Term of the Parliament of New Zealand
Opening of 29th NZ Parliament in 1950, with Serjeant-at-Arms, Group Captain Alexander Manson carrying the mace, followed by Speaker Matthew Oram
The 29th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened in 1950, following the 1949 general election . It was dissolved in 1951 in preparation for the 1951 general election . The governing Labour Party had been defeated in the election by the National Party . This marked the end of the First Labour government and the beginning of the First National government .
Additionally, this Parliament saw the final meeting of the Upper House ; the Legislative Council , which was abolished on 1 December 1950, making the New Zealand Parliament a unicameral legislative body.
1949 general election [ edit ]
The 1949 general election was held on Tuesday, 29 November in the Māori electorates and on Wednesday, 30 November in the general electorates, respectively.[ 1] A total of 80 MPs were elected; 49 represented North Island electorates, 27 represented South Island electorates, and the remaining four represented Māori electorates ; this was the same distribution used since the 1946 election . 1,113,852 voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 93.5%.[ 1]
The 29th Parliament sat for two sessions, and was prorogued on 18 July 1951.
Session
Opened
Adjourned
first
27 June 1950
1 December 1950
second
26 June 1951
13 July 1951
The National Party under Sidney Holland won the 1949 election, defeating Labour 's second Fraser Ministry. Holland remained in power until 1957, when he stepped down due to ill health.
The National Government appointed 25 new members to the New Zealand Legislative Council (the so-called Suicide Squad), so that the Legislative Council Abolition Bill could be passed. With that legislation, the Legislative Council voted itself out of existence, and New Zealand has been unicameral since the last meeting of the Upper House on 1 December 1950.[ 5]
The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1949 election and at dissolution:
Affiliation
Members
At 1949 election
At dissolution
National Government
46
46
Labour Opposition
34
34
Total
80
80
Working Government majority
12
12
Notes
The Working Government majority is calculated as all Government MPs less all other parties.
The table below shows the results of the 1949 general election:
Key
Labour
National
Electorate results for the 1949 New Zealand general election[ 6]
Electorate
Incumbent
Winner
Majority
Runner up
General electorates
Arch Hill
Bill Parry
5,174
Gordon Frederick Smith
Ashburton
Geoff Gerard
2,385
William Erle Rose
Auckland Central
Bill Anderton
2,799
Leonard Bradley
Avon
John Mathison
4,593
George Nelson Kinzett
Awarua
George Richard Herron
3,179
Neville Pickering
Bay of Plenty
Bill Sullivan
3,680
Thomas Godfrey Santon
Brooklyn
Peter Fraser
2,956
Berta Burns
Buller
Jerry Skinner
2,206
Phil McDonald
Central Otago
William Bodkin
3,906
Thomas Augustus Rodgers
Christchurch Central
Robert Macfarlane
3,637
Kevin Marlow
Clutha
James Roy
3,231
John Edward Keenan
Dunedin Central
Phil Connolly
989
David Murdoch
Dunedin North
Robert Walls
668
Richard Brickell
Eden
Wilfred Fortune
2,259
Pat Curran
Egmont
Ernest Corbett
4,539
Brian Edgar Richmond
Fendalton
Sidney Holland
4,076
Robert Newman
Franklin
Jack Massey
5,481
John Parsons
Gisborne
David Coleman
Reginald Keeling
489
Harry Dudfield
Grey Lynn
Fred Hackett
4,203
John Leon Faulkner
Hamilton
Hilda Ross
1,605
