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Term of the Parliament of New Zealand From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 31st New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1954 general election on 13 November of that year.
| 31st Parliament of New Zealand | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
.JPG) | |||||
| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | New Zealand Parliament | ||||
| Term | 22 March 1955 – 25 October 1957 | ||||
| Election | 1954 New Zealand general election | ||||
| Government | First National Government | ||||
| House of Representatives | |||||
 | |||||
| Members | 80 | ||||
| Speaker of the House | Matthew Oram | ||||
| Prime Minister | Keith Holyoake — Sidney Holland until 20 September 1957 | ||||
| Leader of the Opposition | Walter Nash | ||||
| Sovereign | |||||
| Monarch | HM Elizabeth II | ||||
| Governor-General | HE Lt. Gen. The Lord Norrie | ||||
The 1954 general election was held on Saturday, 13 November.[1] A total of 80 MPs were elected; 50 represented North Island electorates, 26 represented South Island electorates, and the remaining four represented Māori electorates; this was a gain of one electorate for the North Island from the South Island since the 1951 election.[2] 1,209,670 voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 91.4%.[1]
The 31st Parliament sat for three sessions, and was prorogued on 25 October 1957.[3]
| Session | Opened | Adjourned |
|---|---|---|
| first | 22 March 1955 | 28 October 1955 |
| second | 4 April 1956 | 26 October 1956 |
| third | 11 June 1957 | 25 October 1957 |
The National Party under Sidney Holland had been in power since the 1949 election, and Holland remained in charge until 1957, when he stepped down due to ill health in September 1957 some two months prior to the 1957 election. Holland was succeeded by Keith Holyoake, but the Labour Party narrowly defeated National at the 1957 election, and the government changed in mid-December of that year.[4]
The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1954 election and at dissolution:
| Affiliation | Members | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| At 1954 election | At dissolution | ||
| National Government | 45 | 45 | |
| Labour Opposition | 35 | 35 | |
| Total |
80 | 80 | |
| Working Government majority | 10 | 10 | |
Notes
The table below shows the results of the 1954 general election:
Key
National Labour Independent Social Credit
There were a number of changes during the term of the 31st Parliament.
| Electorate and by-election | Date | Incumbent | Cause | Winner | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riccarton | 1956 | 27 October | Angus McLagan | Death | Mick Connelly | ||
| Bay of Plenty | 1957 | 6 April | Bill Sullivan | Resignation | Percy Allen | ||
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