1905 New Zealand general election

1905 general election

6 (general) & 20 December (Māori) 1905
All 80 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives 41 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	83.3%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Richard Seddon William Massey George Laurenson Party Liberal Conservative New Liberal Leader since 28 April 1893 11 September 1903 1905 Leader's seat Westland Franklin Lyttelton Last election 47 seats 19 seats not yet founded Seats before 42 seats 21 seats 4 Seats won 58 16 2 Seat change 16 5 2 Popular vote 219,144 122,572 15,721 Percentage 53.1 29.7 3.8 Swing 1.3 9.1 3.8
Results of the election.
Premier before election Richard Seddon Liberal Subsequent Premier Richard Seddon Liberal

The 1905 New Zealand general election was held on Wednesday, 6 December in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 20 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 16th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 412,702 voters turned out, with 396,657 (83.25% of the electoral roll) voting in the European electorates.^[1][2]

Changes to the electoral law

The 1903 City Single Electorates Act declared that at the dissolution of the 15th Parliament, the four multi-member electorates would be abolished and replaced each with three single-member electorates.^[3] It was also the year absentee voting was introduced for all electors unable to be in their own electorate on election day. The first Chief Electoral Officer was appointed.

Accordingly, the multi-member urban electorates of City of Auckland, City of Christchurch, City of Dunedin and City of Wellington were abolished and replaced with the following single-member seats:

• Auckland Central
• Auckland East
• Auckland West
• Christchurch East
• Christchurch North
• Christchurch South
• Wellington Central
• Wellington East
• Wellington North
• Dunedin Central
• Dunedin North
• Dunedin South

Nine of these twelve electorates had existed before. Wellington Central, Wellington North, and Dunedin North were established for the first time.^[4]

Historic context

In 1905 a progressive faction within the Liberal Party started to form in opposition to Liberal leader Richard Seddon's policies. They announced that they would stand in the election as the New Liberal Party, however an accusation against Seddon's son, when disproven saw most of the dissidents return to the Liberal Party, and of the four New Liberals (George Laurenson, Francis Fisher, Harry Bedford and Tommy Taylor) that stood in the election only Laurenson and Fisher were returned.

The freshly created Independent Political Labour League also contested the election as a breakaway faction from the Liberals. It was the first of many steps of a gradual move by urban labourers shifting allegiance to an independent working-class political party. Previously, most workers had supported the Liberal Party, which since the 1890s had attempted to gain Trade Union support by appointing union representatives to the party's governing body. The IPLL did not perform well, gaining only 3,478 votes nationwide with no candidates elected.^[5]

The Rev Frank Isitt was the Prohibition candidate for several South Island electorates, and came second in two.

Results

A cartoon depicting the infamous "Voucher incident" showing New Liberals distancing themselves from Fisher.

Party totals

The following table gives party strengths and vote distribution.^[6]

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	Change
	Liberal	94	219,144	53.1	58	+11
	Conservative	63	122,572	29.7	16	-3
	New Liberal	7	15,721	3.8	2	+2
	Ind. Labour League	9	3,478	0.8	0	±0
	Independent	63	51,785	12.5	4	-10

Votes summary

Popular Vote Liberal   53.1% Conservative   29.7% New Liberal   3.8% Ind. Labour League   0.8% Independents   12.5%

Parliament seats Liberal   72.5% Conservative   20.0% New Liberal   2.5% Independents   5.0%

Electorate results

The following are the results of the 1905 general election:

Key

  Liberal   Conservative   New Liberal   Liberal–Labour   Independent Liberal   Independent

