1890 New Zealand general election
![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 74 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turnout | 80.4% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Results of the election. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The 1890 New Zealand general election was one of New Zealand's most significant.[1] It marked the beginning of party politics in New Zealand with the formation of the Liberal Government, which was to enact major welfare, labour and electoral reforms, including giving the vote to women.
It was also the first election in which there was no legal plural voting. Multi-member electorates were re-introduced in the four main centres and the 'country quota' (which gave more weight to rural votes) was increased to 28%.
Following the election and the resignation of the previous government headed by Harry Atkinson, John Ballance formed the first Liberal Party ministry, taking office on 24 January 1891. At this stage no formal party organisation existed, but the formation of the Liberal ministry signalled the end of the system by which governments were made up of a loose and unstable coalition of independent MPs and the beginning of the 'party system'.
Electoral redistribution[]
In December 1887, the House of Representatives voted to reduce its membership from general electorates from 91 to 70. The 1890 electoral redistribution used the same 1886 census data used for the 1887 electoral redistribution. In addition, three-member electorates were introduced in the four main centres.[2] This resulted in a major restructuring of electorates, with 12 new electorates created. Of those, four electorates were created for the first time: Te Aroha, Halswell, Dunedin Suburbs, and Palmerston. The remaining eight electorates had previously existed and were re-created through the 1890 electoral redistribution: City of Auckland, City of Christchurch, City of Dunedin, City of Wellington, Ellesmere, Franklin, Geraldine, and Westland.
74 MPs were elected to the 11th session of the New Zealand Parliament.[3] The Māori electorates voted on 27 November and the European (now known as General) electorates on 5 December. There were 183,171 voters registered in the sixty-two European electorates, which returned a total of 70 members.[4] This figure includes 13,668 voters in the six electorates where there was an unopposed return. 136,337 valid votes were cast in European electorates, including additional votes cast in the four three-member electorates.
Results[]
Party totals[]
Note that as the election was held before the establishment of formal political parties, the figures should only be regarded as an approximate indication of the division of political opinion.
![]() | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Election results | |||||
Party | Candidates | Total votes | Percentage | Seats won | |
Liberal | 69 | 76,548 | 56.1% | 40 | |
Conservative | 54 | 39,338 | 28.9% | 25 | |
Independent | 56 | 20,451 | 15.0% | 9 | |
Total | 179 | 136,337 | 74 |
Votes summary[]
Mackie and Rose suggest there was a 74.4% turnout, based on valid votes cast as a percentage of the registered electors. The official turnout figure is 80.4%, calculated on a different basis (see the Elections New Zealand official results web-site link below for further details of the changing methods used to calculate the official turnout).
The Māori vote, for the remaining four seats, was held on 27 November. Maori electorates did not have electoral rolls so their voting figures and percentages are not included above.
Electorate results[]
The following table shows the results of the 1890 general election. Six European members were returned unopposed.
- Key
Liberal Conservative Liberal–Labour Independent Liberal Independent
Electorate | Incumbent | Winner | Majority | Runner up | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
General electorates | |||||||
Akaroa | Alexander McGregor | John Joyce | 107 | Alexander McGregor | |||
Ashburton | William Campbell Walker | Edward George Wright | 16 | Rev. James Wright Sawle[7] | |||
Ashley | John Verrall | Richard Meredith | 38 | James Dupré Lance | |||
