The 1893 New Zealand general election was held on 28 November and 20 December in the European and

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 ...

, respectively, to elect 74 MPs to the 12th 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 hi ...

. The election was won by the

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 ...

, and

Richard Seddon Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 15th premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. In office for thirteen years, he is to date New Zealand's longest-se ...

became Prime Minister. 1893 was the year

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...

was granted to women over 21 (including Māori), plural registration was abolished, plural voting for Māori property-owners was abolished, and only those whose descent was exactly half Māori were allowed to choose whether to vote in European or Māori electorates.

Women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

was the most consequential change.

1892 electoral redistribution

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1890 for the . The 1891 New Zealand census was the first to automatically trigger an electoral redistribution, which was undertaken in 1892. The population drift to 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-larges ...

resulted in the transfer of one electorate from the south to the north. Only three electorates remained with unaltered boundaries: , , and . 14 new electorates were established, and of those, eight electorates were established for the first time: , , , , , , , and . The remaining six electorates had existed before, and they were re-established for the 12th Parliament: , , , , , and .

Women's suffrage

By far the most notable change for the 1893 election was that the Electoral Act, 1893, extended the franchise to all women (including

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 Co ...

) aged 21 and over.

was granted after about two decades of campaigning by women such as

Kate Sheppard Katherine Wilson Sheppard ( Catherine Wilson Malcolm; 10 March 1848 – 13 July 1934) was the most prominent member of the women's suffrage movement in New Zealand and the country's most famous suffragist. Born in Liverpool, England, she emi ...

and

Mary Ann Müller Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

and organisations such as the New Zealand branch of the

Women's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

led by Anne Ward. Of countries presently independent, New Zealand was the first to give women the vote in modern times. John Hall, a Conservative politician and former

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 ...

, received most of the credit for pushing the legislation through Parliament; he is the only male who has his name inscribed on the

Kate Sheppard National Memorial The ''Kate Sheppard National Memorial'', located in the city of Christchurch, is New Zealand's first memorial to the women's suffrage campaign, and particularly honours the life of one of the country's leading campaigners for women's suffrage, K ...

. There were only 10 weeks between the passage of the legislation and the election, and the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

(WCTU) set about to enrol as many women as possible. The bill had passed under the

Liberal government Liberal government may refer to: Australia In Australian politics, a Liberal government may refer to the following governments administered by the Liberal Party of Australia: * Menzies Government (1949–66), several Australian ministries under S ...

which generally advocated social and political reform, but only due to a combination of personality issues and political accident. Seddon opposed it (unlike many other Liberals) because many women supported prohibition. He had expected to stop the bill in the upper house, but found that one more vote was needed. Thomas Kelly, a new

councillor had left himself paired in favour of the measure, but Seddon obtained his consent by wire to change his vote. Seddon's manipulation so incensed two opposition councillors, William Reynolds and Edward Stevens that they changed sides and voted for the bill, which was passed by 20 votes to 18 so giving the vote to women. Both the Liberals and the Conservatives subsequently claimed credit for sponsoring the enfranchisement of women and both sought to acquire women's votes, although the Liberals benefitted more.

The election

The 1893 election was held on Tuesday, 28 November in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 20 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 12th Parliament. A total number of 302,997 (75.3%) voters turned out to vote. 65% of all eligible New Zealand women voted in the 1893 election. In 3 seats there was only one candidate. 31 and 39 electorates were in the

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.

Results

Party totals

The following table gives party strengths and vote distribution according to Wilson (1985), who records Maori representatives as

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

s prior to the .

Votes summary

Electorate results

The following is a table of electorate results by electorate.

Key , - , colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" , General electorates , - , - , rowspan=3 , Auckland, City of , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" ,

John Shera John McEffer Shera (1840 – 19 September 1906) was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament in Auckland, New Zealand. Biography Early life Shera was born in Ireland in 1840. He sailed to Australia in 1867 before continuing on to New Zealand a ye ...

