30th New Zealand Parliament

1951 general election

Main article: 1951 New Zealand general election

The 1951 general election was held on Saturday, 1 September. A total of 80 MPs were elected; 49 represented North Island electorates, 27 represented South Island electorates, and the remaining four represented Māori electorates; this was the same distribution used since the . 1,205,762 voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 89.1%.

Sessions

The 30th Parliament sat for five sessions (there were two sessions in 1954), and was prorogued on 4 October 1954.

Ministries

The National Party under Sidney Holland had been in power since the , and Holland remained in charge until 1957, when he stepped down due to ill health.

Overview of seats

The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1951 election and at dissolution:

Notes

• The Working Government majority is calculated as all Government MPs less all other parties.

Initial composition of the 30th Parliament

The 1951 election saw the governing National Party re-elected with a twenty-seat margin, a substantial improvement on the twelve-seat margin it previously held. National won fifty seats compared with the Labour Party's thirty. The popular vote was closer, however, with National winning 54% to Labour's 46%. No seats were won by minor party candidates or by independents. This was the last New Zealand general election in which any party has ever captured a majority of the popular vote.

By-elections during 30th Parliament

There were a number of changes during the term of the 30th Parliament.

Notes

References

References

1. "General elections 1853–2005 – dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand.