Reform Party (New Zealand)
Reform Party | |
---|---|
Founded | 11 February 1909 |
Dissolved | 1936 |
Merged into | United/Reform Coalition (1931–36) |
The Reform Party (
Foundation
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in New Zealand |
---|
The Liberal Party, founded by John Ballance and fortified by Richard Seddon, was highly dominant in New Zealand politics at the beginning of the 20th century. The conservative opposition, consisting only of independents, was disorganised and demoralised.[2][3] It had no cohesive plan to counter the Liberal Party's dominance, and could not always agree on a single leader — it was described by one historian as resembling a disparate band of guerrillas, and presented no credible threat to continued Liberal Party rule.[citation needed]
Gradually, however, the Liberals began to falter — the first blow came with the death of Richard Seddon, their popular leader, but other factors contributed to their decline. Importantly for conservatives, the Liberals were slowly losing support from small farmers, who had once backed the Liberals due to their promise of
The foundation of the Reform Party was closely associated with this return of the opposition to political significance, and with growing agitation against the Liberal Party's alleged socialism. The party itself crystallised around a farmer-turned-politician named
Despite campaigning heavily against the government's "socialism", it did not propose to undo the Liberal Party's labour and welfare reforms. In 1911 a consistent theme of the Reform campaign was that it stood for "true Liberalism" and the Opposition accepted the permanency of the basic reforms of the Liberals in the 1890s. They claimed patronage, corruption and "Tammanyism" (patronage based on connections) for example in civil service appointments.[7]
Reform Government
In the 1911 elections, the Reform Party won thirty-seven seats compared with thirty-three for the Liberals. Supporters of the Liberals denied that Reform had won a mandate to rule, however, pointing out that the country quota (a system in which rural electorates were smaller than urban ones, meaning that rural areas were slightly over-represented in Parliament) worked to "inflate" Reform's vote. Nevertheless, it did not take long for the Liberal government, now ruling only with the support of independents, to fall. Ward resigned in 1912, and after successor Thomas Mackenzie lost a confidence vote, William Massey became Prime Minister on 10 July 1912.[8]
In government, the Reform Party implemented many of its policies regarding freehold and public service reform. Many other Liberal-era policies were not changed, however, and Reform gained further support from disillusioned members of the Liberal Party. Reform also demonstrated its tough line against "socialism" with its responses to a number of notable
After the Liberal leader Joseph Ward rejected a Reform caucus resolution in November 1918 the two parties merge, Massey announced in May 1919 that the two parties would contest the 1919 election separately. The National Government subsequently lapsed on August 1919. During the 1919 election held on 17 December, Reform further strengthened its position, winning 47 seats (37%) of the vote. The Liberals won 19 seats while the Labour Party won eight seats.[11][12]
In the 1922 elections, however, the approach of depression cost the government to lose nine seats, dropping from 47 to 38. The Liberals gained 24 seats while Labour gained 17 seats at the Reform party's expense. In order to maintain its majority, Reform was forced to build an unstable coalition with three former Liberal Members of Parliament, who became independents. By that time, New Zealand politics had developed into a three-party system consisting of Reform, Labour and the Liberals.[13][14]
In 1925, Massey died. After a period under interim leader Francis Bell, Reform chose Gordon Coates as its new leader. Coates, while not regarded as politically astute, was relatively popular with the public, and campaigned well. In the 1925 elections, Reform won a surprisingly high number of seats — 55, compared with 12 for Labour and 11 for the Liberals. This victory was not as pronounced in the statistics for the popular vote since many believed that Reform had profited from the three-party configuration, with the anti-Reform vote being split.[15][16]
