The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) was a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

political party in New Zealand in the 1940s. It was a splinter from the larger Labour Party, and was led by the prominent

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

John A. Lee John Alfred Alexander Lee (31 October 1891 – 13 June 1982) was a New Zealand politician and writer. He is one of the more prominent avowed socialism in New Zealand, socialists in New Zealand's political history. Lee was elected as a me ...

Party history

The Democratic Labour Party originated in the internal disputes within the first Labour Party government, which lasted from 1935 to 1949. The division was primarily between moderates, such as

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Walter Nash Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, havin ...

, and radicals like Lee. Lee and his allies criticised the "cautious" approach taken by the party's leadership, and advocated a considerably stronger policy line. Lee's views were a mixture of conventional

theory and the

social credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

theory of

monetary reform Monetary reform is any movement or theory that proposes a system of supplying money and financing the economy that is different from the current system. Monetary reformers may advocate any of the following, among other proposals: * A return t ...

. He was also strongly critical of the Labour Party's internal structures, calling its leadership

unaccountable Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the pub ...

and

autocratic Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perh ...

. MPs sympathetic to Lee’s credit ideas were

Arnold Nordmeyer Sir Arnold Henry Nordmeyer (born Heinrich Arnold Nordmeyer, 7 February 1901 – 2 February 1989) was a New Zealand politician. He served as Minister of Finance (1957–1960) and later as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition ...

Bill Barnard William Edward Barnard (29 January 1886 – 12 March 1958) was a New Zealand lawyer, politician and parliamentary speaker. He was a member of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament from 1928 New Zealand general election, 1928 until 1943 New Zealand ...

Clyde Carr Clyde Leonard Carr (14 January 1886 – 18 September 1962) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party, and was a minister of the Congregational Church. Biography Early life and career Carr was born in Ponsonby, Auckland in 1886. His f ...

Gervan McMillan David Gervan McMillan (26 February 1904 – 20 February 1951) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party, and a medical practitioner. Biography McMillan was born in 1904 in New Plymouth, the eldest child of Annie Gertrude Pearce and ...

and also

Bill Anderton William Theophilus Anderton (16 March 1891 – 20 January 1966) was a New Zealand politician of the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party. He served as Minister of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), Minister of Internal Affairs in the Second Labo ...

Dan Sullivan Dan, Danny, or Daniel Sullivan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Daniel J. Sullivan (born 1940), American film and theater director * Daniel G. Sullivan, American screenwriter * Dan Sullivan (musician), indie rock musician * Dan Panic, Amer ...

Gordon Hultquist Axel Gordon Hultquist (1904 – 1 November 1941) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Early life Hultquist was born in Bunbury, Western Australia, an electrician and the son of a Swedish Salvation Army Officer. He emigrated to N ...

and William John Lyon (Hultquist and Lyon both died while serving in World War II). In 1940, after a long period of rebellion against the Labour Party leadership, Lee was finally expelled from the party. He quickly moved to establish the Democratic Labour Party. One other MP,

, joined him as well as former Labour MP

Horace Herring Horace Edgar Herring (1884–9 January 1962) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Mid-Canterbury. Born in England and a mechanical engineer and draughtsman, he came to New Zealand in 1909. Member of Parliament Horace Herring represent ...

and at least one other,

Rex Mason Henry Greathead Rex Mason (3 June 1885 – 2 April 1975) was a New Zealand politician. He served as Attorney General, Minister of Justice, Minister of Education, and Minister of Native Affairs, and had a significant influence on the directio ...

, gave serious consideration to joining. Former MP John Payne was also sympathetic. When Savage died, Fraser was tipped to succeed him as Prime Minister. During the ensuing leadership election, two of his dissident opponents, Gervan McMillan and Clyde Carr were Lee sympathizers. Even those openly loyal to the party were divided. However, Fraser did win and Labour stayed on its moderate platform for his decade long spell as party leader. Before long, however, internal tensions developed in the new party, with Barnard accusing Lee of behaving in an

egotist Egotism is defined as the drive to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself and generally features an inflated opinion of one's personal features and importance distinguished by a person's amplified vision of one's self and self-importan ...

ical and autocratic manner — this was ironic, considering Lee's criticism of the old Labour Party leadership on the same grounds. In the 1943 elections, the DLP fielded 52 candidates including Lee,

Keith Hay Keith Wilson Hay (13 December 1917 – 2 January 1997) was a New Zealand homebuilder, entrepreneur, local body politician and conservative Christian. Early life and family Born in Hastings, New Zealand, Hastings, Hay was the only son of Scottish ...

, Alfred E. Allen,

Colin Scrimgeour The Reverend Colin Graham Scrimgeour (30 January 1903 – 16 January 1987), also known as Uncle Scrim or Scrim, was a New Zealand Methodist Minister and broadcaster. Biography Life and ministry Born in Wairoa, Hawke's Bay, he entered the Metho ...

(who stood against

in ) and

Norman Douglas George Norman Douglas (8 December 1868 – 7 February 1952) was a British writer, now best known for his 1917 novel '' South Wind''. His travel books, such as ''Old Calabria'' (1915), were also appreciated for the quality of their writing. ...

. They were all defeated. The DLP candidate for Auckland East, F.O. Leo Steve Dromgoole (RNZAF) got Captain Paul Lenihan (USMC) to drop election leaflets from a C-47 on a “test flight” over Auckland and Devonport on 22 September Evening Post (Wellington) 24 September 1943 & Archives file R18871853 Barnard stood for re-election as an independent rather than a DLP candidate, but was also defeated. The Democratic Labour Party received only 4.3% of the total vote, and ceased to exist in 1947. The party did not stand any candidates in the 1946 general election, but Lee again stood as a DLP candidate in the 1949 general election for the electorate and got 2,627 votes, coming third.

Party history

References

See also