The 1935 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 25th term. It resulted in the Labour Party's first electoral victory, with Michael Joseph Savage becoming the first Labour Prime Minister after defeating the governing coalition, consisting of the United Party and the Reform Party, in a landslide.

Quick Facts All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority, First party ...

1935 New Zealand general election

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All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Michael Joseph Savage George Forbes Party Labour United/Reform Leader since 12 October 1933 18 September 1931 Leader's seat Auckland West Hurunui Last election 24 seats, 34.27% 47 seats, 54.03% Seats after 53 16 Seat change 29 31 Popular vote 389,911 285,422 Percentage 45.73% 33.48% Swing 11.46% 20.55%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Harold Rushworth Eruera Tirikatene Party Country Party Ratana Leader since November 1928 3 August 1932 Leader's seat Bay of Islands Southern Maori Last election 1 seat, 2.3% 0 seats, 1.00% Seats after 2 2 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 11,809 6,249 Percentage 1.67% 0.73% Swing 0.67% 0.27%
Results of the election.
Prime Minister before election George Forbes United/Reform Subsequent Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage Labour

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The governing coalition lost 31 seats, which was attributed by many to their handling of the Great Depression: the year after the election, the United and Reform parties merged to form the modern National Party.

The election was originally scheduled to be held in 1934, in keeping with the country's three-year election cycle, but the governing coalition postponed the election by one year hoping that the economic conditions would improve by 1935.^[1]

Since 1931, New Zealand had been governed by a coalition of the United Party and the Reform Party, the United–Reform Coalition. United and Reform had traditionally been enemies – United was a revival of the old Liberal Party, a progressive party with a strong urban base, while Reform was a conservative party with a strong rural base. When the 1928 elections left United and Reform with an equal number of seats, United managed to obtain support from the growing Labour Party, but in 1931, the worsening depression prompted a dispute over economic policy, and Labour withdrew its backing. Reform then agreed to go into coalition with United, fearing that an election would lead to significant gains for the "socialistic" Labour. The coalition held on to power in the 1931 elections, but the ongoing economic troubles made the government deeply unpopular, and by the time of the 1935 elections, Labour's support was soaring.

The Dominion, a Wellington newspaper, printed anti-Labour advertisements and editorials.^[2] On Sunday 24 November, shortly before the election, an address by Colin Scrimgeour ("Uncle Scrim") on the Friendly Road radio station, which was expected to urge listeners to vote Labour, was jammed by the Post Office.

The number of electorates being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since the 1902 Electoral Redistribution.^[3][4]

Four of those were Māori electorates, and those elections were held on 26 November.^[5] 19 candidates contested the four available positions, and in three out of four cases, the incumbents were returned.^[6][7]

The election in the European electorates was held on the following day, a Wednesday.^[5] A total of 246 candidates contested the 76 European electorates, between two and six per electorate (Wellington East had six candidates, and there was a contest in all electorates), i.e. an average of 3.2 candidates per electorate.^[8] 919,798 people were registered to vote in European electorates (enrolment data for Māori electorates are only available since the 1954 election), and there was a turnout of 90.75%.^[9] This turnout was considerably higher than the turnout in the previous election (84.26%) and the highest turnout so far, but still about average for the next decades.^[9]

Elsie Andrews (1888–1948) was one of only three women who stood for election in this year.^[10]

A number of local by-elections were required due to the resignations of incumbent local body politicians following the general election:

• In February 1936 Dan Sullivan resigned as Mayor of Christchurch owing to a heavy workload after becoming a cabinet minister following Labour's victory. This sparked two by-elections, one for the mayoralty and another for three vacancies on the city council. Sullivan was replaced by John Beanland.^[74] Among the successful city council candidates was Robert Macfarlane who had contested Christchurch North in 1935.^[75]
• Likewise Peter Fraser resigned his seat on the Wellington City Council in order to focus on his new ministerial duties. A by-election was avoided however when Andrew Parlane, the highest polling unsuccessful candidate from the previous election, was the only nominated candidate.^[76]
• Later in the parliamentary term Fred Jones resigned his membership of the Dunedin City Council due to his ministerial obligations. An appointment was made instead of holding a by-election with Ralph Harrison succeeding Jones.^[77]