29th New Zealand Parliament
The 29th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened in 1950, following the 1949 general election. It was dissolved in 1951 in preparation for the 1951 general election. The governing Labour Party had been defeated in the election by the National Party. This marked the end of the First Labour government and the beginning of the First National government.
| 29th Parliament of New Zealand | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | New Zealand Parliament | ||||
| Term | 27 June 1950 – 31 July 1951 | ||||
| Election | 1949 New Zealand general election | ||||
| Government | First National Government | ||||
| House of Representatives | |||||
 | |||||
| Members | 80 | ||||
| Speaker of the House | Matthew Oram | ||||
| Prime Minister | Sidney Holland | ||||
| Leader of the Opposition | Walter Nash from 17 January 1951 — Peter Fraser until 12 December 1950 † | ||||
| Legislative Council Abolished: 1 December 1950 | |||||
| Members | 54 | ||||
| Speaker of the Council | Thomas Bishop | ||||
| Leader of the Council | William Polson | ||||
| Sovereign | |||||
| Monarch | HM George VI | ||||
| Governor-General | HE Lt. Gen. The Lord Freyberg | ||||
Additionally, this Parliament saw the final meeting of the Upper House; the Legislative Council, which was abolished on 1 December 1950, making the New Zealand Parliament a unicameral legislative body.
1949 general election
The 1949 general election was held on Tuesday, 29 November in the Māori electorates and on Wednesday, 30 November in the general electorates, respectively.[1] 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 1946 election.[2] 1,113,852 voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 93.5%.[1]
Sessions
The 29th Parliament sat for two sessions, and was prorogued on 18 July 1951.[3]
| Session | Opened | Adjourned |
|---|---|---|
| first | 27 June 1950 | 1 December 1950 |
| second | 26 June 1951 | 13 July 1951 |
Ministries
The National Party under Sidney Holland won the 1949 election, defeating Labour's second Fraser Ministry. Holland remained in power until 1957, when he stepped down due to ill health.[4]
Historical context
The National Government appointed 25 new members to the New Zealand Legislative Council (the so-called Suicide Squad), so that the Legislative Council Abolition Bill could be passed. With that legislation, the Legislative Council voted itself out of existence, and New Zealand has been unicameral since the last meeting of the Upper House on 1 December 1950.[5]
Members
Overview
The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1949 election and at dissolution:
| Affiliation | Members | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| At 1949 election | At dissolution | ||
| National Government | 46 | 46 | |
| Labour Opposition | 34 | 34 | |
| Total |
80 | 80 | |
| Working Government majority | 12 | 12 | |
Notes
- The Working Government majority is calculated as all Government MPs less all other parties.
Initial MPs
The table below shows the results of the 1949 general election:
Key
Table footnotes:
- Matiu Ratana, the previous holder of the Western Maori electorate, died on 7 October 1949. His wife Iriaka Rātana stood for election instead.
By-elections during 29th Parliament
There was one by-election during the term of the 29th Parliament.
| Electorate and by-election | Date | Incumbent | Cause | Winner | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn | 1951 | 17 February | Peter Fraser | Death | Arnold Nordmeyer | ||
Notes
- "General elections 1853–2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
- Wilson 1985, p. 173.
- Wilson 1985, p. 141.
- Wilson 1985, pp. 86–87.
- "Sound: the end of the Legislative Council". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
- "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- Norton 1988, p. 197.
- Wilson 1985, p. 198.
- Gustafson 1986, p. 357.
- Norton 1988, p. 228.
- Gustafson 1986, p. 308.
- Norton 1988, p. 419.
- Gustafson 1986, p. 378.
- Norton 1988, p. 331.
- Gustafson 1986, p. 325.
- Sharfe, Jean. "Manning, George". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
References
- Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
- Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
- Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.