1938 New Zealand general election

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| <- 1935 | 14 (Māori) & 15 October (general) 1938 | 1943 ->

|
|

elected members ->

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All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament
41 seats were needed for a majority
|  | First party  | Second party

|
|

|  |
Leader  | Michael Joseph Savage | Adam Hamilton
Party  | Labour | National
Leader since  | 12 October 1933 | 31 October 1936
Leader's seat  | Auckland West | Wallace
Last election  | 53 seats, 45.7%  | 19 seats, 32.9% (as United–Reform Coalition)
Seats won  | 53 | 25
Seat change  |  |  6
Popular vote  | 528,290 | 381,081
Percentage  | 55.8% | 40.3%
Swing  |  10.1%  |  7.4%

* * *

Results of the election.

* * *

| Prime Minister before election

Michael Joseph Savage
Labour

| Subsequent Prime Minister

Michael Joseph Savage
Labour

|

The 1938 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 26th term. It resulted in the governing Labour Party being re-elected in a landslide, winning nearly 56% of the vote despite not gaining any more seats. Having replaced the United-Reform coalition, the newly founded National Party also gained a certain amount of ground.

This was the first election in which the Māori were given a secret ballot which had been available to white voters since 1870.

## Background

[edit]

The Labour Party had won a resounding victory in the 1935 elections, winning fifty-three seats. Shortly after the elections, the two Ratana-aligned MPs also merged into the Labour Party, giving Labour a total of fifty-five seats. The government, a coalition of the United Party and the Reform Party, had won only nineteen seats. Shortly after their defeat, United and Reform agreed to merge into the National Party, which positioned itself as the only alternative to the "socialist" Labour Party. However, Labour remained popular with the public, and the Prime Minister, Michael Joseph Savage, was widely praised for his welfare reform. The leadership of the National Party, by contrast, was closely associated by the public with the Great Depression, and struggled to gain traction.

## The election

[edit]

The date for the main 1938 elections was 15 October, a Saturday. Elections to the four Maori electorates were held the day before. 995,173 people were registered to vote, and there was a turnout of 92.9%. This turnout was the highest ever recorded at that point, although it was later exceeded in the two elections after World War II and in the 1984 elections. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.[1]

## Results

[edit]

The 1938 election saw a decisive win for the governing Labour Party, which won fifty-three seats. This was a drop of two from what it held prior to the election. While Labour gained the seats of Bay of Islands, Motueka (previously held by Keith Holyoake), New Plymouth, Wellington Suburbs, and Northern Maori, it lost Tauranga and the rural seats of Manawatu, Rangitikei, Waikato, Mid-Canterbury, and Waipawa.

The National Party won twenty-five seats, an increase of six from that the United–Reform Coalition had previously won. Both Labour and National increased their share of the popular vote, with Labour winning 55.8% (up from 46.1%) and National winning 40.3% (up from 32.9%). This increase was at the expense of the Democrat Party (who had merged into National in 1936)[2] and the agrarian monetary reformist Country Party, which saw its votes collapse completely. The Country Party lost the two seats it held (Bay of Islands and Franklin) as, unlike 1935, Labour stood candidates in the seats held by the two Country Party members. Hence Harold Rushworth did not stand in the Bay of Islands seat, and Arthur Sexton came third in Franklin.

Independent candidates also lost ground, with only two being elected, Harry Atmore (Nelson) and Charles Wilkinson (Egmont). As in 1935, the independents were tactically supported by one of the major parties who did not stand a candidate against them, and they generally voted with that party; Wilkinson and Wright had supported National while Atmore had supported Labour. But Robert Wright was defeated for the new electorate of Wellington West by Labour despite National not running a candidate against him.[3]

An analysis of men and women on the rolls against the votes recorded showed that in the 1938 election 92.85% of those on the European rolls voted; men 93.43% and women 92.27%. In the 1935 election the figures were 90.75% with men 92.02% and women 89.46%. As the Māori electorates did not have electoral rolls they could not be included.[4][5]

This was the first election in which the Māori were given a secret ballot. Secret ballots had been available to white voters since 1870, but it was not extended to Māori voters until the 1937 Electoral Amendment Act was passed. The number of votes cast in the Māori seats in the 1938 election rose 18.3% from the 1935 election. Opponents of the secret ballot for the Māori claimed that the Māori suffered from illiteracy, but only 2.28% of the ballots were ruled invalid. Member of Parliament Eruera Tirikatene praised the secret ballot for the Māori as he regarded it as one of the rights promised in the Treaty of Waitangi.[6][7]

### Party standings

[edit]

Map of electorates.