City of Auckland | New electorate | William Lee Rees | 260 | Adam Porter | |||
Thomas Thompson | 442 | William Joseph Napier | |||||
John Shera | 1,013 | James Wallis | |||||
Avon | Edwin Blake | 186 | George Stead | ||||
Awarua | Joseph Ward | Uncontested | |||||
Bay of Islands | Richard Hobbs | Robert Houston | 11 | James Trounsen | |||
Bruce | Crawford Anderson | James William Thomson | 494 | James Smith[8] | |||
Buller | Eugene O'Conor | Uncontested | |||||
City of Christchurch | New electorate | William Pember Reeves | 802 | John Tippett Smith | |||
Westby Perceval | 945 | Edward Wingfield Humphreys | |||||
Richard Molesworth Taylor | 2,494 | Eden George | |||||
Clutha | Thomas Mackenzie | Uncontested | |||||
Dunedin Suburbs | New electorate | William Dawson | 420 | Archibald Hilson Ross | |||
City of Dunedin | New electorate | David Pinkerton | 348 | James Allen[9] | |||
Henry Fish | 995 | Richard Henry Leary[9] | |||||
William Hutchison | 998 | Alfred Lee Smith[9] | |||||
East Coast | Alexander Creighton Arthur | William Kelly | 14 | Alexander Creighton Arthur | |||
Eden | Edwin Mitchelson | 91 | Joseph Greenwood[10] | ||||
Egmont | Harry Atkinson | 305 | Felix McGuire | ||||
Ellesmere | New electorate | John Hall | 105 | John McLachlan | |||
Franklin | Ebenezer Hamlin | 102 | Benjamin Harris | ||||
Geraldine | New electorate | Arthur Rhodes | 323 | Searby Buxton | |||
Grey | Arthur Guinness | 19 | William Hugh Jones[11] | ||||
Halswell | New electorate | William Rolleston | 200 | Francis Samuel Parker | |||
Hawke's Bay | William Russell | 659 | Charles William Reardon[12] | ||||
Heathcote | Frederic Jones | William Tanner | 212 | Heaton Rhodes | |||
Hutt | New electorate | Alfred Newman | 178 | George Thomas London[13] | |||
Inangahua | Richard Reeves | 1 | John Drake[14] | ||||
Invercargill | Henry Feldwick | James Kelly | 116 | James Walker Bain | |||
Kaiapoi | Edward Richardson | Richard Moore | 387 | William Hoban[15] | |||
Manukau | Sir Maurice O'Rorke | Frank Buckland | 80 | Sir Maurice O'Rorke | |||
Marsden | Robert Thompson | 176 | Albert Elliot[16] | ||||
Masterton | George Beetham | Alexander Hogg | 18 | George Beetham | |||
Mataura | George Richardson | 123 | John Gideon Fraser[17] | ||||
Mount Ida | Scobie Mackenzie | 105 | Vincent Pyke | ||||
Napier | John Davies Ormond | George Swan | 133 | Michael Gannon[18] | |||
Nelson | Joseph Harkness | 15 | John Kerr | ||||
New Plymouth | Oliver Samuel | Edward Smith | 23 | John Elliot | |||
Newton | David Goldie | Uncontested | |||||
Oamaru | Thomas William Hislop | Thomas Duncan | 470 | Thomas William Hislop | |||
Palmerston | James Wilson | 61 | Frederick Pirani | ||||
Parnell | Frank Lawry[nb 1] | 209 | J M Lennox[19] | ||||
Peninsula | William Larnach | William Earnshaw | 128 | William Larnach | |||
Port Chalmers | James Mills | 227 | John A. Millar | ||||
Rangitikei | Robert Bruce | Douglas Macarthur | 32 | F Arkwright | |||
Selwyn | John Hall | Alfred Saunders | 51 | Thomas Anson | |||
Taieri | Walter Carncross | 124 | William Snow | ||||
Te Aroha | New electorate | William Allen | 175 | William Fraser | |||
Thames | William Fraser | Alfred Cadman | 104 | Edmund Taylor | |||
Timaru | William Hall-Jones | 52 | Edward George Kerr[20] | ||||
Tuapeka | James Clark Brown | Hugh Valentine | 63 | James Clark Brown | |||
Waikato | John Bryce | Uncontested | |||||
Waimate | William Steward | 296 | Alpheus Hayes | ||||
Waimea-Sounds | Arthur Seymour | Charles H. Mills | 210 | Richmond Hursthouse | |||
Waipawa | Thomas Tanner | William Cowper Smith | 349 | George Hunter | |||
Wairarapa | Walter Clarke Buchanan | 275 | Henry Bunny | ||||
Wairau | Henry Dodson | Lindsay Buick | 77 | Arthur Seymour | |||
Waitaki | Thomas Young Duncan | John McKenzie | 352 | John Buckland | |||
Waitemata | Richard Monk | Jackson Palmer | 91 | Richard Monk | |||
Waitotara | George Hutchison | 22 | Robert Bruce | ||||
Wakatipu | Thomas Fergus | Uncontested | |||||
Wallace | Samuel Hodgkinson | James Mackintosh | 178 | Samuel Hodgkinson | |||
Wanganui | John Ballance | 27 | Gilbert Carson | ||||
Wellington, City of | New electorate | George Fisher | 183 | Francis Bell | |||
John Duthie | 561 | Edwin George Jellicoe | |||||
