Terms of the Parliament of New Zealand

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The 24th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 23 February 1932, following the 1931 election. It was dissolved on 1 November 1935 in preparation for 1935 election.

The 24th Parliament was dominated by a coalition of the Reform Party and the United Party — Reform had twenty-eight seats, United had nineteen, and there were four pro-coalition independents. The primary opposition was from the Labour Party, which had twenty-four seats. The small Country Party had one seat, and there were four non-aligned independents. The distribution of seats between three large parties (also a feature of the previous parliament) was relatively unusual, as New Zealand tended towards a two-party system at the time.

The Prime Minister during the 24th Parliament was George Forbes, leader of the United Party. Many commentators at the time, however, alleged that Gordon Coates, leader of the larger Reform Party, had the greater influence.

The 24th Parliament consisted of eighty representatives, each elected from separate geographical electorates.

Party standings

Electoral boundaries

Members

Initial MPs

* Four of the eight independent MPs (Connolly, Hargest, McSkimming, and Polson) were aligned with the United-Reform coalition, and are not classified as independents by some sources.

New MPs

Summary of changes

• Tuiti Makitanara, the United MP for Southern Maori, died on 26 June 1932. The resulting by-election was won by Eruera Tirikatene, an independent candidate associated with the Ratana religious movement.
• George Black, the independent MP for Motueka, died on 7 October 1932. The resulting by-election was won by Keith Holyoake of the Reform Party.
• James McCombs, the Labour MP for Lyttelton, died on 2 August 1933. The resulting by-election was won by his wife, Elizabeth McCombs, also of the Labour Party. Elizabeth McCombs was the first woman to win election to the New Zealand Parliament.
• Harry Holland, leader of the Labour Party and MP for Buller, died on 8 October 1933. The resulting by-election was won by Paddy Webb, also of the Labour Party.
• Elizabeth McCombs herself died on 7 June 1935, and the resulting by-election elected her son, Terry McCombs.