The 1893 New Zealand general election was held on 28 November and 20 December in the European and Māori electorates, respectively, to elect 74 MPs to the 12th session of the New Zealand Parliament. The election was won by the Liberal Party, and Richard Seddon became Prime Minister.

Quick Facts All 74 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority, Turnout ...

1893 general election

← 1890 28 November (general) & 20 December (Māori) 1893 1896 →
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All 74 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	75.3%
First party Second party   Leader Richard Seddon William Rolleston Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 28 April 1893 31 August 1891 Leader's seat Westland Halswell (lost seat) Last election 40 seats, 56.1% 25 seats, 28.9% Seats won 51 13 Seat change 11 12 Popular vote 175,814 74,482 Percentage 57.8% 24.5% Swing 1.7% 4.5%
Results of the election.
Premier before election Richard Seddon Liberal Subsequent Premier Richard Seddon Liberal

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1893 was the year universal suffrage was granted to women over 21 (including Māori), plural registration was abolished, plural voting for Māori property-owners was abolished, and only those whose descent was exactly half Māori were allowed to choose whether to vote in European or Māori electorates. Women's suffrage was the most consequential change.

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1890 for the 1890 election. The 1891 New Zealand census was the first to automatically trigger an electoral redistribution, which was undertaken in 1892. The population drift to the North Island resulted in the transfer of one electorate from the south to the north. Only three electorates remained with unaltered boundaries: Thames, Wairarapa, and Timaru.^[1] 14 new electorates were established, and of those, eight electorates were established for the first time: Bay of Plenty, Otaki, Pareora, Patea, Riccarton, Waiapu, Waimea-Sounds, and Wellington Suburbs. The remaining six electorates had existed before, and they were re-established for the 12th Parliament: Caversham, Chalmers, Lyttelton, Rangitata, Waihemo, and Waipa.^[2]

By far the most notable change for the 1893 election was that the Electoral Act, 1893, extended the franchise to all women (including Māori) aged 21 and over.^[3] Women's suffrage was granted after about two decades of campaigning by women such as Kate Sheppard and Mary Ann Müller and organisations such as the New Zealand branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union led by Anne Ward.^[4] Of countries presently independent, New Zealand was the first to give women the vote in modern times.^[5] John Hall, a Conservative politician and former premier, received most of the credit for pushing the legislation through Parliament; he is the only male who has his name inscribed on the Kate Sheppard National Memorial.^[5] There were only 10 weeks between the passage of the legislation and the election, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) set about to enrol as many women as possible.^[4]

The bill had passed under the Liberal government which generally advocated social and political reform, but only due to a combination of personality issues and political accident. Seddon opposed it (unlike many other Liberals) because many women supported prohibition. He had expected to stop the bill in the upper house, but found that one more vote was needed. Thomas Kelly, a new Liberal Party councillor had left himself paired in favour of the measure, but Seddon obtained his consent by wire to change his vote. Seddon's manipulation so incensed two opposition councillors, William Reynolds and Edward Stevens that they changed sides and voted for the bill, which was passed by 20 votes to 18 so giving the vote to women.^[6] Both the Liberals and the Conservatives subsequently claimed credit for sponsoring the enfranchisement of women and both sought to acquire women's votes, although the Liberals benefitted more.^[7]

The 1893 election was held on Tuesday, 28 November in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 20 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 12th Parliament.^[8][9]

A total number of 302,997 (75.3%) voters turned out to vote.^[10] 65% of all eligible New Zealand women voted in the 1893 election.^[4] In 3 seats there was only one candidate.^[11] 31 and 39 electorates were in the North Island and South Island, respectively, plus the 4 Māori electorates.^[12]