The 1943 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 27th term. With the onset of World War II, elections were initially postponed, but it was eventually decided to hold a general election in September 1943, around two years after it would normally have occurred. The election saw the governing Labour Party re-elected by a comfortable margin, although the party nevertheless lost considerable ground to the expanding National Party.

 

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Background

The Labour Party had formed its first government after its resounding victory in the 1935 elections, and had been re-elected by a substantial margin in the 1938 elections. Michael Joseph Savage, the first Labour Prime Minister, died in 1940 — he was replaced by Peter Fraser, who, while not as popular as Savage, was widely viewed as competent. In the same year as Fraser took power, however, the opposition National Party had replaced the ineffectual Adam Hamilton with Sidney Holland, and was beginning to overcome the internal divisions which had plagued Hamilton's time as leader.

As World War II continued, the issues surrounding it naturally came to dominate political debate. Shortages appeared, prompting a certain amount of dissatisfaction with the government. The matter of conscription was also contentious — although both Labour and National supported it, many traditional followers of Labour were angry at their party's stance. Many early Labour leaders, including Fraser, had been jailed for opposing conscription in World War I, and were branded hypocrites for later introduing it — Fraser justified his change of position by saying that World War I was a pointless war, but World War II was necessary. A faction of Labour, dissatisfied with the mainstream party's economic and conscription policies, followed dissident MP John A. Lee to his new Democratic Labour Party.

The election

The date for the main 1943 elections was 25 September, a Saturday. Elections to the four Maori seats were held the day before. 1,021,034 civilians and an uncertain number of serving military personnel were registered to vote — special legislation provided voting rights to all serving members of the armed forces, regardless of age. Among the civilian population, there was a turnout of 82.8%. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.

Results

The 1943 election saw a the governing Labour Party retain office by an eleven-seat margin, winning forty-five seats to the National Party's thirty-four. The popular vote was considerably closer — Labour won 47.6%, while National won 42.8%. The new Democratic Labour Party won only 4.3% of the vote, and no seats. One independent was elected — this was to be the last electoral victory by a candidate not from the major parties until the 1966 elections.