Coates was also unable to live up to the high expectations generated by the election result. Coates lacked the political skills needed to manage the Reform party and parliamentary caucus, and also retained several poor-performing ministers. Under Coates, the Reform Government passed the Family Allowances Act, which was unpopular with party supporters. Coates' administration was also blamed for a major drop in farm export prices in 1926.[17] Reform also lost two by-elections in Eden and Raglan to the Labour Party, which began positioning itself as the new official opposition.[18][19]
In the 1928 elections, however, there was a substantial reversal. The new United Party led by former Liberal leader Joseph Ward, founded on the ashes of the Liberal Party, experienced a surge of support. While Reform's parliamentary presence was reduced to 28 seats, the United Party won 27 seats, Labour won 19 seats, the new Country Party gained one seat, and there were five independents. The United Party formed a new government with the support of Labor and the five independents.[20][21]
Opposition and Coalition
The Reform Party, still led by Coates, continued in opposition. The worsening economic situation left the United Party government struggling, and in 1931, the Labour Party withdrew its support in protest at certain economic measures. Following Ward's resignation in May 1930, George Forbes became the leader of the United Party and Prime Minister. The Reform Party reluctantly agreed to support the United Party government, as the depression had raised fears of major gains for Labour if an election were held. United and Reform established a coalition government, with United's Forbes remaining Prime Minister but Reform's Downie Stewart becoming Finance Minister.[22][23]
In coalition, the two parties suffered only minor losses in the
Shortly after losing the 1935 elections, Reform and United resolved to merge completely in 1936, creating a united front against Labour. The new group was named the National Party, and has remained Labour's principal opponent ever since.[32][33] The merged party's first three leaders-Adam Hamilton, Sidney Holland, and Keith Holyoake—came from the Reform half of the merger.
Parliamentary leaders
Key:
Reform
Liberal
United
Labour
PM: Prime Minister
LO: Leader of the Opposition
†: Died in office
No. | Leader | Portrait | Term | Position | Prime Minister | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | William Massey | February 1909 | 10 May 1925† | LO 1909–1912 | Ward | |||
Mackenzie | ||||||||
PM 1912–1925 | Massey | |||||||
2 | Francis Bell (interim) |
14 May 1925 | 27 May 1925 | PM 1925 | Bell | |||
3 | Gordon Coates | 27 May 1925 | 13 May 1936 | PM 1925–1928 | Coates | |||
LO 1928–1931 | Ward | |||||||
Forbes | ||||||||
Junior coalition partnerin government 1931–1935 |
||||||||
Junior coalition partnerin opposition 1935–1936 |
Savage | |||||||
Reform Party merged into National Party 1936. |
Electoral results
Part of a series on |
Conservatism |
---|
Election | # of votes | % of vote | # of seats won |
Government/opposition? |
---|---|---|---|---|
1911 | 159,309 | 33.37 | 37 / 80 |
Government |
1914 | 243,025 | 47.1 | 40 / 80
| |
1919 | 193,676 | 35.7 | 43 / 80
| |
1922 | 249,735 | 39.35 | 37 / 80
| |
1925 | 324,239 | 47.18 | 55 / 80
| |
1928 | 271,259 | 35.87 | 28 / 80 |
Opposition |
1931 | 190,170 | 26.6 | 28 / 80 |
Government (coalition) |
1935 | 285,422† | 33.48† | 9 / 80 |
Opposition |
†Total Coalition vote.
References
- ^ "Riwhōma - Te Aka Māori Dictionary". Riwhōma - Te Aka Māori Dictionary.
- ^ King 2003, p. 259-263.
- ^ Sinclair & Dalziel 2000, p. 173-176.
- ^ Sinclair & Dalziel 2000, p. 208-216.
- ^ King 2003, p. 278-280.
- ^ Sinclair & Dalziel 2000, p. 216-217.
- ^ Hamer 1988, pp. 329, 330.
- ^ Bassett 1982, pp. 3–14.
- ^ Sinclair & Dalziel 2000, pp. 217–220.
- ^ Bassett 1982, pp. 15–20.
- ^ Bassett 1982, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Burdon 1965, pp. 25–26, 31–33.
- ^ Bassett 1982, pp. 26–33.
- ^ Burdon 1965, pp. 49–50.
- ^ Bassett 1982, pp. 34–35.
- ^ King 2003, pp. 321–322.
- ^ King 2003, pp. 322–323.
- ^ Bassett 1982, pp. 36–38.
