The 17th 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 hi ...

. It was elected at the 1908 general election in November and December of that year.

1908 general election

Members of the Liberal Party of the 17th parliament

The Second Ballot Act 1908 was used for the 1908 general election. The first ballot was held on Tuesday, 17 November in the general electorates. 22 second ballots were held one week later on 24 November, and in one large rural electorate (

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

), two weeks were allowed before the second ballot was held on 1 December. The Second Ballot Act did not apply to the four

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 the election was held on Wednesday, 2 December. A total of 80 MPs were elected; 41 represented North Island electorates, 35 represented South Island electorates, and the remaining four represented Māori electorates. 537,003 voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 79.8%.

Sessions

The 17th Parliament sat for four sessions (there were two sessions in 1909), and was prorogued on 20 November 1911.

Ministries

The

Liberal Government of New Zealand The Liberal Government of New Zealand was the first responsible government in New Zealand politics organised along party lines. The government formed following the founding of the Liberal Party and took office on 24 January 1891, and governed N ...

had taken office on 24 January 1891.

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 ...

formed the Ward Ministry on 6 August 1906. The Ward Ministry remained in power until Ward's resignation as Prime Minister in 1912.

Party composition

Start of term

Initial composition of the 17th Parliament

By-elections during 17th Parliament

There were a number of changes during the term of the 17th Parliament.

Notes

References

*{{Cite book , last= Scholefield , first= Guy , title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 , author-link=Guy Scholefield , edition=3rd , orig-year= First ed. published 1913 , year= 1950 , publisher=Govt. Printer , location= Wellington 17 1908 in New Zealand 1908 in law