1928 New Zealand general election

The election

The 1928 election was held on Tuesday, 13 November in the Māori electorates, and on Wednesday, 14 November in the general electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 23rd session of Parliament. A total of 844,633 electors were registered on the European roll, of which 743,691 (88.05%) turned out to vote. All 80 electorates were contested. 47 and 29 electorates were in the North Island and South Island, respectively, plus the 4 Māori electorates.

In 1927, a faction of the decaying Liberal Party formed a new organisation, which was eventually named the United Party. In 1928, to the considerable surprise of most observers and many members of the party itself, United won a considerable victory, taking Auckland East and Grey Lynn from Labour. The United Government came to power with Labour support. Labour, forming the official opposition since 1926, were thus replaced by Reform. Six Independents were elected (most with allegiances to the main parties. Four of these backed United, one supported Reform and one favoured neither.

The electorate went to Harold Rushworth of the Country Party after a recount of the votes, but the election was declared void January 1929. Rushworth won the resulting by-election. This marked the Country Party's first entry into Parliament, where it would retain a presence until 1938.

Result by party

The table below shows the result of the 1928 election.

1 Includes two who won as Independent Reform

2 previously contested as

Votes summary

Initial composition of the 23rd Parliament

The United Party was organised in the House of Representatives, prior to the dissolution of the 22nd Parliament.

The Auckland Star reported on 18 September 1928, that:

The Evening Post newspaper reported on the same day that:

Key

Notes

References

References

1. "General elections 1853-2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand.
2. (27 October 1928). "General Election". [[Auckland Star]].
3. (26 November 1928). "State of Parties". [[Auckland Star]].
4. (18 September 1928). "Leadership Settled". [[Auckland Star]].
5. (18 September 1928). "New Leader Takes His Seat". [[The Evening Post (New Zealand).
6. (30 October 1928). "Electoral Notices". [[The Press]].
7. "Robertson, Dugald Macdonald, fl 1909-1971 : Papers". [[National Library of New Zealand]].
8. (5 November 1928). "Notice of nominations received and polling places appointed". Dunstan Times.
9. (26 October 1928). "Christchurch Nominations". [[The Press]].
10. (8 November 1928). "Straight Grained". [[New Zealand Truth]].
11. (22 November 1922). "Labour's Candidates". [[Maoriland Worker]].
12. (27 October 1928). "Nominations". [[Otago Daily Times]].
13. (29 October 1928). "The election : nomination day". [[Evening Star (Dunedin).
14. (7 May 1928). "Election Candidates". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
15. (6 June 1941). "Death in Action". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
16. (30 October 1928). "Electoral notices". [[The Press]].
17. (30 October 1928). "General notices". Manawatu Times.
18. (29 October 1928). "Electoral". [[Auckland Star]].
19. (30 October 1928). "Notice of nominations received and polling places appointed". [[Wairarapa Daily Times]].
20. (19 October 1928). "Patea". [[The Evening Post (New Zealand).
21. (29 October 1928). "General election : date drawing nearer". Franklin Times.
22. (24 November 1928). "Declarations of result of poll for the electoral district of Tauranga". [[Bay of Plenty Times]].
23. (1 November 1928). "Public notices". [[Waihi Daily Telegraph]].
24. (26 March 1930). "Personal Items". [[The Evening Post (New Zealand).