Election results
Party  | Candidates  | Votes  | Percentage  | Seats won  | change
| Labour | 78  | 528,290  | 55.80  | 53  | -2*
| National | 77  | 381,081  | 40.30  | 25  | +9
| Country Party | 5  | 2,199  | 0.23  | 0  | -2
| Independents | 16  | 34,823  | 3.65  | 2  | -3
Total  | 176  | 946,393  |  | 80 |

*includes two Ratana MPs (Toko Ratana, Eruera Tirikatene) who joined the Labour caucus after the 1935 election

### Votes summary

[edit]

| Popular Vote

|  |
Labour |

| 55.80%
National |

| 40.30%
Country Party |

| 0.23%
Independent |

| 3.65%

| Parliament seats

|  |
Labour |

| 66.25%
National |

| 31.25%
Independent |

| 2.50%

### Electorate results

[edit]

The following table shows the detailed results:

Key

Labour National Country Party Independent Independent Liberal

Electorate results for the 1938 New Zealand general election[8][9] Electorate  | Incumbent  | Winner  | Majority  | Runner up

|
|
|
|

General electorates
Auckland Central |  | Bill Parry | 6,181  |  | Clifford Reid Dodd[10]
Auckland East |  | Bill Schramm | 2,626  |  | Harry Tom Merritt[11][12]
Auckland Suburbs |  | Rex Mason | 4,862  |  | Maxwell Stuart Walker[13]
Auckland West |  | Michael Joseph Savage | 8,007  |  | John W. Kealy[14]
Avon |  | Dan Sullivan | 6,179  |  | Hiram Hunter
Awarua |  | James Hargest | 660  |  | Joseph Albert Beck[15]
Bay of Islands |  | Harold Rushworth |  | Charles Boswell | 163  |  | Harold Fisher Guy[16]
Bay of Plenty |  | Gordon Hultquist | 169  |  | Bill Sullivan
Buller |  | Paddy Webb | 6,144  |  | Terry Maddison
Central Otago |  | William Bodkin | 1,231  |  | James McIndoe Mackay[17]
Christchurch East |  | Tim Armstrong | 7,179  |  | Ken Armour
Christchurch North |  | Sidney Holland | 492  |  | Robert Macfarlane
Christchurch South |  | Ted Howard | 5,995  |  | Gladstone Ward[18]
Clutha |  | James Roy | 714  |  | Herbert Kerr Edie
Dunedin Central |  | Peter Neilson | 3,814  |  | William John Meade
Dunedin North |  | Jim Munro | 3,557  |  | Alexander Smith Falconer[19][20][21][22]
Dunedin South |  | Fred Jones | 4,314  |  | Rev. Ernest Aderman
Dunedin West |  | Dr Gervan McMillan | 2,639  |  | Stuart Sidey[23]
Eden |  | Bill Anderton | 2,333  |  | Donald Pool[24]
Egmont |  | Charles Wilkinson | 1,402  |  | Thomas Trask
Franklin |  | Arthur Sexton |  | Jack Massey | 2,057  |  | Ernest Piggott[16]
Gisborne |  | David Coleman | 3,640  |  | Kenneth Jones
Grey Lynn |  | John A. Lee | 8,607  |  | Joseph Alexander Govan[11]
Hamilton |  | Charles Barrell | 1,860  |  | Albert William Grant[25][16]
Hauraki |  | Robert Coulter |  | John Manchester Allen | 1,188  |  | Robert Coulter
Hawkes Bay |  | Ted Cullen | 2,658  |  | George Maddison[26][27]
Hurunui |  | George Forbes | 535  |  | Harold Denton
Hutt |  | Walter Nash | 6,814  |  | Jack Andrews[28]
Invercargill |  | William Denham | 2,156  |  | Fred Hall-Jones[23]
Kaiapoi |  | Morgan Williams | 1,535  |  | George Warren
Kaipara |  | Gordon Coates | 1,689  |  | Percy MacGregor Stewart[16]
Lyttelton |  | Terry McCombs | 2,984  |  | Isaac Wilson[29]
Manawatu |  | Lorrie Hunter |  | John Cobbe | 1,644  |  | Lorrie Hunter
Marlborough | New electorate  |  | Ted Meachen | 1,525  |  | Edward Healy
