The 26th New Zealand Parliament was a term 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 ...

. It was elected at the 1938 general election in October of that year.

1938 general election

The 1938 general election was held on Friday, 14 October 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 ...

and on Saturday, 15 October in the general electorates, respectively. A total of 80 MPs were elected; 48 represented

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 ...

electorates, 28 represented

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 ...

electorates, and the remaining four represented Māori electorates. 995,173 voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 92.9%.

Sessions

The 26th Parliament sat for an unusual five sessions by omitting the 1941 general election, and was prorogued on 30 August 1943. A 1941 act extended the life of parliament to 1 November 1942, and a 1942 act allowed extension to "one year from the termination of the present war", although a general election was held in .

Ministries

The Labour Party had been in power since December 1935, and

Michael Joseph Savage Michael Joseph Savage (23 March 1872 – 27 March 1940) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of New Zealand, heading the First Labour Government from 1935 until his death in 1940. Savage was born in the Colony ...

led the Savage Ministry. The opposition had consisted of the United Party and the Reform Party, which merged in 1936 during the term of the 25th Parliament to form the National Party. The

First Labour Government The first MacDonald ministry of the United Kingdom lasted from January to November 1924. The Labour Party, under Ramsay MacDonald, had failed to win the general election of December 1923, with 191 seats, although the combined Opposition tall ...

was confirmed at the 1938 general election with an increased majority, and the Savage Ministry remained until Savage's death on 27 March 1940. Savage was succeeded as Prime Minister by

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 Lab ...

, who formed the Fraser Ministry on 1 April 1940. The first Fraser Ministry resigned on 30 April 1940 and was reappointed, with some portfolios adjusted. The second Fraser Ministry remained in power until its defeat by the National Party at the . A War Cabinet was formed on 16 July 1940, which held the responsibility for all decisions relating to New Zealand's involvement in World War II. The War Cabinet was dissolved on 21 August 1945. For some months in 1942, a War Administration was in place. Formed on 30 June and dissolved on 2 October, the War Administration had responsibility for all war matters, with the War Cabinet as its executive body.

Party standings

Start of Parliament

End of Parliament

Initial composition of the 26th Parliament

The following table shows the initial composition of the 26th Parliament:

Changes

There were a number of changes during the term of the 26th Parliament.

Notes

References

* * * {{New Zealand elections 26