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United Party | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1927 |
| Dissolved | 1936; 89 years ago (1936) |
| Preceded by | Liberal Party |
| Merged into | National Party |
| Ideology | Classical liberalism |
| Political position | Centre tocentre-right |
| National affiliation | United–Reform Coalition (1931–1936) |
| International affiliation | Radical International |
TheUnited Party was a political parliamentary party inNew Zealand. It was founded in 1927, partly out of the remnants of theLiberal Party, and formed theUnited Government between 1928 and 1931, and theUnited–Reform coalition Government between 1931 and 1935. In 1936, it merged with theReform Party to form theNational Party.
In the 1920s the Liberal Party, although previously dominant in New Zealand party politics, seemed in serious long-term decline following the advent of theReform Party in 1909 and theLabour Party in 1916, and its organisation had decayed to the point of collapse. The United Party represented an unexpected resurgence of the Liberals, and some historians consider it nothing more than the Liberal Party under a new name.[1]
The United Party emerged from a faction of the decaying Liberal Party known as "the National Party"[2] (not directly related to the modern National Party, although it may have inspired the name).[3]George Forbes, a Liberal Party leader, led the faction. In November 1927, Forbes joined the National Party with Albert Davy’s newly formed "United New Zealand Political Organisation" outside of parliament.[4]Albert Davy was a well-known and highly successful political party organiser, formerly for theReform Party, the traditional opponent of the Liberals. The parliamentary National Party changed its name to the United Party in 1928 and Forbes initially continued to led the parliamentary party pending the further amalgamation of former Liberals later in 1928.[5]Bill Veitch (who led another faction of the Liberals, but who had once been involved with the labour movement) and his parliamentary movement joined with Forbes, Davy and the United Party in 1928. They hoped that the United Party would draw support not only from former Liberals, but from moderates on either the right or left of the Liberals by promoting themselves as a safer alternative than the Labour Party.[1]
In September 1928, Forbes and Veitch bothcontested the leadership of the United Party, but eventually,Joseph Ward won the position. Although Ward, a former LiberalPrime Minister in 1906 – 1912, did not enjoy good health, Davy backed him as a compromise candidate and had invited him to contest the leadership.Robert Masters was the chairman of the United Party from its formation.[6]
The reversal of the party fortunes came largely in Auckland, where the big business group abandoned theReform Party because of the handling of a licensing bill, and put forward a programme equally appealing to the business community and to the remnants of theLiberal Party. So 42,000 votes and five seats went to United, compared with 8,800 votes and no seats in the previous election.[7]
In the1928 elections, the new United Party performed surprisingly well, winning twenty-seven seats. The Reform Party also had twenty-seven seats, theLabour Party had nineteen, theCountry Party had one, and independents held six. The United Party formed a government with the backing of the Labour Party, and Ward became Prime Minister again.[1]
The United Party administration did not run particularly smoothly, however. Ward's ill health persisted, and he finally resigned in 1930. His deputy, George Forbes, became Prime Minister, though he had effectively been leading both the party and the government for some time before Ward's formal departure. Following the termination of A. E. Davy as chairman of the United New Zealand Political Organisation in early 1930, E. E. Hammond had become the chairman of United’s organisation outside of parliament. Hammond who had previously been involved with the Reform Party, later went on to become involved with theNew Zealand Legion, before becoming active in theNational Political Federation and theNew Zealand National Party.[8]
As prime minister and leader of the United Party from May 1930, Forbes faced serious economic problems, including the growing effects of theGreat Depression. He did not project an image of activity orleadership —William Downie Stewart Jr, finance spokesman for Reform, privately described Forbes as "apathetic and fatalistic", and suggested that although he had "a rotten job", Forbes was really simply marking time.
In 1931 the United government passed a number of economic measures which appeared unfavourable to workers, and the Labour Party withdrew its support. The United Party continued in office with reluctant support from the Reform Party, which feared that a collapse of government (and thus a general election) would see large gains for Labour. Later the same year, formal coalition talks took place between United, Reform, and Labour, with a "unity government" proposed to counter the depression. Labour eventually walked out of the talks, but Reform leaderGordon Coates (pressed by Downie Stewart) eventually agreed to form acoalition between United and Reform. Forbes, backed by dissident members of Reform, won the leadership of the coalition government, but Downie Stewart of Reform became theMinister of Finance.
In the1931 elections, the coalition worked in close co-operation and won fifty-one out of the eighty seats. United and Reform between them had held a few more seats before, but their combined tally exceeded what many had anticipated in light of the economic conditions. The government did not exhibit great stability, however — particularly strong tensions arose between Coates and Downie Stewart, who clashed over the best response to the country's economic problems. Coates eventually won, and Stewart resigned. Coates, as the new Minister of Finance, became increasingly powerful, and the weary Forbes did not strongly oppose Coates's influence; while Forbes remained Prime Minister, Coates effectively led the government. The economic situation persisted.
In the1935 elections, United and Reform maintained their coalition. Anger at the country's ongoing economic problems remained high, however, and many saw Forbes and Coates as jointly responsible for the situation. In addition, Albert Davy had founded a new "anti-socialist" party, theDemocrats, whichtook votes away from the coalition. Forbes, still the nominal leader of the coalition, appeared tired and apathetic. These factors all added up to a decisive defeat of the coalition, which won only 19 seats–including only seven for United–to Labour's 53.Michael Joseph Savage became New Zealand's first Labour Prime Minister.
United and Reform maintained their coalition while in opposition. In 1936 they decided to make the coalition permanent and to merge United and Reform into a single party. The new organisation took the name of "theNational Party", and – along with Labour – became one of New Zealand's two dominant political parties from that point on.[9]
Key:
United Reform Labour
PM:Prime MinisterLO:Leader of the Opposition
| No. | Leader | Portrait | Term | Position | Prime Minister | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Ward |  | 17 September 1928 | 21 May 1930 | LO1928 | Coates | ||
| PM1928–1930 | Ward | |||||||
| 2 | George Forbes |  | 21 May 1930 | May 1936 | PM1930–1935 | Forbes | ||
| LO1935–1936 | Savage | |||||||
| United Party merged intoNational Party 1936. | ||||||||
| Election | # of votes | % of vote | # of seats won | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 | 225,042 | 29.75 | 27 / 80 | Coalition with Labour then Reform |
| 1931 | 120,801 | 16.90 | 19 / 80 | Coalition with Reform |
| 1935 | 285,422† | 33.48† | 7 / 80 | Opposition |
†Total Coalition vote.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