Jack Granville
Hastings
Ted Cullen
Sydney Jones
982
Ted Cullen
Hauraki
Andy Sutherland
3,944
Percival Peacock
Hawke's Bay
Cyril Harker
3,442
Dick Beattie
Hobson
Sidney Walter Smith
5,068
William Edmund Lane
Hurunui
William Gillespie
2,535
Arthur J. Smith
Hutt
Walter Nash
2,273
Horace Leonard Heatley
Invercargill
Ralph Hanan
1,159
William Denham
Island Bay
Robert McKeen
2,770
Herbert Edward Childs
Karori
Charles Bowden
3,585
Ethel Harris
Lyttelton
Terry McCombs
978
Richard Ralph Beauchamp
Manawatu
Matthew Oram
3,433
Basil A. Rodgers
Marlborough
Tom Shand
1,862
James Harrison Wilson
Marsden
Alfred Murdoch
3,276
Douglas L. Ross
Miramar
Bob Semple
1,315
Cuthbert Taylor
Mornington
Wally Hudson
4,185
Geoffrey Stephens
Mount Albert
Warren Freer
931
Reg Judson
Mount Victoria
Jack Marshall
1,808
Nathan Seddon
Napier
Tommy Armstrong
721
William Tucker
Nelson
Edgar Neale
1,373
Reynell Marshall
New Plymouth
Ernest Aderman
1,517
Clarence Robert Parker
North Shore
Martyn Finlay
Dean Eyre
1,344
Martyn Finlay
Oamaru
Arnold Nordmeyer
Thomas Hayman
694
Arnold Nordmeyer
Onehunga
Arthur Osborne
2,300
Alan A. Coates
Onslow
Harry Combs
1,927
John S. Meadowcroft
Otahuhu
Charles Petrie
Leon Götz
1,275
Alex Dixon
Otaki
Jimmy Maher
374
Denzil Capstick
Pahiatua
Keith Holyoake
4,507
G P O'Leary
Palmerston North
Ormond Wilson
Blair Tennent
518
Ormond Wilson
Parnell
Duncan Rae
960
Bill Schramm
Patea
William Sheat
1,841
Frederick William Finer
Petone
Mick Moohan
2,527
Norm Croft
Piako
Stan Goosman
6,266
Gilbert Parsons Kenah
Ponsonby
Ritchie Macdonald
2,278
Brian Kingston
Raglan
Alan Baxter
Hallyburton Johnstone
1,022
Alan Baxter
Rangitikei
Edward Gordon
3,310
Eric De Malmanche
Remuera
Ronald Algie
5,079
Hugh Watt [ 6]
Riccarton
Angus McLagan
2,707
Harry Lake
Rodney
Clifton Webb
4,546
Arthur Leaming
Roskill
Frank Langstone
John Rae
1,415
James Freeman
St Albans
Jack Watts
1,142
George Manning [ 16]
St Kilda
Fred Jones
331
Gerald Lyon
Selwyn
John McAlpine
1,327
Alan Sharp
Sydenham
Mabel Howard
5,643
Oliver G. Moody
Tamaki
Tom Skinner
Eric Halstead
1,095
Tom Skinner
Tauranga
Frederick Doidge
4,595
Hillary Joseph Pickett
Timaru
Clyde Carr
832
Jack Lockington
Waikato
Geoffrey Sim
5,923
John Ronald Burfitt
Waimarino
Paddy Kearins
202
Arthur Herbert MacPherson
Waimate
David Campbell Kidd
1,767
Roy Davison
Wairarapa
Garnet Mackley
Bert Cooksley
963
George Anders Hansen
Waitakere
Rex Mason
930
Robert Tapper
Waitomo
Walter Broadfoot
5,079
Frank Kitts
Wallace
Tom Macdonald
4,511
Herman Victor Freeman
Wanganui
Joe Cotterill
1,019
Ernest Victor O'Keefe
Wellington Central
Charles Chapman
575
Will Appleton
Westland
Jim Kent
2,744
Patrick Joseph O'Regan
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori
Tiaki Omana
3,211
Turi Carroll
Northern Maori
Tapihana Paraire Paikea
2,029
James Henare
Southern Maori
Eruera Tirikatene
687
Huro Nathanial Bates
Western Maori
vacant[ nb 1]
Iriaka Rātana
6,317
Hoeroa Marumaru
Table footnotes:
^ Matiu Ratana , the previous holder of the Western Maori electorate, died on 7 October 1949. His wife Iriaka Rātana stood for election instead.
By-elections during 29th Parliament [ edit ]
There was one by-election during the term of the 29th Parliament.
Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party . Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6 .
Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science . Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8 .
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103 .