The 1896 New Zealand general election was held on Wednesday, 4 December in the general electorates, and on Thursday, 19 December in the

Māori electorates In New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats, are a special category of electorate that give reserved positions to representatives of Māori in the New Zealand Parliament. Every area in New Zealand is ...

to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 13th session of the

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand ( King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by h ...

. A total number of 337,024 (76.1%) voters turned out to vote. 1896 was the year the limit of £200 was placed on each candidate's campaign spending.

Background

The Liberal government campaigned on a platform that the election was between the people and the "selfish few". The economy stagnated, raising unemployment, which caused support for the Liberals to fall in the cities and they lost many seats, though not enough to be removed from office by the Conservatives. In rural areas, the swing in support was not as large due to the public works and land settlement programmes helping to support the regions. In June 1896 Seddon had replaced

Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ...

as Finance Minister whilst the latter had resigned after being declared temporarily bankrupt. As such Seddon himself took on the workload of the treasury making him more susceptible to opposition attacks over the economy. He proved to be a cautious financier, budgeting for surpluses while maintaining the spirit of self reliance his predecessor

John Ballance John Ballance (27 March 1839 – 27 April 1893) was an Irish-born New Zealand politician who was the 14th premier of New Zealand, from January 1891 to April 1893, the founder of the Liberal Party (the country's first organised political part ...

had advocated.

Results

Party totals

The following table gives party strengths and vote distribution according to Wilson (1985), who records Maori representatives as

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

s prior to the .

Votes summary

The table below shows the results of the 1896 general election: Key , - , colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" , General electorates , - , - , rowspan=3 , Auckland, City of , style="background-color:;" , , colspan=3 style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , Thomas Thompson , style="text-align:right;" , 2,516 , rowspan=3 style="background-color:;" , , rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;" ,

Arthur Rosser Arthur Rosser (16 April 1864 – 15 February 1954) was a notable New Zealand builder, local-body politician and trade unionist. Biography Early life He was born in Oystermouth, Glamorganshire, Wales in 1864. His family migrated to New Zealand ...

, - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" ,

Charles Button Charles Edward Button (23 August 1838 – 27 December 1920) was a solicitor, Supreme Court judge, Mayor of Hokitika and later Birkenhead, and an independent conservative Member of Parliament in New Zealand. Born in Tasmania, he came to New Zeala ...

, style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" ,

James Job Holland James Job Holland (1841 – 31 August 1922) was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament in Auckland, New Zealand, and the mayor of Auckland from 1893 to 1896. Biography Early life Born in Leicester, England, Holland emigrated to New Zealand in ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 1,622 , - , style="background-color:;" , , colspan=3 style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , William Crowther , style="text-align:right;" , 1,328 , - , - , rowspan=3 , Christchurch, City of , style="background-color:;" , , colspan=3 style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , Charles Lewis , style="text-align:right;" , 6,570 , rowspan=3 style="background-color:;" , , rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;" ,

William Whitehouse Collins William Whitehouse Collins (4 September 1853 – 12 April 1923) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Christchurch in the South Island. Early life Collins was born on 4 September 1853 in Harborne, Staffordshire, England and came to New Z ...

, - , style="background-color:;" , , colspan=3 style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , George Smith , style="text-align:right;" , 5,940 , - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" ,

, style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" ,

Tommy Taylor Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster. Career Taylor was born in Smithies, ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 5,445 , - , - , rowspan=3 , Dunedin, City of , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" , William Hutchison , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" ,

Scobie Mackenzie Mackay John Scobie Mackenzie (23 January 1845 – 15 September 1901), known as Scobie, was an independent conservative Member of Parliament in New Zealand. Biography Mackenzie was born in Tain in Scotland in 1845. He moved from Victoria ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 2,132 , rowspan=3 style="background-color:;" , , rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;" ,

David Pinkerton David Pinkerton (26 September 1836 – 23 June 1906) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Dunedin City, in the South Island. Early life Born in Kirknewton, West Lothian, Scotland. He married Margaret Fairley on 1 December 1857 with whom ...

, - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" ,

, style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , John A. Millar , style="text-align:right;" , 547 , - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" , William Earnshaw , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" ,

Henry Fish Henry Smith Fish (15 July 1838 – 23 September 1897) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. For a time, he was a member of the Liberal Party. He was Mayor of Dunedin for a total of six years. Smith is remembered as one of the staunch opp ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 378 , - , - , rowspan=3 , Wellington, City of , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" ,

Robert Stout Sir Robert Stout (28 September 1844 – 19 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who was the 13th premier of New Zealand on two occasions in the late 19th century, and later Chief Justice of New Zealand. He was the only person to hold both ...

, style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" ,

, style="text-align:right;" , 475 , rowspan=3 style="background-color:;" , , rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;" , Arthur Atkinson , - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" ,

Francis Bell Francis Bell may refer to: * Arthur Bell (martyr) (1590–1643), also known as Francis Bell, Franciscan and English martyr *Dillon Bell (Francis Dillon Bell; 1822–1898), New Zealand politician, father of the New Zealand Prime Minister * Francis B ...

, style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" ,

John Hutcheson John Hutcheson (1853–1940) was a Member of Parliament in New Zealand, for the Liberal Party. Biography Early life A native of Dumbarton, Scotland, where he was born in 1855, he was educated at the Dumbarton Academy, where he gained a So ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 580 , - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" , John Duthie , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , George Fisher , style="text-align:right;" , 28 , - , - , colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" ,

, - Table footnotes:

The election of

Thomas Wilford Sir Thomas Mason Wilford (20 June 1870 – 22 June 1939) was a New Zealand politician. He held the seats of Wellington Suburbs then Hutt continuously for thirty years, from 1899 to 1929. Wilford was leader of the New Zealand Liberal Party, and ...

for the electorate of Suburbs of Wellington was declared void by an election petition on the grounds of corrupt and illegal practices. Charles Wilson was elected MP for that electorate following a by-election on 23 April 1897.

Summary of changes

* A boundary redistribution resulted in the abolition of seven seats: ** , held by John A. Millar ** , held by Patrick O'Regan ** , held by

Edward Smith Ed, Eddie, Edgar, Edward, Edwin, and similar, surnamed Smith, may refer to: Military * Edward H. Smith (sailor) (1889–1961), United States Coast Guard admiral, oceanographer and Arctic explorer * Edward Smith (VC) (1898–1940), English recipien ...

** , held by Frederick Flatman ** , held by

William Maslin William Stephen Maslin (1850 – 19 December 1929) was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand. Early life and business interests Maslin was born in Brentford, Middlesex, England in 1850. He came to New Zealand with his parents a ...

** , held by Charles Mills ** , held by Frederic Lang * At the same time, seven new seats came into being: ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:1896 New Zealand general election