The 1884 New Zealand general election was held on 22 July to elect a total of 95 MPs to the 9th 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 ...

. The Māori vote was held on 21 July. A total number of 137,686 (60.6%) voters turned out to vote. In 11 seats there was only one candidate.

1881 electoral redistribution

The same 95 electorates that were defined through the 1881 electoral redistribution were used for the 1884 election. The next electoral redistribution was held in 1887 in preparation for the .

Government formation

Prior to the election

Harry Atkinson Sir Harry Albert Atkinson (1 November 1831 – 28 June 1892) served as the tenth premier of New Zealand on four separate occasions in the late 19th century, and was Colonial Treasurer for a total of ten years. He was responsible for guiding t ...

had served as

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

since 1883. His government was unpopular at the time and the polls went against him. Only 32 of the returned Members supported him whilst 57 opposed his government as well as 6 independents. Soon after the election his government fell in August 1884 after

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 ...

successfully passed a

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

and assumed the premiership with the support of

Julius Vogel Sir Julius Vogel (24 February 1835 – 12 March 1899) was the eighth premier of New Zealand. His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works. He was the first Jewish prime mi ...

. A strong counter-offensive by Atkinson enabled him to unseat Stout again after only twelve days. Stout, however, was not so easily defeated, and took the Premiership again after seven days. This time, Stout held his position for three years, defeating Atkinson's attempts to oust him.

1881 electoral redistribution

Government formation

Results

Notes

References