The 1946 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 28th term. The Parliament of New Zealand consists of the Queen of New Zealand and the New Zealand House of Representatives and until 1951 the New Zealand Legislative Council It saw the governing Labour Party re-elected, but by a substantially narrower margin than in the three previous elections. The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party The National Party continued its gradual rise. The New Zealand National Party ("National" or "the Nats" currently forms the second-largest (in terms of parliamentary seats Political party
Background
The Labour Party had been in government since winning the 1935 elections, and had been re-elected twice. The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party The 1935 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament 's 25th term. However, the National Party had managed to overcome the internal problems which had once troubled it, and now presented a credible threat to Labour. The New Zealand National Party ("National" or "the Nats" currently forms the second-largest (in terms of parliamentary seats Political party National's leader, Sidney Holland, was proving more effective than his predecessor, while the Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, was weary and in poor health. Sir Sidney George Holland, GCMG, CH, ( October 18 1893 - August 5 1961) was Prime Minister of New Zealand The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's Head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in Peter Fraser (1884 - 1950 served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. The after-effects of World War II, including ongoing shortages, were having an impact on the government's popularity. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including
The election
The date for the main 1946 elections was 27 November, a Wednesday. Elections to the four Maori seats were held the day before. In New Zealand politics, the Māori Seats, a special category of electorate, give reserved positions to representatives of Māori 1,081,898 people were registered to vote, and there was a turnout of 93. Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a Ballot in an Election. 5%. This turnout was the highest ever recorded at this point. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.
The outcome of the election was probably affected by the abolition of the country quota the previous year. The country quota was a part of the New Zealand electoral system from 1881 until 1945 This had required rural electorates to be smaller than urban electorates, thus increasing the importance of the rural vote. Since National was more popular than Labour in rural areas, the change may have cost National the election.
Results
The 1946 election saw the governing Labour Party retain office by a four-seat margin, winning forty-two seats to the National Party's thirty-eight. The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party The New Zealand National Party ("National" or "the Nats" currently forms the second-largest (in terms of parliamentary seats Political party In the popular vote — Labour won 51. 3% and National won 48. 4%. No other parties won any significant share of the vote, and no independents were elected — only 0. 3% of voters did not support one of the two major parties. After Harry Atmore of Nelson died, no candidate who was not from the two main parties managed to enter Parliament until the 1966 elections, when the Social Credit Party won its first seat. Harry Atmore ( 14 December 1870 - 20 August 1946) was a New Zealand Independent Member of Parliament for The 1966 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament 's 35th term. One of the several logos used during the history of the Social Credit Party The New
| Party | Candidates | Total votes | Percentage | Seats won |
| Labour Party | 80 | 536,994 | 51. The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party 3% | 42 |
| National Party | 80 | 507,139 | 48. The New Zealand National Party ("National" or "the Nats" currently forms the second-largest (in terms of parliamentary seats Political party 4% | 38 |
| Others | 12 | 3,072 | 0. 3% | - |
| Total | 172 | 1,047,205 | 80 |
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