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Country Party (New Zealand)

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New Zealand Country Party
LeaderHarold Rushworth
Founded1922; 102 years ago (1922)
Dissolved1938; 86 years ago (1938)
Split fromReform Party
Succeeded bySocial Credit Party[1]
IdeologyAgrarianism
Social Credit
Political positionCentre
Colours  Green

The Country Party of New Zealand was a political party which appealed to rural voters. It was represented in Parliament from 1928 to 1938. Its policies were a mixture of rural advocacy and social credit theory.

History

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The Country Party had its origins in the Auckland Farmers' Union, a branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union which covered the old Auckland Province. Members of the branch increasingly came to believe that the Reform Party, which traditionally enjoyed much support in rural areas, was now putting the interests of farmers behind those of businesses in the city. The Auckland branch was also strongly influenced by the social credit theory of monetary reform, promoted by C. H. Douglas. Many farmers believed that the country's financial system did not treat them fairly and that they were being exploited by big-city bankers and moneylenders.[2]

The Auckland branch grew increasingly frustrated with the Farmers' Union leadership, which did not support having an independent rural party. Eventually, members of the Auckland branch established the Country Party without the Union's backing. In 1928, the branch broke away from the Union altogether and gave its full backing to the Country Party.[2]

In the 1925 elections, the Country Party fielded five candidates but won only 0.3% of the vote. In the 1928 elections it won the Bay of Islands seat. In Parliament, the Country Party tended to align itself with the growing Labour Party, primarily because both parties were distrustful of the financial and banking industries.[2]

In the 1931 elections, the Country Party increased its share of the vote to 2.3%. In the 1935 elections, the party's share of the vote dropped slightly, but it won two seats. Arthur Sexton was elected in the Franklin electorate.[2]

In the 1938 elections, the Country Party lost both its seats, as Labour decided to contest them. Rushworth had retired, partly because of Labour's intervention, and Sexton was defeated by the National Party. The party won only 0.23% of the vote and disappeared soon afterwards. Most rural voters who had supported it turned to the National Party, which incorporated the Reform Party. Later, however, the Social Credit Party would gain a certain amount of success in rural areas using much the same formula, and some see the Country Party as a forerunner to the more long-lived Social Credit.[3]

Country Party, 1969

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The Country Party was revived for the 1969 election by Clifford Stanley Emeny of New Plymouth (1920–2000), a World War II air force veteran. The party put forward candidates in 15 seats, and they attracted 6,715 votes. Emeny stood in Stratford where he got 1130 votes, the largest vote for the party; and in Egmont, New Plymouth, Tauranga and Waimarino. The other seats contested were Ashburton, Hamilton West, Otago, Pahiatua, Raglan, Rangitikei, Rodney, Waikato, Waitomo and Wallace.

The Country Party had changed its name to the Liberal Reform Party in 1970. In the 1972 election, Emeny stood as a Liberal Reform candidate.[4]

Electoral results

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Harold Rushworth, party leader and MP, 1928-38.
Election Candidates # of seats won Total votes % of popular vote
1925
5
0 / 80
2,398
0.35%
1928
5
1 / 80
11,990
1.59%
1931
6
1 / 80
16,710
2.34%
1935
5
2 / 80
9,468
1.67%
1938
5
0 / 80
2,199
0.23%
1969
15
0 / 84
6,715
0.08%

Electorate results

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1925 general election

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Electorate Candidate Votes %
Bay of Islands Hugh Sweeny 1,424 19.0%
Raglan Robert Duxfield 222 3.1%
Rotorua Frank Colbeck 204 2.8%
Thames Alexander Ross 409 5.4%
Waikato F. C. S. Lawson 139 2.0%

1928 general election

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Electorate Candidate Votes %
Bay of Islands Harold Rushworth 3,820 47.8%
Franklin Harry Mellsop 3,821 49.2%
Rotorua S. H. Judd 624 7.5%
Tauranga Frank Colbeck 1,758 23.0%
Waikato P. Keegan 1,897 24.4%

1931 general election

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Electorate Candidate Votes %
Bay of Islands Harold Rushworth 4,970 56.9%
Franklin Harry Mellsop 2,511 32.4%
Kaipara Albert Robinson 2,924 36.9%
Rotorua D. R. F. Campbell 1,411 15.0%
Tauranga Frank Colbeck 1,803 24.2%
Waikato Solomon Ziman 3.091 43.2%

1935 general election

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Electorate Candidate Votes %
Bay of Islands Harold Rushworth 6,004 59.4%
Franklin Arthur Sexton 4,803 51.4%
Tauranga Alexander Ross 2,243 21.8%
Waikato Solomon Ziman 1,221 12.6%
Waitomo J. H. Penniket 2,431 23.7%

1938 general election

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Electorate Candidate Votes %
Eden Albert Robinson 155 1.0%
Franklin Arthur Sexton 1,564 14.8%
Kaipara James Scott-Davidson 257 2.7%
Raglan Albert James Gallichan 115 1.2%
Tauranga H. C. Barker 78 0.7%

By-elections

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By-election Candidate Votes %
Raglan, 1927 Cornelius Augustus Magner 532 8.8%
Bay of Islands, 1929 Harold Rushworth 4,385 52.9%
Hauraki, 1931 Alexander Ross 513 6.3%

References

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  1. ^ Gully, John Sidney (1966). "Social Credit Political League". In McLintock, A. H. (ed.). An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d Derbyshire, Noel William (2016). Serving the Community: a history of the Pukekohe Anglican Parish. Wily Publications. pp. 96–97. ISBN 978-1-927167-30-4.
  3. ^ Gully 1966.
  4. ^ Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
[edit]
  • McLintock, A. H. (1966). "COUNTRY PARTY". Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
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