Marsden |  | Jim Barclay | 557  |  | Alfred Murdoch
Masterton |  | John Robertson | 190  |  | Jack Irving
Mataura |  | David McDougall |  | Tom Macdonald | 1,515  |  | David McDougall
Mid-Canterbury |  | Horace Herring |  | Arthur Grigg | 74  |  | Horace Herring
Motueka |  | Keith Holyoake |  | Jerry Skinner | 870  |  | Keith Holyoake
Napier |  | Bill Barnard | 3,937  |  | John Ormond[30]
Nelson |  | Harry Atmore | 886  |  | John Robert Kerr
New Plymouth |  | Sydney George Smith |  | Fred Frost | 869  |  | Sydney George Smith
Oamaru |  | Arnold Nordmeyer | 758  |  | Michael Francis Edward Cooney[31]
Onehunga | New electorate  |  | Arthur Osborne | 4,314  |  | John Park[32][33]
Otahuhu | New electorate  |  | Charles Robert Petrie | 2,267  |  | Kenneth Tennent[34]
Otaki |  | Leonard Lowry | 1,367  |  | George Alexander Monk[35]
Pahiatua |  | Alfred Ransom | 931  |  | George Anders Hansen[36]
Palmerston North |  | Joe Hodgens | 2,118  |  | Jimmy Nash[37]
Patea |  | Harold Dickie | 809  |  | Charles Joseph Duggan[38][39]
Raglan |  | Lee Martin | 604  |  | Andy Sutherland[40]
Rangitikei |  | Ormond Wilson |  | Edward Gordon | 311  |  | Ormond Wilson
Remuera | New electorate  |  | Bill Endean | 2,861  |  | Mary Dreaver[41]
Riccarton |  | Bert Kyle | 87  |  | Thomas Herbert Langford[42]
Roskill |  | Arthur Shapton Richards | 2,141  |  | Arthur Sagar Bailey[13]
Rotorua |  | Alexander Moncur | 1,648  |  | Henry William Nixon[43]
Stratford |  | William Polson | 1,101  |  | James Watson McMillan
Tauranga |  | Charles Burnett |  | Frederick Doidge | 1,138  |  | Charles Burnett
Temuka |  | Thomas Burnett | 1,249  |  | James Arnold Kearton
Thames |  | Jim Thorn | 2,295  |  | William Alexander Clark
Timaru |  | Clyde Carr | 2,196  |  | W H Hall
Waikato |  | Robert Coulter |  | Stan Goosman | 2,928  |  | J W Neate
Waimarino |  | Frank Langstone | 2,940  |  | Cecil Boles
Waipawa |  | Max Christie |  | Albert Jull | 446  |  | Max Christie
Wairarapa |  | Ben Roberts | 777  |  | James Frederick Thompson[44]
Waitaki |  | David Barnes |  | David Campbell Kidd | 14  |  | David Barnes
Waitemata |  | Jack Lyon | 2,261  |  | John Ernest Close[13]
Waitomo |  | Walter Broadfoot | 329  |  | Jack Jones[45]
Wallace |  | Adam Hamilton | 844  |  | John James Lynch
Wanganui |  | Joe Cotterill | 3,920  |  | Henry Charles Veitch
Wellington Central |  | Peter Fraser | 3,837  |  | Will Appleton[46]
Wellington East |  | Bob Semple | 4,736  |  | William Long Barker[47]
Wellington North |  | Charles Chapman | 3,278  |  | Elizabeth Gilmer[48]
Wellington South |  | Robert McKeen | 6,415  |  | David Howlett[49]
Wellington Suburbs |  | Robert Wright |  | Harry Combs | 3,163  |  | Ossie Mazengarb
Wellington West | New electorate  |  | Catherine Stewart | 956  |  | Robert Wright
Westland |  | James O'Brien | 3,729  |  | Ted Taylor
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori |  | Āpirana Ngata | 1,064  |  | Rēweti Kōhere
Northern Maori |  | Taurekareka Henare |  | Paraire Karaka Paikea | 2,011  |  | Taurekareka Henare
Southern Maori |  | Eruera Tirikatene | 485  |  | Thomas Kaiporohu Bragg
Western Maori |  | Toko Ratana | 4,267  |  | Pei Te Hurinui Jones

