31st Parliament of New Zealand
30th Parliament 32nd Parliament
Overview
Legislative bodyNew Zealand Parliament
Term22 March 1955 – 25 October 1957
Election1954 New Zealand general election
GovernmentFirst National Government
House of Representatives
Members80
Speaker of the HouseMatthew Oram
Prime MinisterKeith Holyoake
Sidney Holland until 20 September 1957
Leader of the OppositionWalter Nash
Sovereign
MonarchHM Elizabeth II
Governor-GeneralHE Lt. Gen. The Lord Norrie

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.

1954 general election

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]

Sessions

The 31st Parliament sat for three sessions, and was prorogued on 25 October 1957.[3]

SessionOpenedAdjourned
first22 March 195528 October 1955
second4 April 195626 October 1956
third11 June 195725 October 1957

Ministries

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]

Overview of seats

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 Working Government majority is calculated as all Government MPs less all other parties.

Initial composition of the 31st Parliament

The table below shows the results of the 1954 general election:

Key

  National   Labour   Independent   Social Credit

Electorate results for the 1954 New Zealand general election[5]
Electorate Incumbent Winner Majority Runner up
General electorates
Ashburton Geoff Gerard 2,292 George Glassey
Auckland Central Bill Anderton 4,093 John Weir Stewart
Avon John Mathison 4,955 Arthur Norman Stone
Awarua George Herron 3,172 J P Wyatt
Bay of Plenty Bill Sullivan 3,062 Godfrey Santon
Buller Jerry Skinner 3,348 Derisly Manwell Carson
Central Otago William Bodkin John George 2,074 Peter John Scott
Christchurch Central Robert Macfarlane 3,395 Oliver G. Moody
Clutha James Roy 1,490 T A Rodgers
Dunedin Central Phil Connolly 330 Marcus Anderson
Dunedin North Ethel McMillan 2,791 Helen Black[6]
Eden Wilfred Fortune Duncan Rae 8 John Stewart[nb 1]
Egmont Ernest Corbett 2,977 Roy Evans[7]
Fendalton Sidney Holland 3,004 Roy Henry McDonald
Franklin Jack Massey 4,587 Percival Peacock
Gisborne Harry Dudfield Reginald Keeling 521 Harry Dudfield
Grey Lynn Fred Hackett 4,807 Tom McGowan
Hamilton Hilda Ross 1,430 Ben Waters
Hastings Sydney Jones Ted Keating 252 Sydney Jones
Hauraki Andy Sutherland Arthur Kinsella 2,659 Brevat William Dynes
Hawkes Bay Cyril Harker 3,109 A Stafford
Heretaunga New electorate Phil Holloway 5,058 Allan McCready
Hobson Sidney Smith 2,584 Cecil William Elvidge
Hurunui William Gillespie 2,395 Norman Kirk
Hutt Walter Nash 3,681 Clevedon Costello
Invercargill Ralph Hanan 943 William Denham
Island Bay Robert McKeen Arnold Nordmeyer 3,824 John Maurice Whitta
Karori Charles Bowden Jack Marshall 1,811 Jim Bateman
Lyttelton Harry Lake 24 Tom McGuigan[nb 2]
Manawatu Matthew Oram 2,228 Patrick Kelliher
Manukau New electorate Leon Götz 3,072 Cyril Stamp
Marlborough Tom Shand 1,635 George Allan Turner
Marsden Alfred Murdoch Don McKay 872 Mervyn Allan Hosking [nb 3]
Miramar Bob Semple Bill Fox 1,527 Robert John McConnell
Mornington Wally Hudson 3,886 Walter MacDougall
Mt Albert Warren Freer 3,226 Robert Muldoon
Napier Peter Tait Jim Edwards 720 Peter Tait
Nelson Edgar Neale 717 Stan Whitehead
New Plymouth Ernest Aderman 1,178 Clarence Robert Parker
North Shore Dean Eyre 1,395 Arthur Faulkner
Oamaru Thomas Hayman 1,358 J H Rapson
Onehunga Hugh Watt 4,389 Alfred E. Allen
Onslow Henry May 519 Wilfred Fortune
