The 24th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It opened on 23 February 1932, following the 1931 election. It was dissolved on 1 November 1935 in preparation for the 1935 election. The 24th Parliament was extended by one year because the 1935 election was held later than anticipated due to the ongoing depression, similarly the 1919, and the 1943 elections were held two years late, having been postponed during World War I and World War II respectively.
24th Parliament of New Zealand | |||||||||||
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Overview | |||||||||||
Legislative body | New Zealand Parliament | ||||||||||
Term | 23 February 1932 – 26 October 1935 | ||||||||||
Election | 1931 New Zealand general election | ||||||||||
Government | United–Reform coalition Government | ||||||||||
House of Representatives | |||||||||||
Members | 80 | ||||||||||
Speaker of the House | Charles Statham | ||||||||||
Prime Minister | George Forbes | ||||||||||
Leader of the Opposition | Michael Joseph Savage from 12 October 1933 — Harry Holland until 8 October 1933 † | ||||||||||
Legislative Council | |||||||||||
Members | 35 (at start) 28 (at end) | ||||||||||
Speaker of the Council | Sir Walter Carncross | ||||||||||
Leader of the Council | Robert Masters | ||||||||||
Sovereign | |||||||||||
Monarch | HM George V | ||||||||||
Governor-General | HE Rt. Hon. The Viscount Galway from 12 April 1935 — HE Rt. Hon. The Lord Bledisloe until 15 March 1935 | ||||||||||
Sessions | |||||||||||
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The Prime Minister during the 24th Parliament was George Forbes, leader of the United Party. Many commentators at the time, however, alleged that Gordon Coates, leader of the larger Reform Party, had the greater influence.
The 24th Parliament consisted of eighty representatives, each elected from separate geographical electorates.
The 24th Parliament was led by a coalition of the Reform Party and the United Party;[1] Reform had twenty-eight seats, United had nineteen, and there were four pro-coalition independents. The primary opposition was from the Labour Party, which had twenty-four seats. The small Country Party had one seat, and there were four non-aligned independents. The distribution of seats between three large parties (also a feature of the previous parliament) was relatively unusual, as New Zealand tended towards a two-party system at the time.
The coalition government had been formed on 22 September 1931 during the term of the previous Parliament. During the difficult times of the Great Depression, Forbes had wanted to form a grand coalition with the Labour Party and the Reform Party. Labour refused, but Reform went into a coalition government with United from September 1931.[2][3]
Party | Leader(s) | Seats at start | |
Reform Party | Gordon Coates | 28 | |
Labour Party | Harry Holland | 24 | |
United Party | George Forbes | 19 | |
Country Party | Harold Rushworth | 1 | |
Independents | 8 |
Party | Leader(s) | Seats at end | |
Reform Party | Gordon Coates | 29 | |
Labour Party | Michael Joseph Savage | 24 | |
United Party | George Forbes | 16 | |
Democrat Party | Thomas Hislop (outside parliament) | 2 | |
Country Party | Harold Rushworth | 1 | |
Ratana | Eruera Tirikatene | 1 | |
Independents | 7 |
The following table shows the detailed results:
Key
Reform Labour United Country Party Independent Liberal Ratana Independent
Table footnotes:
There were a number of changes during the term of the 24th Parliament.
Electorate and by-election | Date | Incumbent | Cause | Winner | |||
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Southern Maori | 1932 | 3 August[35] | Tuiti Makitanara | Death | Eruera Tirikatene | ||
Motueka | 1932 | 1 December[36] | George Black | Death | Keith Holyoake | ||
Lyttelton | 1933 | 13 September[37] | James McCombs | Death | Elizabeth McCombs | ||
Buller | 1933 | 22 November[38] | Harry Holland | Death | Paddy Webb | ||
Lyttelton | 1935 | 24 July[37] | Elizabeth McCombs | Death | Terry McCombs |