Electorate results for the 1905 New Zealand general election^[7]^[8]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Ashburton		John McLachlan			244		John Studholme
Auckland Central	New electorate			Alfred Kidd	939		Lemuel Bagnall
Auckland East	New electorate			Frederick Baume	871		Harry Bamford
Auckland West	New electorate			Charles Poole	340		James Parr
Avon		William Tanner			725		John Russell Brunt
Awarua		Joseph Ward			2,848		Henry Woodnorth
Bay of Islands		Robert Houston			470		John Charles Johnson
Bay of Plenty		William Herries			211		Joseph Foster
Bruce		James Allen			435		William Darcy Mason
Buller		James Colvin			2,798		Frank Isitt
Caversham		Thomas Sidey			1,760		William Earnshaw
Chalmers		Edmund Allen			1,437		William Pryor
Christchurch East	New electorate			Thomas Davey	565		Henry Featherston Toogood
Christchurch North	New electorate			Charles Gray	1,084		Tommy Taylor
Christchurch South	New electorate			Harry Ell	2,511		Charles Henry Winny
Clutha		James Thomson		Alexander Malcolm	272		Daniel Stewart
Courtenay		Charles Lewis			232		Thomas Jones McBride
Dunedin Central	New electorate			John A. Millar	1,919		Alexander Samuel Adam
Dunedin North	New electorate			Alfred Richard Barclay	514		Harry Bedford
Dunedin South	New electorate			James Arnold	780		William Downie Stewart
Eden		John Bollard			2,760		Robert French
Egmont		William Thomas Jennings			651		Charles Leech
Ellesmere		Heaton Rhodes			283		George Rennie
Franklin		William Massey			935		William Wilson McCardle
Geraldine		Frederick Flatman			1,233		William Jeffries
Grey		Arthur Guinness			377		Joseph Petrie
Grey Lynn		George Fowlds			230		John Farrell
Hawera		Charles E. Major			449		Felix McGuire
Hawke's Bay		William Russell		Alfred Dillon	1,043		William Russell
Hurunui		Andrew Rutherford			1,186		Obed Frederick Clothier
Hutt		Thomas Wilford			1,912		George Yerex
Invercargill		Josiah Hanan			1,721		Irvin Willis Raymond
Kaiapoi		David Buddo			45		Richard Moore
Kaipara		Alfred Harding		John Stallworthy	9		Alfred Harding
Lyttelton		George Laurenson			1,108		William Radcliffe
Manawatu		Job Vile		John Stevens	359		Job Vile
Manukau		Matthew Kirkbride			663		Ralph Duncan Stewart
Marsden		Francis Mander			348		Robert Thompson
Masterton		Alexander Hogg			859		James Christopher Cooper
Mataura		Robert McNab			435		Thomas MacGibbon
Motueka		Roderick McKenzie			2,733		Frank Isitt
Mount Ida		Alexander Herdman		John MacPherson	394		Alexander Herdman
Napier		Alfred Fraser			1,469		Montague W. P. Lascelles[9][10]
Nelson		John Graham			29		Harry Atmore
Newtown		William Henry Peter Barber			1,213		Thomas William Hislop
Oamaru		Thomas Young Duncan			2,009		James Mitchell
Ohinemuri		Edward Moss		Hugh Poland	351		Edward Moss
Oroua		Frank Lethbridge			986		Owen Carlin Pleasants
Otaki		William Hughes Field			1,394		Byron Paul Brown
Pahiatua		Bill Hawkins		Robert Beatson Ross	206		Bill Hawkins
Palmerston		William Wood			480		Frederick Pirani
Parnell		Frank Lawry			122		Murdoch McLean
Patea		Walter Symes			143		John Hine
Rangitikei		Arthur Remington			1,710		Joe Reginald Sommerville
Riccarton		George Witty			1,240		Thomas Caverhill
Selwyn		Charles Hardy			322		Joseph Ivess
Taieri		Donald Reid			535		Alexander Marshall
Taranaki		Edward Smith			236		Henry Okey
Thames		James McGowan			1,229		Malcolm Fleming
Timaru		William Hall-Jones			1,063		Frank Rolleston
Tuapeka		James Bennet			977		Robert Gilkison
Waiapu		James Carroll			1,798		Lissant Clayton
Waikato		Frederic Lang		Henry Greenslade	78		Frederic Lang
Waikouaiti		Thomas Mackenzie			702		Edward Henry Clark
Waipawa		Charles Hall			1,254		George Hunter
Wairarapa		Walter Clarke Buchanan		J. T. Marryat Hornsby	531		Walter Clarke Buchanan
Wairau		Charles H. Mills			977		John Duncan
Waitaki		William Steward			1,643		George Dash
Waitemata		Ewen Alison			971		Cecil Clinkard
Wakatipu		William Fraser			423		Michael Gilfedder
Wallace		John Charles Thomson			461		Dugald Macpherson
Wanganui		Archibald Willis		James Thomas Hogan	924		Archibald Willis
Wellington Central	New electorate			Francis Fisher	445		Patrick O'Regan
Wellington East	New electorate			John Aitken	19		William McLean
Wellington North	New electorate			Charles Hayward Izard	660		John Duthie
Westland		Richard Seddon			3,180		Harry Cowin
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Wi Pere		Āpirana Ngata	757		Wi Pere
Northern Maori		Hone Heke			627		Ru Reweti
Southern Maori		Tame Parata			160		Hopere Uru
Western Maori		Henare Kaihau			1,688		Tureiti Te Heuheu Tukino V

Notes

1. "General elections 1853–2005 – dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
2. "Results of the Polls". Ashburton Guardian. 7 December 1905. p. 2. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
3. McRobie 1989, p. 67.
4. Wilson 1985, pp. 262, 276.
5. Paul 1946, p. 176.
6. Wilson 1985, pp. 287–289.
7. "The General Election, 1905". National Library. 1906. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
8. "The Nominations". Vol. XXXVIII, no. 284. Marlborough Express. 29 November 1905. p. 3. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
9. "Personal Matters". The Evening Post. Vol. LXX, no. 61. 9 September 1905. p. 5. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
10. "Deaths". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXVIII, no. 72. 22 September 1939. p. 1. Retrieved 10 October 2015.

References

• 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.
• Paul, J.T. (1946). Humanism in Politics. Wellington: NZ Working Printing & Publishing.