The 1951 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape 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 ...

's 30th term. The

First National Government The Anniversary of the First National Government ( es, Primer gobierno patrio) is a public holiday of Argentina, commemorating the May Revolution and the creation of the Primera Junta on May 25, 1810, which is considered the first patriotic govern ...

was re-elected, with the National Party increasing its parliamentary majority over the opposition Labour Party. This was the last time until the that a party was elected to majority government of New Zealand by receiving a majority of the vote.

Background

The National Party had formed its first administration after the 1949 elections, in which it had ended four terms of government by the Labour Party. The National government, with Sidney Holland as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, had undertaken a number of economic and constitutional reforms, although it had not seriously modified the new

social welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

system which Labour had introduced. Labour's leader,

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand La ...

, had died in December 1950 after a long period of poor health, and had been replaced in January 1951 by

Walter Nash Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, havin ...

. Nash had been

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

for the duration of the first Labour government. The most significant issue in the 1951 elections was the growing industrial unrest of the time, particularly the ongoing dockworkers dispute. Holland condemned the strikers, calling the situation "industrial anarchy". The Labour Party, under Nash, attempted to take a moderate position in the dispute, but ended up displeasing both sides. Holland, seeking a mandate to respond strongly to the strike, called a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

. Another issue was high inflation, which frustrated voters and without the distraction of the strike, might have threatened Holland's government at the scheduled election for 1952.

MPs retiring in 1951

Two MPs retired at the election, one each from Labour and National.

The election

The date for the main 1951 elections was 1 September, and for the first time, elections to the four Maori seats were held on the same day. The 1951 elections were also the first under the new regulations which required elections to be held on a Saturday. 1,205,762 people were registered to vote, and turnout was 89.1%. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.

Results

Party standings

The 1951 election saw the governing National Party re-elected with a twenty-seat margin, a substantial improvement on the twelve-seat margin it previously held. National won fifty seats compared with the Labour Party's thirty. The popular vote was closer, however, with National winning 54% to Labour's 46%. No seats were won by minor party candidates or by independents. No party then captured a majority of the vote until the 2020 election, when Labour won 50.01%.

Votes summary

Key
, - , colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" , General electorates , - , - ,

Hauraki Hauraki is a suburb located on the southern North Shore of Auckland, the largest metropolitan city in New Zealand. It is under the local governance of the Auckland Council. History The traditional name for the western coastline in Hauraki wa ...

, style="background-color:;" , , colspan=3 style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , Andy Sutherland , style="text-align:right;" , 4,468 , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" , Brevat William Dynes , - , - , colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" ,

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 ...

, - Table footnotes:

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:1951 New Zealand general election