Certainty" .The Evening Post . Retrieved29 June 2014 .^ "In Canterbury" .Auckland Star . Retrieved16 November 2014 .^ Gustafson, Barry ."Archer, John Kendrick" .Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Ministry for Culture and Heritage . Retrieved8 April 2011 .^ "Notice of Nominations received and Polling Places appointed" .Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette . 25 November 1931. p. 7. Retrieved21 November 2014 .^ "Notice of Nominations Received and Polling Places Appointed" .Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser . Vol. LV, no. 5634. 24 November 1931. p. 2. Retrieved22 November 2014 .^ "Mr McDougall Opposed" .The Evening Post . Retrieved24 November 2014 .^ "Public Notices" .Ellesmere Guardian . Vol. LII, no. 99. 11 December 1931. p. 1. Retrieved24 November 2013 .^ "Opposing Mr Atmore" .The Evening Post . Retrieved27 November 2014 .^ "Electoral" .The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved2 December 2014 .^ "Stratford Electorate" .The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved6 December 2014 .^ "Reform Triumph" .The Northern Advocate . Retrieved15 December 2014 .^ Kerr, Stephen (2003)."Good Old Clyde": Clyde Carr M.P., Timaru and the Art of Incumbency, 1928–1962 (PDF) (Thesis).University of Canterbury . p. 66. Retrieved16 December 2014 . ^ "Ziman, John Michael" (PDF) . Oxford University Press. Retrieved16 December 2014 .^ Facer, Wayne Arthur Pickard (2012). "In New Zealand: Timaru 1923–1925".William Jellie: Unitarian, Scholar and Educator (PDF) (M.Phil.).Massey University . Retrieved14 March 2015 . ^ "Parliamentary Elections" .Auckland Star . Retrieved29 October 2014 .^ "Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Wallace" .Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle . Vol. XXVII, no. 1349. 15 December 1931. p. 2. Retrieved15 March 2015 .^a b c d "Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Wellington Suburbs" .The Evening Post . Retrieved5 March 2014 .^ "Coalition Selection" .The Evening Post . Retrieved17 March 2015 .
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