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

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the last decade of the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries.

History

Initially, Liberal–Labour candidates were usually members of 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 ...

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 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 John Hutcheson (1853–1940) was a Member of Parliament in New Zealand, for the Liberal Party. Biography Early life A native of Dumbarton, Scotland, where he was born in 1855, he was educated at the Dumbarton Academy, where he gained a So ...

) 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 an Irish-born New Zealand politician who was the 14th premier of New Zealand, from January 1891 to April 1893, the founder of the Liberal Party (the country's first organised political part ...

'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 1910s 1910s disestablishments in New Zealand Political terminology in New Zealand