January 1920 New Zealand Liberal Party leadership election

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1920 New Zealand Liberal Party leadership election
← 1913 14 January 1920 Sep 1920 →
 
Candidate William MacDonald
Popular vote elected unopposed
Leader before election

William MacDonald (acting)

 Leader after election

William MacDonald

An election for the leadership of the New Zealand Liberal Party was held on 14 January 1920 to choose the next leader of the party. The election was won by Bay of Plenty MP and acting party leader William MacDonald.

Background

During

George Warren Russell and Thomas Wilford) to develop an updated policy manifesto for the next election.[1] At the ensuing 1919 general election the Liberal's did poorly losing many seats including that of Ward.[2] Due to Ward's failure to gain re-election to parliament, MacDonald took over as acting leader.[3]

Wilford was interviewed by an

Evening Post reporter in late December 1919 where he stated his preference for MacDonald to lead the party on a permanent basis and should he accept Wilford would nominate him for the position.[4] A meeting was called by MacDonald in early January 1920 held in Rotorua with several prominent Liberal Party MPs including Thomas Wilford and Arthur Myers. There they had preliminary discussions ahead of the main caucus meeting, on policy, organisation and leadership for the party.[5]

Candidates

William MacDonald

MacDonald had been the MP for Bay of Plenty since 1908 and had briefly been a minister in the short lived 1912 cabinet of Thomas Mackenzie. He then served from 1915 to 1919 in the wartime cabinet as Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Mines.[6] In 1919 MacDonald had deputised several times for Ward while he was overseas.[1]

Others

The names of Thomas Sidey, Arthur Myers and particularly Thomas Wilford were suggested as possible leaders. However, when Wilford stated publicly that he would instead support MacDonald, intimating he would only consider standing should MacDonald decline, he was ruled out as a possible candidate.[4]

Result

As MacDonald was the only officially nominated candidate, he was elected as leader unopposed by the caucus. He was nominated by Wilford and seconded by Myers.[7]

Aftermath

Macdonald lead the party for several months before his health started to deteriorate in mid-1919 after he broke his arm in an accident. As a result, he took leave from his Parliamentary duties for several weeks in order to go to Auckland on a health recuperating visit, leaving Wilford to act as Leader of the Opposition. Macdonald recovered following his treatment in Auckland and was able to resumed his seat in Parliament. However he died suddenly in his home in Kelburn on 31 August 1920. He was still able to speak in the house the day before he died.[8]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Bassett 1993, p. 243.
  2. ^ Bassett, Michael. "Ward, Joseph George". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  3. ^ Bassett 1993, p. 248.
  4. ^
    The Evening Post
    . Vol. XCVIII, no. 147. 19 December 1919. p. 7.
  5. ^ "The Liberal Party - Meeting at Rotorua". The New Zealand Times. Vol. XLV, no. 10477. 3 January 1920. p. 4.
  6. ^ Mackay, Joseph Angus (1949). The Bay of Plenty Seat. Gisborne, [N.Z.]: Joseph Angus Mackay. p. 359.
  7. ^ "The Liberal Leadership". Patea Mail. 23 January 1920. p. 3.
  8. Wanganui Herald
    . Vol. LIII, no. 160743. 1 September 1920. p. 4. Retrieved 1 June 2020.

References

  • Bassett, Michael (1993). Sir Joseph Ward: A Political Biography. Auckland: Auckland University Press.
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