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George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 2,233 , rowspan=3 style="background-color:;" , , rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;" , Thomas Tudehope , - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" , Thomas Thompson , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , William Crowther , style="text-align:right;" , 438 , - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" ,

Alfred Cadman Sir Alfred Jerome Cadman (17 June 1847 – 23 March 1905) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party. He was the Minister of Railways from 1895 to 1899 in the Liberal Government. Early life Cadman was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1847 ...

, style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" ,

Charles Button Charles Edward Button (23 August 1838 – 27 December 1920) was a solicitor, Supreme Court judge, Mayor of Hokitika and later Birkenhead, and an independent conservative Member of Parliament in New Zealand. Born in Tasmania, he came to New Zeala ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 68 , - , - , rowspan=3 , Christchurch, City of , style="background-color:;" , , colspan=3 style="text-align:center;background-color:;" ,

William Pember Reeves William Pember Reeves (10 February 1857 – 16 May 1932) was a New Zealand politician, cricketer, historian and poet who promoted social reform. Early life and career Reeves's parents were William Reeves, who was a journalist and politician ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 1,848 , rowspan=3 style="background-color:;" , , rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;" , Ebenezer Sandford , - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" , Ebenezer Sandford , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , George Smith , style="text-align:right;" , 916 , - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" ,

Richard Molesworth Taylor Richard Molesworth Taylor (1835 – 26 August 1919), also known as Sydenham Taylor, was a three-term New Zealand Member of Parliament. Born in London in 1835, he moved to Auckland on the ''Heather Bell'' in 1846. He travelled to Victoria in 18 ...

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William Whitehouse Collins William Whitehouse Collins (4 September 1853 – 12 April 1923) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Christchurch in the South Island. Early life Collins was born on 4 September 1853 in Harborne, Staffordshire, England and came to New Ze ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 281 , - , - , rowspan=3 , Dunedin, City of , style="background-color:;" , , colspan=3 style="text-align:center;background-color:;" ,

David Pinkerton David Pinkerton (26 September 1836 – 23 June 1906) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Dunedin City, in the South Island. Early life Born in Kirknewton, West Lothian, Scotland. He married Margaret Fairley on 1 December 1857 with who ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 1,294 , rowspan=3 style="background-color:;" , , rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;" ,

Henry Fish Henry Smith Fish (15 July 1838 – 23 September 1897) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. For a time, he was a member of the Liberal Party. He was Mayor of Dunedin for a total of six years. Smith is remembered as one of the staunch oppo ...

, - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" ,

, style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" ,

William Earnshaw William Earnshaw may refer to: * William Earnshaw (politician), New Zealand member of parliament * William Earnshaw (minister) William Earnshaw, D.D. (April 12, 1828 – July 7, 1885) was an American minister who served in the Union Army as a chapl ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 589 , - , style="background-color:;" , , colspan=3 style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , William Hutchison , style="text-align:right;" , 294 , - , - , rowspan=3 , Wellington, City of , style="background-color:;" , , colspan=3 style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , John Duthie , style="text-align:right;" , , rowspan=3 style="background-color:;" , , rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;" ,

Kennedy Macdonald Thomas Kennedy Macdonald (6 April 1847 – 17 October 1914), known as Kennedy Macdonald or Kennedy Mac, was a 19th-century Liberal Party Member of Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand. Early life Macdonald was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer in nort ...

, - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" , George Fisher , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" ,

Francis Bell Francis Bell may refer to: * Arthur Bell (martyr) (1590–1643), also known as Francis Bell, Franciscan and English martyr *Dillon Bell (Francis Dillon Bell; 1822–1898), New Zealand politician, father of the New Zealand Prime Minister * Francis B ...

, style="text-align:right;" , , - , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;" , William McLean , style="background-color:;" , , style="text-align:center;background-color:;" , Sir Robert Stout , style="text-align:right;" , , - , - , colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" ,

, - Table footnotes:

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Roll of Members of the House of Representatives, August 1896
(i.e. prior to the next general election) {{DEFAULTSORT:1893 New Zealand general election