The1938 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of theNew Zealand Parliament's26th term. It resulted in the governingLabour Party being re-elected in alandslide, winning nearly 56% of the vote despite not gaining any more seats. Having replaced theUnited-Reform coalition, the newly foundedNational Party also gained a certain amount of ground.
This was the first election in which theMāori were given asecret ballot which had been available to white voters since 1870.
TheLabour Party had won a resounding victory in the1935 elections, winning fifty-three seats. Shortly after the elections, the twoRatana-aligned MPs also merged into the Labour Party, giving Labour a total of fifty-five seats. The government, a coalition of theUnited Party and theReform Party, had won only nineteen seats. Shortly after their defeat, United and Reform agreed to merge into theNational Party, which positioned itself as the only alternative to the "socialist" Labour Party. However, Labour remained popular with the public, and thePrime Minister,Michael Joseph Savage, was widely praised for his welfare reform. The leadership of the National Party, by contrast, was closely associated by the public with theGreat Depression, and struggled to gain traction.
The date for the main 1938 elections was 15 October, a Saturday. Elections to the fourMaori electorates were held the day before. 995,173 people were registered to vote, and there was aturnout of 92.9%. This turnout was the highest ever recorded at that point, although it was later exceeded in the two elections afterWorld War II and in the1984 elections. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.[1]
The 1938 election saw a decisive win for the governingLabour Party, which won fifty-three seats. This was a drop of two from what it held prior to the election. While Labour gained the seats of Bay of Islands, Motueka (previously held byKeith Holyoake), New Plymouth, Wellington Suburbs, and Northern Maori, it lost Tauranga and the rural seats of Manawatu, Rangitikei, Waikato, Mid-Canterbury, and Waipawa.
The National Party won twenty-five seats, an increase of six from that the United–Reform Coalition had previously won. Both Labour and National increased their share of the popular vote, with Labour winning 55.8% (up from 46.1%) and National winning 40.3% (up from 32.9%). This increase was at the expense of theDemocrat Party (who had merged into National in 1936)[2] and the agrarian monetary reformistCountry Party, which saw its votes collapse completely. The Country Party lost the two seats it held (Bay of Islands andFranklin) as, unlike 1935, Labour stood candidates in the seats held by the two Country Party members. HenceHarold Rushworth did not stand in the Bay of Islands seat, andArthur Sexton came third in Franklin.
Independent candidates also lost ground, with only two being elected,Harry Atmore (Nelson) andCharles Wilkinson (Egmont). As in 1935, the independents were tactically supported by one of the major parties who did not stand a candidate against them, and they generally voted with that party; Wilkinson and Wright had supported National while Atmore had supported Labour. ButRobert Wright was defeated for the new electorate ofWellington West by Labour despite National not running a candidate against him.[3]
An analysis of men and women on the rolls against the votes recorded showed that in the 1938 election 92.85% of those on the European rolls voted; men 93.43% and women 92.27%. In the1935 election the figures were 90.75% with men 92.02% and women 89.46%. As the Māori electorates did not have electoral rolls they could not be included.[4][5]
This was the first election in which the Māori were given asecret ballot. Secret ballots had been available to white voters since 1870, but it was not extended to Māori voters until the 1937 Electoral Amendment Act was passed. The number of votes cast in the Māori seats in the 1938 election rose 18.3% from the 1935 election. Opponents of the secret ballot for the Māori claimed that the Māori suffered from illiteracy, but only 2.28% of the ballots were ruled invalid. Member of ParliamentEruera Tirikatene praised the secret ballot for the Māori as he regarded it as one of the rights promised in theTreaty of Waitangi.[6][7]
Lipson, Leslie (2011) [1948].The Politics of Equality: New Zealand's Adventures in Democracy. Wellington: Victoria University Press.ISBN978-0-86473-646-8.
Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First published in 1913].New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
Wilson, Jim (1985) [First published in 1913].New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer.OCLC154283103.
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