32nd New Zealand Parliament

1957 general election

Main article: 1957 New Zealand general election

The 1957 general election was held on Saturday, 30 November. A total of 80 MPs were elected; 51 represented North Island electorates, 25 represented South Island electorates, and the remaining four represented Māori electorates; this was a gain of one electorate for the North Island from the South Island since the . 1,252,329 voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 92.9%.

Sessions

The 32nd Parliament sat for four sessions (there were two sessions in 1958), and was prorogued on 28 October 1960.

Ministries

The National Party under Sidney Holland had been in power since the as the first National Government, and Holland remained in charge until he stepped down due to ill health in September 1957 some two months prior to the . Holland was succeeded by Keith Holyoake, but the Labour Party narrowly defeated National at the 1957 election, and the government changed in mid-December of that year. Walter Nash formed the Nash Ministry, which was in power from 12 December 1957 until the defeat of the second Labour Government at the next election in .

Overview of seats

The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1957 election and at dissolution:

Notes

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

Initial composition of the 32nd Parliament

By-elections during 32nd Parliament

There was one by-election during the term of the 32nd Parliament.

Notes

References

References

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