Kennedy Macdonald | 727 | Francis Fraser | |||||
Westland | New electorate | Richard Seddon | 338 | Joseph Grimmond | |||
Maori electorates[21][22][23][24][25][nb 2] | |||||||
Eastern Maori | James Carroll | 185 | Wi Pere | ||||
Northern Maori | Sydney Taiwhanga[nb 3] | 267 | Tinoti Pupipupi | ||||
Southern Maori | Tame Parata | [nb 4] | Honi Maaka Hape | ||||
Western Maori | Hoani Taipua | [nb 5] | Kipa Te Whatanui |
Table footnotes:
- ^ Lawry stood in support of the Atkinson Ministry but changed allegiance to the Liberals in 1891
- ^ The affiliation of many of the Maori candidates is unknown or uncertain
- ^ Sydney Taiwhanga won the election and, despite having died on election day, was declared elected. Taiwhanga also stood in Eastern Maori and came third
- ^ Final results were not reported in contemporary media
- ^ Final results were not reported in contemporary media
See also[]
- Elections in New Zealand
Notes[]
- ^ Atkinson, Neill (2003), Adventures in Democracy: A History of the Vote in New Zealand, p.81
- ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 54ff.
- ^ "The New Parliament". Otago Witness. No. 1921. 11 December 1890. p. 17. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
- ^ "General elections 1853-2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
- ^ "The General Election, 1890". National Library. 1891. pp. 1–3. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- ^ "Parliamentary candidates". The Press. Vol. XLVIL, no. 7722. 29 November 1890. p. 5. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "Obituary". The Press. Vol. LVI, no. 16961. 9 October 1920. p. 3. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "Bruce Electoral District". Bruce Herald. Vol. XXI, no. 2219. 28 November 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ^ a b c "Election Notices". Otago Daily Times. No. 9975. 29 November 1890. p. 3. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ^ "Mr Greenwood's Dry Humour". Observer. Vol. X, no. 618. 1 November 1890. p. 4. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
- ^ "Public Notices". Grey River Argus. Vol. XXXIX, no. 6871. 26 September 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- ^ "Hawke's Bay Electorate". Hawke's Bay Herald. Vol. XXVIII, no. 9544. 2 December 1893. p. 3. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ "Election News". The Evening Post. Vol. XL, no. 127. 26 November 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- ^ "General Election". Inangahua Times. Vol. XV, no. 20881. 17 November 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- ^ "Ashley Electoral District". The Press. Vol. XLVIL, no. 7721. 28 November 1890. p. 8. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- ^ "Marsden Electoral District". The Northern Advocate. 29 November 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
- ^ "Gore". Otago Witness. No. 1918. 20 November 1890. p. 30. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
- ^ Oliver, Steven. "Kate Wyllie". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- ^ "The Contest in Parnell". Auckland Star. Vol. XXIV, no. 280. 25 November 1893. p. 4. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
- ^ "History of The Timaru Herald". The Timaru Herald. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "The Maori Representation". Otago Witness. No. 1920. 4 December 1890. p. 15. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
- ^ "Election News". The Marlborough Express. Vol. XXVI, no. 321. 28 November 1890. p. 4. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
- ^ "Telegrams". Inangahua Times. Vol. XV, no. 20887. 1 December 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ "By Telegraph". The Southland Times. No. 11568. 28 October 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ "Maori Electorates". The Press. Vol. XLVIL, no. 7694. 28 October 1890. p. 6. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
References[]
- Mackie, Thomas T.; Rose, Richard (1991). The International Almanac of Electoral History (3rd ed.). Macmillan.
- McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
- Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
External links[]
- 1890 New Zealand general election