Otahuhu Leon Götz James Deas 1,806 Leonard Bradley
Otaki Jimmy Maher 963 Ernie Langford
Pahiatua Keith Holyoake 3,519 Ronald Bell
Palmerston North Blair Tennent Philip Skoglund 346 Blair Tennant
Patea William Sheat Roy Jack 662 Benjamin Winchcombe
Petone Mick Moohan 4,211 Fanny Elizabeth Soward
Ponsonby Ritchie Macdonald 3,948 Harold Barry
Raglan Hallyburton Johnstone 857 James Harrison Wilson
Rangitikei Edward Gordon Norman Shelton 2,679 Stephen Malcolm Roberton
Remuera Ronald Algie 3,544 Bob Tizard
Riccarton Angus McLagan 4,343 Balfour Grieve Dingwall
Rodney Clifton Webb Jack Scott 3,270 Arthur Hellyn
Roskill John Rae 1,652 Elizabeth Morris
Rotorua New electorate Ray Boord 822 Percy Allen
St Albans Jack Watts 608 Mick Connelly
St Kilda Jim Barnes 114 Fred Jones
Selwyn John McAlpine 2,521 Daniel Clinton
Stratford New electorate Thomas Murray 2,966 Brian Edgar Richmond
Sydenham Mabel Howard 5,560 Alma Schumacher
Tamaki Eric Halstead 1,986 Pat Curran
Tauranga George Walsh 3,448 Oliver Liddell
Timaru Clyde Carr 1,423 Vic Wilson
Waikato Geoffrey Sim 4,698 Albert Clifford Tucker
Waimate (vacant)[nb 4] Alfred Davey 1,438 Neville Pickering
Waipa New electorate Stan Goosman 4,435 Harold Francis Gallagher
Wairarapa Bert Cooksley 1,691 Bob Wilkie[10]
Waitakere Rex Mason 3,424 Jim McAllister
Waitemata New electorate Norman King 387 Hubert Morrison
Waitomo Walter Broadfoot David Seath 1,480 Vic Haines
Wallace Tom Macdonald 4,466 J W Cleary
Wanganui Joe Cotterill 305 Jack Rumbold
Wellington Central Charles Chapman Frank Kitts 627 Allan Highet
Westland Jim Kent 3,605 Mark Wallace
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori Tiaki Omana 3,094 Claude Anaru[11]
Northern Maori Tapihana Paikea 4,435 Tono Waetford
Southern Maori Eruera Tirikatene 2,864 Turi Carroll
Western Maori Iriaka Rātana 6,637 William Rakeipoho Bennett[12]
Table footnotes
  1. John Stewart was first on election night, but lost when special votes were included
  2. Tom McGuigan was first on election night, but lost when special votes were included
  3. National deselected the sitting MP (Alfred Murdoch) (q.v.) in favour of William Vallance; then Vallance had tax problems and was replaced by Don McKay. When Vallance ran as an independent candidate, the vote-splitting almost cost National the seat.[8]
  4. David Campbell Kidd, the National Party MP for Waimate, died less than two months before the election, leaving his seat vacant.[9]

By-elections during 31st Parliament

There were a number of changes during the term of the 31st Parliament.

Electorate and by-electionDateIncumbentCauseWinner
Riccarton 1956 27 October Angus McLagan Death Mick Connelly
Bay of Plenty 1957 6 April Bill Sullivan Resignation Percy Allen

Notes

  1. 1 2 "General elections 1853–2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  2. Wilson 1985, p. 173.
  3. Wilson 1985, p. 142.
  4. Wilson 1985, pp. 86–88.
  5. Norton 1988, pp. ?.
  6. Norton 1988, p. 214.
  7. Norton 1988, p. 222.
  8. Gustafson 1986, p. 235.
  9. Wilson 1985, p. 210.
  10. Espiner, Guyon (3 March 2012). "Profile: Labour deputy Grant Robertson". New Zealand Listener. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  11. Gustafson 1986, p. 353.
  12. Gustafson 1986, p. 355.

References

  • Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
  • Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
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