Albert Ernest Davy (17 August 1886 - 13 June 1959) was a New Zealand political organiser and campaign manager, and at the height of his career, was regarded as the best in the country. He was a strong opponent of socialism, and spent most of his life fighting what he saw as socialist tendencies in New Zealand politics. August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1886 is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Socialism is an ideology with the core belief that society should exist in which popular collectives control the means of power, and therefore the means of production. ...

Early life

Davy was born in Wellington, where his father was a police officer. His family moved around the country considerably during Davy's youth, eventually coming to live in Gisborne. Davy held a number of jobs there, including bootmaker, draper, and hairdresser. He married Florence Maude Sawyer, a milliner, in 1908. He was to have two sons. He was active in the New Zealand Auto Cycle Union and the New Zealand Athletic and Cycling Union, holding a number of prominent organisational roles. Wellington (Te Whanganui-a-Tara or Poneke) is the capital city of New Zealand, the countrys second-largest urban area and the most populous national capital city in Oceania. ... Gisborne is the name of a unitary authority (in this case, a region and district) in New Zealand. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Reform Party

Davy's first major political activity came as part of Douglas Lynsar's successful campaign for the Gisborne seat in the 1919 election. In 1923, Davy was offered an organisational position in the Reform Party, to which Lynsar belonged. He was largely responsible for Reform's strategy in the 1925 election, focusing strongly on the party's leader, Gordon Coates. This was unusual in New Zealand politics, where the focus tended to be on local candidates. Also unusual was the degree of central control — party headquarters provided each candidate with intructions and guidance, rather than simply allowing them to run their own campaigns. While this is now the norm in New Zealand politics, it was rare at the time. The New Zealand general election of 1919 was held December 17 to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 20h session of the New Zealand Parliament. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Reform Party was New Zealands second major political party, having been founded as a conservative response to the original Liberal Party. ... The New Zealand general election of 1925 was held November 4 to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 22nd session of the New Zealand Parliament. ... This article is about the New Zealand prime minister. ...

The elections were a major victory for Reform, and Davy gained much of the credit. He quickly developed a reputation as the country's top political organiser. Soon, however, rifts began to emerge between Davy and the Reform Party. As the country's economic situation worsened, the Reform Party began to adopt more radical measures to address the problem — Davy condemned the measures as "socialistic". He also made enemies by allegedly blocking Ellen Melville, who sought the Reform Party candidacy for an Auckland by-election — when Melville lost, she contested the seat as an independent, and split the vote. In late 1926, Davy left the Reform Party, possibly under pressure. He denounced its leadership as "autocratic". 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

United Party

In the middle of 1927, Davy was contacted by John William Shaw McArthur, an Auckland businessman who shared Davy's view of the government. With financial backing from McArthur, Davy began to lay the foundations of a new political party, eventually dubbed the United New Zealand Political Organisation. He was assisted by the fact that he still retained membership and contact lists from the Reform Party, enabling him to draw away Reform supporters who were sympathetic to his cause. In November, Davy's organisation merged with two factions of the collapsing Liberal Party, led by George Forbes and Bill Veitch — the new organisation was named the United Party. When a leadership clash between Forbes and Veitch loomed, Davy arranged for Joseph Ward, a former Liberal premier, to take the position as a compromise candidate. 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about the original New Zealand Liberal Party. ... George William Forbes (12 March 1869 - 17 May 1947) served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1930 to 1935. ... This article discusses the party which originated in 1927 from a faction of the Liberal Party. ... This article is about the New Zealand prime minister. ...

In the 1925 election, Davy ran a strong campaign for the United Party. The party performed well, managing to win the same number of seats as the Reform Party. However, neither United nor Reform had enough strength to govern alone — the Labour Party held the balance of power. United managed to secure Labour's support, and formed a government, but Davy was displeased at this development — far from fighting the left-wingers, United was now dependent on their support, and was implementing many of the same policies that had caused Davy to quit Reform. Davy came to believe that as long as United and Reform remained enemies, the left would hold the balance of power, and would therefore be able to dictate terms. As such, Davy began to advocate an "anti-socialist" grand coalition between United and Reform, hoping to shut the left out altogether. In early 1930, Davy publicly attacked Ward, accusing him of authoritarianism and of caving in to Labour's demands too readily. Shortly afterwards, he was dismissed from the party. The New Zealand general election of 1925 was held November 4 to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 22nd session of the New Zealand Parliament. ... The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. ... A grand coalition is a coalition government in a parliamentary system where political parties representing a vast majority of the parliament unite in a coalition. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Reform Party again

Later in 1930, Davy rejoined the Reform Party, believing that United had become corrupted by its alliance with Labour. Shortly afterwards, the agreement between United and Labour collapsed, and United and Reform agreed to the grand coalition that Davy had proposed. Despite the new alliance, however, the government did not significantly back away from its existing approach to the country's economic problems. As such, Davy was still not fully behind the government, and he gave assistance to John Ormond, an independent candidate who wished to "reform the Reform Party". However, Davy did not follow Ormond and his allies when later broke from the Reform Party, founding an organisation would would evolve into the New Zealand Legion.

Other parties

In 1934, Davy was approached by another Auckland businessman, William Goodfellow. Goodfellow agreed to finance another new party, dedicated to opposing the government's "socialism". The group was named the Democrat Party, and Thomas Hislop, a former Mayor of Wellington, was recruited to be its political leader. Goodfellow later withdrew from the party, saying the Davy's goals were unrealistic and that resources were being spread too finely, but Davy pressed on. In the 1935 election, however, the Democrats failed to win any seats. According to some, the party merely succeeded in splitting the right-wing vote, assisting the Labour Party in its landslide victory. 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about the pro-business party founded in 1934. ... The Mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of Wellington, New Zealand, and presides over the Wellington City Council. ... The 1935 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliaments 25th term. ...

Davy then briefly left politics, working as a sharebroker and newspaper manager. In 1940, he returned to politics, joining the People's Movement. The following year, part of the People's Movement merged into the National Party (the ultimate conclusion of the United-Reform coalition), and Davy established his own Co-operative Party, but he soon abandoned this and returned to the remnants of the Movement. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Peoples Movement was a political party in New Zealand. ... Current National Party logo The New Zealand National Party currently forms the second-largest (in terms of seats) political party in the New Zealand Parliament, and thus functions as the core of the Opposition. ... The New Zealand Co-operative Party was a short-lived political party in New Zealand. ...

Later life

Finally giving up on politics, Davy returned to business. He also served on the Trade Practices and Prices Commission. He died in Wellington on 13 June 1959. June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...