1899 New Zealand general election
6 (general) & 19 December (Māori) 1899
All 74 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives
38 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout77.6%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Richard Seddon William Russell
Party Liberal Conservative
Leader since 28 April 1893 26 June 1894
Leader's seat Westland Hawkes Bay
Last election 39 seats, 54.8% 26 seats, 34.0%
Seats won 49 19
Seat change Increase 10 Decrease 7
Popular vote 204,331 141,758
Percentage 52.7% 36.7%
Swing Decrease 2.1% Increase 2.7%
Results of the election.
Premier before election

Richard Seddon
Liberal

 Subsequent Premier

Richard Seddon
Liberal

The 1899 New Zealand general election was held on 6 and 19 December in the European and Māori electorates, respectively, to elect 74 MPs to the 14th session of the New Zealand Parliament. The election was again won by the Liberal Party, and Richard Seddon remained Prime Minister.

1896 electoral redistribution

The last electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1896 for the 1896 election, and the same electorates were used again.[1] 34 seats were located in the North Island, 36 were in the South Island, and the remaining four were Māori electorates.[2] Since the 1890 electoral redistribution, the four main centres had electorates with three seats each.[3]

The election

The 1899 election was held on Wednesday, 6 December in the general electorates, and on Tuesday, 19 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 14th Parliament.[4] A total number of 373,744 (77.6%) voters turned out to vote.[5][6] In three electorates there was only one candidate, and they were thus returned unopposed.[5] Two of those were Liberal candidates: Richard Seddon in the Westland electorate, and John McKenzie in the Waihemo electorate. The third was an opposition representative, William Russell, who stood in the Hawke's Bay electorate.[7]

Two candidates died during the election campaign. A third, Henry Augustus Field, died two days after having been re-elected in the Otaki electorate.[8]

Results

Party totals

The following table gives party strengths and vote distribution according to Wilson (1985), who records Maori representatives as Independents prior to the 1905 election.[9]

Election results
Party Candidates Total votes Percentage Seats won Change
Liberal 86 204,331 52.71 49 +10
Conservative 69 141,758 36.67 19 -7
Independent 43 41,540 10.72 6 -3

Votes summary

Popular Vote
Liberal
 
 52.71%
Conservative
 
 36.67%
Independents
 
 10.72%
Parliament seats
Liberal
 
 66.22%
Conservative
 
 25.67%
Independents
 
 8.11%

Electorate results

Seventy-four MPs were elected across sixty-two single-member, and four three-member electorates. The table below show the results of the 1899 general election:

Key

  Liberal   Conservative   Independent Liberal   Liberal–Labour   Independent

Electorate results for the 1899 New Zealand general election[7]
Electorate Incumbent Winner Majority Runner up
General electorates
Ashburton Edward George Wright John McLachlan 802 Charles John Harper[10]
Ashley Richard Meredith 751 Thomas Caverhill
Auckland, City of Thomas Thompson William Joseph Napier 1,440 James Job Holland
James Job Holland William Crowther 938
William Crowther George Fowlds 94
Avon William Tanner 148 Arthur Rhodes
Awarua Joseph Ward 1,732 W. T. Murray[11]
Bay of Islands Robert Houston 67 Norman Alexander McLeod[12]
Bay of Plenty William Herries 132 David Lundon[13]
Bruce James Allen 364 Crawford Anderson
Buller Patrick O'Regan James Colvin 552 Patrick O'Regan
Caversham Arthur Morrison 1,108 William Henry Warren[14]
Christchurch, City of Charles Lewis William Whitehouse Collins 1,760 Tommy Taylor
George Smith Charles Lewis 418
Tommy Taylor Harry Ell 221
Clutha James William Thomson 497 Finlay McLeod[15]
Dunedin, City of Alexander Sligo John A. Millar 2,319 Scobie Mackenzie
John A. Millar James Arnold 1,564
Scobie Mackenzie Alfred Richard Barclay 637
Eden John Bollard 4 Malcolm Niccol[16]
Egmont Walter Symes 268 William Monkhouse
Ellesmere William Montgomery Heaton Rhodes 104 William Montgomery
Franklin William Massey 1,180 W Findlay Wilson
Geraldine Frederick Flatman 1,556 Charles Nicholson McIntosh
Grey Arthur Guinness 786 Michael Hannan
Hawera Felix McGuire 55 Charles E. Major
Hawke's Bay William Russell Uncontested
Invercargill James Kelly Josiah Hanan 4,640 James Kelly
Kaiapoi Richard Moore David Buddo 481 Richard Moore
Lyttelton John Joyce George Laurenson 1,813 William Jacques
Manawatu John Stevens 148 Robert Bruce
Manukau Maurice O'Rorke 1,031 John Edward Taylor[17]
Marsden Robert Thompson 1,314 George Alderton
Masterton Alexander Hogg 1,191 Charles Cockburn-Hood[18]
Mataura Robert McNab 159 Irven Willis Raymond[19]
Motueka Roderick McKenzie 1,066 Walter Moffatt
Napier Douglas Maclean Alfred Fraser 38 Douglas Maclean
City of Nelson John Graham 581 Richmond Hursthouse
Oamaru Thomas Young Duncan 1,254 John Andrew MacPherson[20]
Ohinemuri Alfred Cadman Jackson Palmer 295 Edward Moss
Otaki Henry Field 305 Charles Morison
Pahiatua John O'Meara 369 Harold Smith
Palmerston Frederick Pirani 515 William Wood
Parnell Frank Lawry 840 Hugh Campbell
Patea George Hutchison 129 Arthur Remington
Rangitikei Frank Lethbridge 532 James Jervis Bagnall
Riccarton William Rolleston George Russell 1 William Rolleston
Selwyn Cathcart Wason Charles Hardy 140 John Rennie
Taieri Walter Carncross 460 Alexander Campbell Begg[21]
Taranaki Henry Brown Edward Smith 127 Henry Brown
Thames James McGowan 1,184 Henry Greenslade[22]
Timaru William Hall-Jones 2,275 James Stephen Keith[nb 1][23]
Tuapeka Charles Rawlins James Bennet 386 Charles Rawlins
Waiapu James Carroll 1,329 Cecil Fitzroy[24]
Waihemo John McKenzie Uncontested
Waikato Frederic Lang 322 John Hosking[25]
Waikouaiti Edmund Allen 332 John White[26]
Waipawa George Hunter Charles Hall 557 George Hunter
Wairarapa Walter Clarke Buchanan J. T. Marryat Hornsby 156 Walter Clarke Buchanan
Wairau Charles Mills 1,373 Walter Clifford
Waitaki William Steward 1,427 John Campbell[27]
Waitemata Richard Monk 450 Charles Newman
Wakatipu William Fraser 169 James Kelly[nb 2]
Wallace Michael Gilfedder 219 Allen Carmichael[28]
Wanganui Gilbert Carson Archibald Willis 709 Gilbert Carson
Wellington, City of John Hutcheson 1,116 Kennedy Macdonald[29]
Robert Stout Arthur Atkinson 383
George Fisher 122
Suburbs of Wellington Charles Wilson Thomas Wilford 536 Alfred Newman
Westland Richard Seddon Uncontested
Māori electorates[nb 3]
Eastern Maori Wi Pere 907 Mohi Te Ātahīkoia
Northern Maori Hone Heke 1,086 Eparaima Te Mutu Kapa
Southern Maori Tame Parata 168 Taituha Hape
Western Maori Henare Kaihau 1,812 Tureiti Te Heuheu Tukino V