- ^ King 2003, pp. 323.
- ^ Bassett 1982, pp. 38–46.
- ^ McKinnon 2016, pp. 35–37.
- ^ Bassett 1982, pp. 49–58.
- ^ King 2003, pp. 345–347.
- ^ King 2003, pp. 347–356.
- ^ Bassett 1982, pp. 56.
- ^ Burdon 1965, pp. 157–161.
- ^ McKinnon 2016, pp. 212–220.
- ^ Burdon 1965, pp. 178–180.
- ^ Sinclair & Dalziel 2000, pp. 272, 277.
- ^ Sinclair & Dalziel 2000, pp. 277.
- ^ King 2003, pp. 355–356.
- ^ Gustafson 1986, pp. 7–10.
- ^ James 2017, pp. 21–22.
Sources
- Bassett, Michael (1982). Three Party Politics in New Zealand, 1911–1931. Auckland: Historical Publications. ISBN 0868700061.
- Burdon, R.M. (1965). The New Dominion. A Social and Political History of New Zealand, 1918–1939. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed.
- Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years: A History of New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen Publishers. ISBN 0474001776.
- ISBN 1-86940-014-3.
- James, Colin (2017). National at 80: The Story of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: David Bateman Ltd. ISBN 9781869539818.
- King, Michael (2003). The Penguin History of New Zealand (First ed.). Auckland: Penguin Books. ISBN 0143018671.
- McKinnon, Malcolm (2016). The Broken Decade: Prosperity, depression and recovery in New Zealand, 1928-39. Dunedin: Otago University Press. ISBN 9781927322260.
- Sinclair, Keith; Dalziel, Raewyn (2000). A History of New Zealand: Revised Edition (Fifth revised ed.). Auckland: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0140298758.
Further reading
- Fairburn, Miles; Haslett, Stephen (2005). "How far did class determine voting in New Zealand general elections 1911–1951?". New Zealand Journal of History. 39 (2): 215–241.
- Gardner, W.J. (1 March 1961). "The Rise of W. F. Massey, 1891-1912". Political Science. 13 (1): 3–30. . Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- Gardner, W.J. (1 September 1961). "W. F. Massey in Power, 1912-1925". Political Science. 13 (2): 3–30. . Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- Gardner, William James (1966), "MASSEY, William Ferguson", An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, retrieved 24 April 2008
- Gustafson, Barry, "Massey, William Ferguson 1856–1925", Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, retrieved 24 April 2008
- Hamer, David A. (1979). "Towns in nineteenth-century New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of History. 13 (1): 5–24.
- Watson, James; Paterson, Lachy, eds. (2010). A Great New Zealand Prime Minister?. Dunedin: Otago University Press. ISBN 9781877578076.
Contemporary sources
- Politics and reform: the situation in New Zealand to-day and the remedy, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Dominion, 1910
- General election campaign, 1914, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Ferguson & Osborn, Printers, 1914
- [William] Massey's legislation for the masses: from official records : summary and comaprison. [sic], Wellington, [N.Z.]: Wellington Publishing Co., 1914
- The Huntly mining disaster: a conspiracy of misrepresentation: Minister of Mines maligned: un-British tactics exposed, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Ferguson & Osborn, Printers, 1915
- The general election campaign, 1919: record of Reform Party in connection with session of 1919 and other matters, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Ferguson & Osborn, Printers, 1919
- Reform's record and achievements, 1912–1922, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Reform Party ; Ferguson & Osborn, Printers, 1922
- Campaign memoranda General Election, 1925, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Reform Party, 1925
- The candidate's vade mecum, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Newsletter Office, 1925
- New Zealand Labour Party, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Reform Party (New Zealand), 1925 The N.Z. Labour Party’s land policy: its destructive effect on private ownership: how the "working farmer" would fare under socialism
- Stout, Robert (1910), University reform: demands of the Reform Party considered by the Chancellor, Dunedin, N.Z.: Evening Star, a lecture given by the chancellor of the University of New Zealand at Victoria University College on 30 June 1910.