Liberal–Labour (often referred to as "Lib-Lab") was a political association in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the last decade of the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. It represented candidates who stood for the

New Zealand Liberal Party The New Zealand Liberal Party () was the first organised political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. The Liberal strategy was to create a large class of small land-owning farmers who supported Liberal ideals, by buying l ...

while also receiving endorsement and support from the labour (trade union) movement.

History

Initially, Liberal–Labour candidates were usually members of the Liberal Party who received Labour movement endorsement and/or advocated on behalf of labourers and trade unions in parliament. This was mainly a result of the early unionists being mostly anti-political. In 1890 there was a "Lib-Lab" alliance where Liberals and Labour sympathizers co-operated with each other. The two agreed on candidates who ran on combined

tickets Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery, Lottery ticket * Parking violation, Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Ticket system, Toll ticket, a slip of paper use ...

in several electorates. Equally, in others where only one was running against a government member, supporters of both backed each other's candidates. Most Liberal-Labour support initially came from the South Island; prior to 1905, only one MP considered to be Liberal-Labour ( John Hutcheson) came from a North Island seat. When the Liberal Party won power in 1890, five members of

John Ballance John Ballance (27 March 1839 – 27 April 1893) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 14th premier of New Zealand from January 1891 until his death in April 1893. He governed as the leader of New Zealand's first organised List of pol ...

's caucus claimed to be "Labour" MPs. They claimed to be from a Labour "party", though it was mostly regarded that they were merely the Labour "faction" of the Liberals. In the 1893 election they were joined by two more Liberals identifying as representing Labour interests. However, in 1896 three of the Labour members were defeated and the remaining Labour aligned Liberals merged more definitely with the other Liberals. The Liberals attempted to strengthen their support base with unionists by creating the Liberal-Labour Federation in 1899 hoping to attract formal trade union support. Many electoral alliances were formed between the Liberals and Labour particularly during second ballots in the 1908 and 1911 elections. During the period 1904–13 there was increasing debate by unionists on the issue to separate themselves from the Liberals, which ultimately led to the creation of the present-day Labour Party in 1916.

Notable Liberal-Labour MPs

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Liberal-Labour New Zealand Politics of New Zealand Defunct political parties in New Zealand New Zealand Liberal Party New Zealand Labour Party Political parties established in the 1890s 1890s establishments in New Zealand Political parties disestablished in the 1920s 1922 disestablishments in New Zealand Political terminology in New Zealand