Table footnotes:

  1. ↑ Note that in many newspapers, Keith is labelled as belonging to the opposition
  2. ↑ Not to be confused with James Whyte Kelly, who was defeated that election in the Invercargill electorate
  3. ↑ Note that the affiliation of many Māori candidates is not known.

Notes

  1. ↑ McRobie 1989, p. 63.
  2. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 173.
  3. ↑ McRobie 1989, p. 55.
  4. ↑ Wilson 1985, pp. 138, 287.
  5. 1 2 Wilson 1985, p. 286.
  6. ↑ "General elections 1853–2005 – dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  7. 1 2 "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  8. ↑ "Untitled". Bay of Plenty Times. Vol. XXIV, no. 3936. 11 December 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Wilson 1985, pp. 287–289.
  10. ↑ "Electoral District of Ashburton". Ashburton Guardian. Vol. XXI, no. 4977. 28 November 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Farewell to Mr and Mrs W. T. Murray and Mr and Mrs B. W. R. Dunn". The Southland Times. No. 14743. 12 September 1900. p. 3. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  12. ↑ "Electoral District of Bay of Islands". Auckland Star. Vol. XXX, no. 280. 25 November 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  13. ↑ "The Electoral District of Bay of Plenty". Bay of Plenty Times. Vol. XXIV, no. 3932. 1 December 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  14. ↑ "Electoral District of Caversham". Otago Daily Times. No. 11604. 12 December 1899. p. 6. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  15. ↑ "Clutha Electoral District". Mataura Ensign. No. 669. 2 December 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  16. ↑ Scholefield 1940b, p. 124.
  17. ↑ "Electoral District of Manukau". Observer. Vol. XVIII, no. 1094. 16 December 1899. p. 19. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  18. ↑ "Masterton Electorate". Wairarapa Daily Times. Vol. XVI, no. 6410. 4 December 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  19. ↑ "Electoral District of Mataura". Mataura Ensign. No. 673. 12 December 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  20. ↑ "Electoral District of Oamaru". The Oamaru Mail. Vol. XXIV, no. 7695. 12 December 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  21. ↑ Scholefield 1940a, p. 55.
  22. ↑ "Electoral District of Thames". Thames Advertiser. Vol. XXIX, no. 9510. 13 December 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  23. ↑ "The General Election". Daily Telegraph. No. 9729. 30 November 1899. p. 4. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  24. ↑ "Notice of Nominations". Poverty Bay Herald. Vol. XXVI, no. 8683. 30 November 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  25. ↑ "Official Declaration of Poll". Auckland Star. Vol. XXX, no. 296. 30 November 1899. p. 5. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  26. ↑ "Otago". The Star. No. 6661. 6 December 1899. p. 4. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  27. ↑ "Waitaki Electoral District". The Timaru Herald. Vol. LXII, no. 3123. 1 December 1899. p. 1. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  28. ↑ "Orepuki". Otago Witness. No. 2385. 23 November 1899. p. 34. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  29. ↑ "Untitled". The Evening Post. Vol. LVIII, no. 136. 6 December 1899. p. 6. Retrieved 14 March 2014.

References

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