The 1928 New Zealand general election was held on 13 and 14 November in the Māori and European electorates, respectively, to elect 80 MPs to the 23rd session of the

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament () is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Monarchy of New Zealand, Sovereign and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his Governor-General of New Zeal ...

. 1928 was the year postal voting was introduced for certain specified groups (e.g. invalids) who could not get to a polling booth on election day.

The election

The 1928 election was held on Tuesday, 13 November in the Māori electorates, and on Wednesday, 14 November in the general electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 23rd session of Parliament. A total of 844,633 electors were registered on the European roll, of which 743,691 (88.05%) turned out to vote. All 80 electorates were contested. 47 and 29 electorates were in the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

and

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

, respectively, plus the 4 Māori electorates. In 1927, a faction of the decaying

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

formed a new organisation, which was eventually named the United Party. In 1928, to the considerable surprise of most observers and many members of the party itself, United won a considerable victory, taking Auckland East and

Grey Lynn Grey Lynn is an inner suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the west of the city centre. Originally a separate borough, Grey Lynn amalgamated with Auckland City in 1914. Grey Lynn is centred on Grey Lynn Park, which was not part of t ...

from Labour. The United Government came to power with Labour support. Labour, forming the official opposition since 1926, were thus replaced by Reform. Six Independents were elected (most with allegiances to the main parties. Four of these backed United, one supported Reform and one favoured neither. The electorate went to Harold Rushworth of the Country Party after a recount of the votes, but the election was declared void January 1929. Rushworth won the resulting

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

. This marked the Country Party's first entry into Parliament, where it would retain a presence until 1938.

Result by party

1928 New Zealand general election - Simple

The table below shows the result of the 1928 election. ¹ Includes two who won as Independent Reform ² previously contested as

Votes summary

Initial composition of the 23rd Parliament

The United Party was organised in the House of Representatives, prior to the dissolution of the 22nd Parliament. The ''

Auckland Star The ''Auckland Star'' was an evening daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, from 24 March 1870 to 16 August 1991. Survived by its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Star'', part of its name endures in ''The Sunday Star-Times'', created i ...

'' reported on 18 September 1928, that:

...the United Party were assembled yesterday in Wellington when Sir Joseph Ward accepted the leadership of the party. It had previously been decided, by unanimous resolution, that the party should go to the polls as "The United Party"...

'' The Evening Post'' newspaper reported on the same day that:

The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Ward took his seat as Leader of the United Party in the House of Representatives this afternoon, Mr G.W. Forbes, who has led the Nationalist Party up to the present, relinquishing his former place in favour of Sir Joseph. From now until the end of the session the Nationalist Party ceases to exist under that name.

Key , - , colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" , General electorates , - , - , Hauraki , colspan=2 style="text-align:center; background-color:#ececec;" , New electorate , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , Arthur Hall , style="text-align:right;" , 891 , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" , Ebenezer Allan , - , - , colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" ,

Māori electorates In Politics of New Zealand, New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats (), are a special category of New Zealand electorates, electorate that give Reserved political positions, reserved positions to repre ...

, -

Notes

References

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External links

Photos of Members of Parliament
as elected in November 1928 {{New Zealand elections