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "General elections 1853-2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
2. ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 7.
3. ^ Milne, Robert Stephen (1966). Political Parties in New Zealand. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. p. 76.
4. ^ New Zealand Official Year-book, 1942 p778
5. ^ "The New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1942". Government Printer. 28 June 2015. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
6. ^ "Progress of Maoris". Gisborne Herald. 14 July 1939. p. 5\. Archived from the original on 14 July 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
7. ^ "No Secret Ballot until 1937". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 14 July 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
8. ^ "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
9. ^ "Candidates for tomorrow's election". Evening Post. Vol. CXXVI, no. 91\. 14 October 1938. p. 18. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
10. ^ "Notice of Nominations Received and Polling Places Appointed". Auckland Star. Vol. LXVI, no. 268\. 12 November 1935. p. 9. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
11. ^ a b "Parliamentary Election". Auckland Star. Vol. LXIX, no. 254\. 27 October 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
12. ^ Gustafson 1986, pp. 26, 28.
13. ^ a b c "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LXXV, no. 23180\. 28 October 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
14. ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 370.
15. ^ "Declaration of result of poll for the electoral district of Awarua". Western Star. 28 October 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
16. ^ a b c d "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LXXV, no. 23181\. 29 October 1938. p. 25. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
17. ^ "Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Central Otago". Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette. 13 October 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
18. ^ "The By-Election". Evening Post. Vol. CXXVII, no. 128\. 2 June 1939. p. 8. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
19. ^ Ammentorp, Steen. "Falconer". generals.dk. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
20. ^ "Alexander Smith Falconer". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2022 - via Online Cenotaph.
21. ^ "Brigadier A. S. Falconer". New Zealand Electronic Text Centre. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
22. ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 362.
23. ^ a b "The Mantle of Seddon". Evening Post. Vol. CXXVI, no. 90\. 13 October 1938. p. 24. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
24. ^ "Election Review". Evening Post. Vol. CXXVI, no. 83\. 5 October 1938. p. 15. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
25. ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 366.
26. ^ Webb, Brendan (20 September 2010). "No Sign of Mayors". BayBuzz. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
27. ^ "Hawke's Bay Seats". Evening Post. Vol. CXXVI, no. 90\. 13 October 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
28. ^ "Public Notices". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXVI, no. 82\. 4 October 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
29. ^ "The Lyttelton seat: National Party candidate". The Press. Vol. LXXIV, no. 22464\. 27 July 1938. p. 12. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
30. ^ Bremer, Robert James. "Ormond, John Davies Wilder". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
31. ^ "Otago Contests". Evening Post. Vol. CXXVI, no. 73\. 23 September 1938. p. 10. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
32. ^ "The Onehunga Seat". Evening Post. Vol. CXXVI, no. 59\. 7 September 1938. p. 5. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
33. ^ "Discover Onehunga's Rich History". Onehunga Business Association. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
34. ^ "Parliamentary Elections". Auckland Star. Vol. LXIX, no. 233\. 3 October 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
35. ^ "Public Notices". Evening Post. Vol. CXXVI, no. 82\. 4 October 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
36. ^ "Labour Candidates". Evening Post. Vol. CXXV, no. 82\. 7 April 1938. p. 17. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
37. ^ "J. A. Nash". Evening Post. Vol. CXXVI, no. 89\. 12 October 1938. p. 18. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
38. ^ "The Labour Party". Auckland Star. Vol. LXIX, no. 192\. 16 August 1938. p. 5. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
39. ^ "Labour Candidates". Evening Post. Vol. CX, no. 61\. 9 September 1925. p. 6. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
40. ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 345.
41. ^ Laracy, Hugh. "Dreaver, Mary Manson". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
42. ^ "Tammany Hall". Evening Post. Vol. CXL, no. 52\. 30 August 1945. p. 9. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
43. ^ "General Election". Auckland Star. Vol. LXIX, no. 116\. 19 May 1938. p. 10. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
44. ^ "Wairarapa Electorate". Upper Hutt Weekly Review. Vol. III, no. 43\. 14 October 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
45. ^ "Mrs. R. Bleasel". Auckland Star. Vol. LXIX, no. 277\. 23 November 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
46. ^ Buchan, Allison. "Appleton, William". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
47. ^ "Public Notices". Evening Post. Vol. CXXVI, no. 98\. 22 October 1938. p. 5. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
48. ^ Labrum, Bronwyn. "Gilmer, Elizabeth May". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
49. ^ "General Election". Evening Post. Vol. CXXVI, no. 45\. 22 August 1938. p. 10. Retrieved 10 November 2013.

## Other sources

[edit]

* Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
* Lipson, Leslie (2011) [1948]. The Politics of Equality: New Zealand's Adventures in Democracy. Wellington: Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-0-86473-646-8.
* Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
* Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

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