27th New Zealand Parliament

The 27th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1943 general election in September of that year.

27th Parliament of New Zealand
← 26th Parliament 28th Parliament →
Parliament House, Wellington
Overview
Legislative body	New Zealand Parliament
Term	22 February 1944 – 12 October 1946
Election	1943 New Zealand general election
Government	First Labour Government
House of Representatives
Members	80
Speaker of the House	Bill Schramm
Prime Minister	Peter Fraser
Leader of the Opposition	Sidney Holland
Legislative Council
Members	36 (at start) 37 (at end)
Speaker of the Council	Mark Fagan
Sovereign
Monarch	HM George VI
Governor-General	HE Lt. Gen. The Lord Freyberg from 17 June 1946 — HE Rt. Hon. Sir Cyrill Newall until 19 April 1946

1943 general election

Main article: 1943 New Zealand general election

The 1943 general election was held on Friday, 24 September in the Māori electorates and on Saturday, 25 September in the general electorates, respectively.^[1] A total of 80 MPs were elected; 48 represented North Island electorates, 28 represented South Island electorates, and the remaining four represented Māori electorates.^[2] 1,021,034 civilian voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 82.8%. In addition, 92,934 military votes were cast.^[1]

Sessions

The 27th Parliament sat for three sessions, and was prorogued on 4 November 1946.^[3] The twenty-seventh parliament absent-mindedly increased its own life in 1946 when it was forgotten that because of the 24 to 25 September election in 1943 its three years of life ended on 11 October. The House convened to conclude the session on the subsequent day, but no business was conducted. It remained undissolved until 4 November 1946.^[4] for election on 26 and 27 November.

Session	Opened	Adjourned
first	22 February 1944	15 December 1944
second	27 June 1945	7 December 1945
third	26 June 1946	12 October 1946

Ministries

Peter Fraser of the Labour Party had been Prime Minister since 27 March 1940. He had formed the first Fraser Ministry on 1 April 1940 and the second Fraser Ministry on 30 April 1940.^[5] The second Fraser Ministry remained in power until its defeat by the National Party at the 1949 election.^[6][7]

A War Cabinet had been formed on 16 July 1940, which held the responsibility for all decisions relating to New Zealand's involvement in World War II. The War Cabinet was dissolved on 21 August 1945.^[8]

Party standings

Start of Parliament

^[9]

Party		Leader(s)	Seats at start
	Labour Party	Peter Fraser	45
	National Party	Sidney Holland	34
	Independents		1

End of Parliament

	Party	Leader(s)	Seats at end
	Labour Party	Peter Fraser	44
	National Party	Sidney Holland	35
	Independents		1

Members

Initial MPs

The table below shows the results of the 1943 general election:

