1919 New Zealand general election

The 1919 New Zealand general election was held on Tuesday, 16 December in the Māori electorates and on Wednesday, 17 December in the general electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 20th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 560,673 (80.5%) voters turned out to vote.^[1]

1919 general election

← 1914 16 (Māori) & 17 December (general) 1919 1922 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 80 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives 41 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	80.5%
First party Second party Third party   Leader William Massey Joseph Ward Harry Holland Party Reform Liberal Labour Leader since 11 February 1909 11 September 1913 27 August 1919 Leader's seat Franklin Awarua (lost seat) Grey Last election 40 seats, 47.1% 34 seats, 43.1% 5 seats, 8.4%[a] Seats before 39 34 5 Seats won 45 19 8 Seat change 6 15 3 Popular vote 193,676 155,708 131,402 Percentage 35.7% 28.7% 24.2% Swing 11.4% 14.4% 15.8%
Results of the election.
Prime Minister before election William Massey Reform Subsequent Prime Minister William Massey Reform

In 1919 women won the right to be elected to the House of Representatives. The law was changed late that year, and with only three weeks' notice, three women stood for Parliament.

They were Ellen Melville in Grey Lynn, Rosetta Baume in Parnell, and Aileen Cooke in Thames. Ellen Melville stood for the Reform Party and came second. She stood for Parliament several more times and generally polled well but never won a seat.

This is the most recent general election in which none of the major party leaders were born in New Zealand.

Results

Though Labour Party captured only eight seats it received nearly a quarter of the votes – a shock to conservative minds due to Labour being founded only three years earlier in 1916.^[2]

Party totals

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won
	Reform Party	67	197,041	35.63	45
	Liberal Party[nb 1]	66	166,675	30.14	19
	Labour Party	59	134,094	24.25	8
	Independents[nb 2]	39	55,161	9.98	8
Total valid votes			552,971		80
Informal votes			7,702	1.37
Registered voters			683,420

1. Includes one MP returned unopposed, and one Independent Liberal
2. Includes ex-members of the three main parties as well as long-standing Independents

Votes summary

Popular Vote Reform   35.63% Liberal   30.14% Labour   24.25% Independents   9.98%

Parliament seats Reform   56.25% Liberal   23.75% Labour   10.00% Independents   10.00%

Electorate results

The results of the 1919 general election displayed outside The Press Building in Christchurch

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^[3]

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[4]
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[4]
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[5][6]
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[7][8]
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[9]
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[4]
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[10][11]
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[12]
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		Billy Glenn	635		F P Brady[13]
Riccarton		George Witty			626		William Russell Devereux[14]
Roskill	New electorate			Vivian Potter	1,854		James Gunson
Rotorua	New electorate			Frank Hockly	1,733		Malcolm Larney[15]
Stratford		John Hine		Robert Masters	61		John Hine
Taranaki		Sydney George Smith		Sydney George Smith	1,023		George H. Buckeridge
Tauranga		William Herries			1,860		Benjamin Robbins[16]
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		Alex 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[17]
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		William J. Cuttle
Wellington Central		Peter Fraser			1,056		Frederick Pirani[4]
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

Summary of changes

A boundary redistribution resulted in the abolition of four electorates:^[18]

• Grey, held by Harry Holland
• Otago Central, held by Robert Scott
• Selwyn, held by William Dickie
• Taumarunui, held by William Thomas Jennings
• Wellington Suburbs and Country, held by Robert Wright

At the same time, four new electorates were created:^[19][20]

• Manawatu, previously abolished in 1911
• Roskill, first created through the 1918 electoral redistribution
• Rotorua, first created through the 1918 electoral redistribution
• Waitomo, first created through the 1918 electoral redistribution
• Wellington Suburbs, previously abolished in 1911