1881 New Zealand general election

1881 general election

← 1879 8 (Māori) & 9 (general) December 1881 1884 →

All 95 seats in the House of Representatives
Turnout66.5%
  First party Second party
 
Leader John Hall George Grey
Party Conservative Independents Greyite Independents
Leader since 1879 1877
Leader's seat Selwyn Auckland East
Seats won 45 39
Seat change Steady 0 Decrease 2
Popular vote N/A N/A
Percentage N/A N/A
Swing N/A N/A

Premier before election

John Hall
Independent

Subsequent Premier

John Hall
Independent

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The 1881 New Zealand general election was held on 8 and 9 December in the Māori and European electorates, respectively, to elect 95 MPs to the 8th session of the New Zealand Parliament.

1881 was the first time a general election was held under universal male suffrage; all MPs were elected in single-member electorates; and the country quota was introduced, allowing rural electorates to have 25% fewer voters than urban electorates. Beginning with the 1881 election, all elections in European electorates were to be held on the same day, a measure not introduced for Māori electorates until 1951.[1]

  1. ^ "The Origins of the Māori Seats". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 9 January 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2012.