The 1928 New Zealand general election was held on 13 and 14 November in the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and European electorates, respectively, to elect 80 MPs to the 23rd 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 ...

. 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, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

and

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

, 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. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

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 Auckland East was a New Zealand electorate, situated in the east of Auckland. It existed between 1861 and 1887, and again between 1905 and 1946. History The Auckland East electorate was established for the 1860–1861 election, when the City ...

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 the ...

from

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the 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 Harold Montague Rushworth (18 August 1880 – 25 April 1950) was a New Zealand politician of the Country Party. Early life Rushworth was born in Croydon, England and was educated at Rugby School and Jesus College, Oxford, graduating with a ...

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, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. 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 in ...

'' 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 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 ...

, 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 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 ...

, -

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

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