Key

  Labour   National   Democratic Labour   Real Democracy   Independent

Electorate results for the 1943 New Zealand general election^[10]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Auckland Central		Bill Parry			4,769		William George Stanley Swabey[11]
Auckland East		Bill Schramm			962		Harry Tom Merritt[12]
Auckland Suburbs		Rex Mason			3,028		Thomas Augustus Bishop[11]
Auckland West		Peter Carr			5,402		John W. Kealy
Avon		Dan Sullivan			4,460		James Neil Clarke[13]
Awarua		James Hargest			Uncontested
Bay of Islands		Charles Boswell		Sidney Walter Smith	1,276		Charles Boswell
Bay of Plenty		Bill Sullivan			1,679		Walter William Jonasen[14]
Buller		Paddy Webb			4,635		Edward William Nicolaus
Central Otago		William Bodkin			2,723		James McIndoe Mackay[15]
Christchurch East		Mabel Howard			5,537		Reginald Gilbert Brown[13]
Christchurch North		Sidney Holland			2,645		George Manning[16]
Christchurch South		Robert Macfarlane			4,416		Ron Guthrey[17]
Clutha		James Roy			1,587		Herbert Kerr Edie
Dunedin Central		Peter Nielson			2,155		Leonard James Tobin Ireland
Dunedin North		Jim Munro			2,798		Alexander Cassie
Dunedin South		Fred Jones			3,061		David Murdoch
Dunedin West		Gervan McMillan		Phil Connolly	1,338		Alexander Smith Falconer
Eden		Bill Anderton			14		Wilfred Fortune
Egmont		Charles Wilkinson		Ernest Corbett	2,422		Edwin Thoms Cox[18]
Franklin		Jack Massey			3,285		Aaron Best[19][20]
Gisborne		David Coleman			572		Harry Barker[21]
Grey Lynn		John A. Lee		Fred Hackett	6,059		John A. Lee
Hamilton		Charles Barrell		Frank Findlay	454		Charles Barrell
Hauraki		Andy Sutherland			2,723		Edmund Colin Nigel Robinson[19]
Hawke's Bay		Ted Cullen			1,636		Eric N. Pryor[22]
Hurunui		George Forbes		William Gillespie	1,566		James William Morgan[13]
Hutt		Walter Nash			5,260		John H. Hogan
Invercargill		William Denham			987		William Bell[23]
Kaiapoi		Morgan Williams			761		Harold Overton[24]
Kaipara		Gordon Coates		Clifton Webb	2,800		John Stewart[11]
Lyttelton		Terry McCombs			1,374		Ted Taylor[17][25]
Manawatu		John Cobbe		Matthew Oram	2,305		William Henry Oliver[nb 1]
Marlborough		Ted Meachen			450		Tom Shand
Marsden		Jim Barclay		Alfred Murdoch	1,006		Jim Barclay
Masterton		John Robertson		Garnet Mackley	494		John Robertson
Mataura		Tom Macdonald			Uncontested
Mid-Canterbury		Mary Grigg		Geoff Gerard	634		David Barnes[17]
Motueka		Jerry Skinner			301		John Robert Haldane
Napier		Bill Barnard		Tommy Armstrong	1,273		Morris Spence[27]
Nelson		Harry Atmore			191		Frederick William Huggins[28][29][30]
New Plymouth		Fred Frost		Ernest Aderman	1,276		Fred Frost
Oamaru		Arnold Nordmeyer			125		Thomas Ross Beatty
Onehunga		Arthur Osborne			3,324		John Park
Otahuhu		Charles Petrie			464		Gordon Hamilton[11]
Otaki		Leonard Lowry			191		Bert Cooksley
Pahiatua		Alfred Ransom		Keith Holyoake	1,825		George Anders Hansen
Palmerston North		Joe Hodgens			212		Gus Mansford
Patea		Harold Dickie		William Sheat	912		Alex Langslow[20]
Raglan		Lee Martin		Robert Coulter	108		Robert James Glasgow[31]
Rangitikei		Edward Gordon			1,612		Robert Freeman[20]
Remuera		Bill Endean		Ronald Algie	4,183		Martyn Finlay
Riccarton		Bert Kyle		Jack Watts	1,322		Harold Denton[13]
Roskill		Arthur Richards			962		Roy McElroy[32]
Rotorua		Alexander Moncur		Geoffrey Sim	715		Alexander Moncur[19]
Stratford		William Polson			2,059		Brian Richmond[33]
Tauranga		Frederick Doidge			3,625		Dudley A. Hill[14]
Temuka		Jack Acland			1,690		George Harris[34]
Thames		Jim Thorn			935		William Alexander Clark[31]
Timaru		Clyde Carr			1,701		Jack Satterthwaite[35]
Waikato		Stan Goosman			4,615		Charles Croall[36]
Waimarino		Frank Langstone			1,404		Roger Oswald Montgomerie
Waipawa		Cyril Harker			2,091		Archie Low[37]
Wairarapa		Ben Roberts			151		Jimmy Maher
Waitaki		David Campbell Kidd			821		John S. Adams
Waitemata		Mary Dreaver		Henry Thorne Morton	321		Mary Dreaver
Waitomo		Walter Broadfoot			1,881		Ben Waters
Wallace		Adam Hamilton			1,607		John James Lynch[38]
Wanganui		Joe Cotterill			2,437		Eric James Kirk
Wellington Central		Peter Fraser			1,206		Will Appleton
Wellington East		Bob Semple			2,588		Len Jacobsen
Wellington North		Charles Chapman			1,897		Thomas Hislop
Wellington South		Robert McKeen			4,156		Ernest Toop
Wellington Suburbs		Harry Combs			2,581		Bill Veitch
Wellington West		Catherine Stewart		Charles Bowden	1,183		Catherine Stewart
Westland		James O'Brien			2,600		Frank Chivers[39][40]
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Āpirana Ngata		Tiaki Omana	240		Āpirana Ngata
Northern Maori		Paraire Karaka Paikea		Tapihana Paraire Paikea	2,438		Eru Moka Pou[12]
Southern Maori		Eruera Tirikatene			558		John Piuraki Tikao-Barrett
Western Maori		Toko Ratana			3,309		Pei Te Hurinui Jones

Table footnotes:

1. Father of the historian W. H. Oliver^[26]

By-elections during 27th Parliament

There were a number of changes during the term of the 27th Parliament.

Electorate and by-election		Date	Incumbent		Cause	Winner
Awarua	1944	28 October		James Hargest	Death		George Herron
Western Maori	1945	10 February		Toko Ratana	Death		Matiu Ratana
Hamilton	1945	26 May		Frank Findlay	Death		Hilda Ross
Dunedin North	1945	21 July		Jim Munro	Death		Robert Walls
Raglan	1946	5 March		Robert Coulter	Death		Hallyburton Johnstone