1919 New Zealand general election

1919 general election

← 1914 16 (Māori) & 17 December (general) 1919 1922 →

All 80 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives
41 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout80.5%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Harry Holland (1922).jpg
Leader William Massey Joseph Ward Harry Holland
Party Reform Liberal Labour
Leader since 11 February 1909 11 September 1913 27 August 1919
Leader's seat Franklin Awarua (lost seat) Grey
Last election 40 seats, 47.1% 34 seats, 43.1% 5 seats, 8.4%[a]
Seats before 39 34 5
Seats won 45 19 8
Seat change Increase 6 Decrease 15 Increase 3
Popular vote 193,676 155,708 131,402
Percentage 35.7% 28.7% 24.2%
Swing Decrease 11.4% Decrease 14.4% Increase 15.8%

Results of the election.

Prime Minister before election

William Massey
Reform

Subsequent Prime Minister

William Massey
Reform

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The 1919 New Zealand general election was held on Tuesday, 16 December in the Māori electorates and on Wednesday, 17 December in the general electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 20th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 560,673 (80.5%) voters turned out to vote.[1]

In 1919 women won the right to be elected to the House of Representatives. The law was changed late that year, and with only three weeks' notice, three women stood for Parliament.

They were Ellen Melville in Grey Lynn, Rosetta Baume in Parnell, and Aileen Cooke in Thames. Ellen Melville stood for the Reform Party and came second. She stood for Parliament several more times and generally polled well but never won a seat.

This is the most recent general election in which none of the major party leaders were born in New Zealand.


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  1. ^ "General elections 1853–2005 – dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2011.