The 1931 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 24th term. It resulted in the newly-formed coalition between the United Party and the Reform Party remaining in office, although the opposition Labour Party made some minor gains.
In the 1928 elections, the United Party and the Reform Party had both won twenty-seven seats. The United Party managed to form a government with the support of the Labour Party, with governing Reform Party going into the opposition. In 1931, however, the agreement between United and Labour collapsed due to differing opinions on how to counter the Great Depression. The Reform Party, fearing that the Depression would give Labour a substantial boost, reluctantly agreed to form a coalition with United to avert elections. By forming a coalition, United and Reform were able to blunt Labour's advantage, ending the possibility of the anti-Labour vote being split.
The election
The date for the main 1931 elections was 2 December, a Wednesday. Elections to the four Maori seats were held the day before. 874,787 people were registered to vote, and there was a turnout of 83.3%. This turnout was below average for the time period. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.
Results
The 1931 election saw the governing coalition retain office, winning fifty-one seats. This was a drop of three seats from what the two parties had won in the previous elections, but was still considerably better than many had expected given the economic situation. The Labour Party won twenty-four seats, a gain of five. In the popular vote, the coalition won 55.4% of the vote, down from the 64.6% that the two parties had won previously. Labour won 34.3%. The only other party to gain a place in Parliament was the Country Party, which won a single seat. Four independents were elected.
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