1914 New Zealand general election

1914 New Zealand general election

← 1911 10 & 11 December 1914 1919 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 80 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives 41 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	84.7%
First party Second party   Leader William Massey Joseph Ward Party Reform Liberal Leader since 11 February 1909 11 September 1913 Leader's seat Franklin Awarua Last election 38 seats, 33.4% 36 seats, 34.2% Seats before 41 32 Seats won 40 34 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 243,122 222,299 Percentage 47.1% 43.1% Swing 13.7% 8.9%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Alfred Hindmarsh James McCombs Party United Labour Social Democrat Leader since 7 April 1912 Unclear Leader's seat Wellington South Lyttelton Last election Not yet founded Not yet founded Seats before 2 3 Seats won 3 2 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 22,672 22,500 Percentage 4.2% 4.2% Swing 4.2% 4.2%
Results of the election.
Prime Minister before election William Massey Reform Prime Minister-designate William Massey Reform

The New Zealand general election of 1914 was held on 10 December to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 19th session of the New Zealand Parliament. The Maori vote was held on 11 December. A total number of 616,043 voters were registered, of which 84.7% voters turned out to vote.^[1]

The election saw William Massey's Reform Government maintain power.

The second-ballot voting system had been repealed in 1913, and first-past-the-post voting reinstated for the 1914 election.^[1]

Soldiers serving overseas in the NZEF were given a vote by the Expeditionary Forces Voting Act, 1914. They voted for a party (Liberal, Labour or Reform) and their votes were allocated to a candidate for their electorate by a representative of their party; which sometimes required the representative to choose between rival "Liberal" or "Labour" candidates.^[2]

Summary of results

Party totals

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won
	Reform Party	84	243,025	45.47	40
	Liberal Party	77	227,706	42.61	34
	United Labour	10	22,672	4.24	3
	Social Democrat	11	22,500	4.21	2
	Independents	12	18,554	3.47	1
Total valid votes			534,457		80
Informal votes			5,618	1.04
Registered voters			616,043
Total candidates		193

• Auckland West, Hawke's Bay, Taumarunui, Wairarapa, Waitaki and Wellington Central were won by the Liberals from Reform
• Chalmers, Dunedin West, Motueka, and Northern Maori were won by Reform from the Liberals
• Nelson was won by Reform from an independent.
• Otaki was won by Reform from the Social Democrats.
• Dunedin North was won by United Labour from Reform
• Four electorates replaced their incumbent MP with another from the same party: Christchurch East and Temuka (Liberal), Eden and Wellington Suburbs and Country (Reform).

Votes summary

Results

The following are the results of the 1914 general election:

Key

  Liberal     Reform     United Labour     Social Democrat     Independent Labour     Independent  

References

See also

• Politics of New Zealand
• Elections in New Zealand