The 1951 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held on 17 January to choose the fifth leader of the New Zealand Labour Party. The election was won by Hutt MP and incumbent deputy-leader

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 ...

Background

Labour leader

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 La ...

had led the party since 1940. He led New Zealand through the majority of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and retained power in the

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 ...

and 1946 elections. An ailing Fraser was unable to win the 1949 election and Labour lost power after 14 years in office. Just one year later he died, leading to the position of party leader to become vacant. Deputy Leader of the Opposition

had been acting leader since Fraser was taken ill the year earlier and was viewed as an obvious successor. As the election of Nash to replace Fraser was viewed as an inevitability, most speculation at the time was concentrated on the deputy leadership and the imminent by-election for Fraser's seat of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Both of these questions revolved around former cabinet minister

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 ...

(seen as a viable contender for both positions) but had lost his seat in the 1949 election. As acting leader, Nash brought the election of leader to before the by-election meaning Nordmeyer was unable to contest either position as only elected members of the caucus were eligible to stand. There was also suggestions that the deputy leadership should be left vacant until after the by-election.

Candidates

Walter Nash

Nash had served as a Member of Parliament since 1929. Most saw Nash, Fraser's deputy, as the most logical, or even inevitable, successor as leader.

Jerry Skinner

Jerry Skinner Clarence Farrington Skinner (19 January 1900 – 26 April 1962), commonly known as Jerry or Gerry Skinner, was a Labour politician from New Zealand, the third deputy prime minister of New Zealand between 1957 and 1960, and a minister from 1943 ...

was seen by many as Labour's rising star. However, despite speculation that he may seek leadership, but was dismissed as mere media gossip. Skinner ruled himself out in favour of Nash, which was then seconded by

Angus McLagan Angus McLagan (1891 – 4 September 1956) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was a member of the Legislative Council and later Member of Parliament for Riccarton. He was a cabinet minister from 1942 to 1949 in the First La ...

Arnold Nordmeyer

was also seen as a contender for future leadership, but lost his seat in Parliament in 1949. When Fraser died in December 1950 Nordmeyer was selected to stand for Labour in the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for Fraser's seat. The date set by caucus for the leadership election was scheduled before Nordmeyer could re-enter Parliament. The haste taken was an indication that Nordmeyer was considered a threat to Nash and his supporters. According to

Warren Freer Warren Wilfred Freer (27 December 1920 – 29 March 2013) was a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party. He represented the Mount Albert electorate from 1947 to . He is internationally known as the first Western politician ever ...

Nash as acting leader brought the selection forward to 17 January, causing ''quite an argument'' in caucus, although caucus eventually voted by a majority of two to proceed with the early vote.

Result

As Nash was the only officially nominated candidate, he was elected unopposed as leader.

was then elected as Nash's Deputy-leader. The vote for the deputy position was Skinner twenty-two,

Terry McCombs Sir Terence Henderson McCombs (5 September 1905 – 6 November 1982) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party, a High Commissioner, and the first principal of Cashmere High School. Biography Early life McCombs was born in 1905 and rec ...

seven and Fred Hackett two. Both

and Mick Moohan were likewise nominated to stand for the deputy leadership, but both declined to do so.

Deputy-leadership ballot

Aftermath

Nash would remain the Labour Party's leader until his retirement in early 1963. He led them to successive election losses in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and 1954, though led them successfully in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

. Upon Nash's election acting-Prime Minister

Keith Holyoake Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, (; 11 February 1904 – 8 December 1983) was the 26th prime minister of New Zealand, serving for a brief period in 1957 and then from 1960 to 1972, and also the 13th governor-general of New Zealand, serving from 1977 ...

congratulated him on winning the leadership. Nash's first act as leader was to attend a morning tea function honouring Sir John Anderson, the chairman of the Port of London Authority, who also congratulated Nash.

Notes

References

* * * {{Walter Nash Labour Party leadership

New Zealand Labour Party leadership election