# 29th New Zealand Parliament

The 29th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened in 1950, following the 1949 general election. It was dissolved in 1951 in preparation for the 1951 general election. The governing Labour Party had been defeated in the election by the National Party. This marked the end of the First Labour government and the beginning of the First National government.
Additionally, this Parliament saw the final meeting of the Upper House; the Legislative Council, which was abolished on 1 December 1950, making the New Zealand Parliament a unicameral legislative body.

## 1949 general election

The 1949 general election was held on Tuesday, 29 November in the Māori electorates and on Wednesday, 30 November in the general electorates, respectively. A total of 80 MPs were elected; 49 represented North Island electorates, 27 represented South Island electorates, and the remaining four represented Māori electorates; this was the same distribution used since the 1946 election. 1,113,852 voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 93.5%.

## Sessions

The 29th Parliament sat for two sessions, and was prorogued on 18 July 1951.
| Session | Opened | Adjourned |
| first | 27 June 1950 | 1 December 1950 |
| second | 26 June 1951 | 13 July 1951 |

## Ministries

The National Party under Sidney Holland won the 1949 election, defeating Labour's second Fraser Ministry. Holland remained in power until 1957, when he stepped down due to ill health.

## Historical context

The National Government appointed 25 new members to the New Zealand Legislative Council (the so-called Suicide Squad), so that the Legislative Council Abolition Bill could be passed. With that legislation, the Legislative Council voted itself out of existence, and New Zealand has been unicameral since the last meeting of the Upper House on 1 December 1950.

## Members
### Overview

The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1949 election and at dissolution:
| Affiliation | Affiliation | Members | Members |
| Affiliation | Affiliation | At 1949 election | At dissolution |
| | National Government | 46 | 46 |
| | Labour Opposition | 34 | 34 |
| Total | Total | 80 | 80 |
| Working Government majority | Working Government majority | 12 | 12 |
Notes
* The Working Government majority is calculated as all Government MPs less all other parties.

### Initial MPs

The table below shows the results of the 1949 general election:
Key
Labour  National
Electorate results for the 1949 New Zealand general election :
| Electorate | Incumbent | Winner | Winner | Majority | Runner up |
| General electorates ||||||||
| Arch Hill | Bill Parry | Bill Parry | Bill Parry | 5,174 | Gordon Frederick Smith |
| Ashburton | Geoff Gerard | Geoff Gerard | Geoff Gerard | 2,385 | William Erle Rose |
| Auckland Central | Bill Anderton | Bill Anderton | Bill Anderton | 2,799 | Leonard Bradley |
| Avon | John Mathison | John Mathison | John Mathison | 4,593 | George Nelson Kinzett |
| Awarua | George Richard Herron | George Richard Herron | George Richard Herron | 3,179 | Neville Pickering |
| Bay of Plenty | Bill Sullivan | Bill Sullivan | Bill Sullivan | 3,680 | Thomas Godfrey Santon |
| Brooklyn | Peter Fraser | Peter Fraser | Peter Fraser | 2,956 | Berta Burns |
| Buller | Jerry Skinner | Jerry Skinner | Jerry Skinner | 2,206 | Phil McDonald |
| Central Otago | William Bodkin | William Bodkin | William Bodkin | 3,906 | Thomas Augustus Rodgers |
| Christchurch Central | Robert Macfarlane | Robert Macfarlane | Robert Macfarlane | 3,637 | Kevin Marlow |
| Clutha | James Roy | James Roy | James Roy | 3,231 | John Edward Keenan |
| Dunedin Central | Phil Connolly | Phil Connolly | Phil Connolly | 989 | David Murdoch |
| Dunedin North | Robert Walls | Robert Walls | Robert Walls | 668 | Richard Brickell |
| Eden | Wilfred Fortune | Wilfred Fortune | Wilfred Fortune | 2,259 | Pat Curran |
| Egmont | Ernest Corbett | Ernest Corbett | Ernest Corbett | 4,539 | Brian Edgar Richmond |
| Fendalton | Sidney Holland | Sidney Holland | Sidney Holland | 4,076 | Robert Newman |
| Franklin | Jack Massey | Jack Massey | Jack Massey | 5,481 | John Parsons |
| Gisborne | David Coleman | | Reginald Keeling | 489 | Harry Dudfield |
| Grey Lynn | Fred Hackett | Fred Hackett | Fred Hackett | 4,203 | John Leon Faulkner |
| Hamilton | Hilda Ross | Hilda Ross | Hilda Ross | 1,605 | Jack Granville |
| Hastings | Ted Cullen | | Sydney Jones | 982 | Ted Cullen |
| Hauraki | Andy Sutherland | Andy Sutherland | Andy Sutherland | 3,944 | Percival Peacock |
| Hawke's Bay | Cyril Harker | Cyril Harker | Cyril Harker | 3,442 | Dick Beattie |
| Hobson | Sidney Walter Smith | Sidney Walter Smith | Sidney Walter Smith | 5,068 | William Edmund Lane |
| Hurunui | William Gillespie | William Gillespie | William Gillespie | 2,535 | Arthur J. Smith |
| Hutt | Walter Nash | Walter Nash | Walter Nash | 2,273 | Horace Leonard Heatley |
| Invercargill | Ralph Hanan | Ralph Hanan | Ralph Hanan | 1,159 | William Denham |
| Island Bay | Robert McKeen | Robert McKeen | Robert McKeen | 2,770 | Herbert Edward Childs |
| Karori | Charles Bowden | Charles Bowden | Charles Bowden | 3,585 | Ethel Harris |
| Lyttelton | Terry McCombs | Terry McCombs | Terry McCombs | 978 | Richard Ralph Beauchamp |
| Manawatu | Matthew Oram | Matthew Oram | Matthew Oram | 3,433 | Basil A. Rodgers |
| Marlborough | Tom Shand | Tom Shand | Tom Shand | 1,862 | James Harrison Wilson |
| Marsden | Alfred Murdoch | Alfred Murdoch | Alfred Murdoch | 3,276 | Douglas L. Ross |
| Miramar | Bob Semple | Bob Semple | Bob Semple | 1,315 | Cuthbert Taylor |
| Mornington | Wally Hudson | Wally Hudson | Wally Hudson | 4,185 | Geoffrey Stephens |
| Mount Albert | Warren Freer | Warren Freer | Warren Freer | 931 | Reg Judson |
| Mount Victoria | Jack Marshall | Jack Marshall | Jack Marshall | 1,808 | Nathan Seddon |
| Napier | Tommy Armstrong | Tommy Armstrong | Tommy Armstrong | 721 | William Tucker |
| Nelson | Edgar Neale | Edgar Neale | Edgar Neale | 1,373 | Reynell Marshall |
| New Plymouth | Ernest Aderman | Ernest Aderman | Ernest Aderman | 1,517 | Clarence Robert Parker |
| North Shore | Martyn Finlay | | Dean Eyre | 1,344 | Martyn Finlay |
| Oamaru | Arnold Nordmeyer | | Thomas Hayman | 694 | Arnold Nordmeyer |
| Onehunga | Arthur Osborne | Arthur Osborne | Arthur Osborne | 2,300 | Alan A. Coates |
| Onslow | Harry Combs | Harry Combs | Harry Combs | 1,927 | John S. Meadowcroft |
| Otahuhu | Charles Petrie | | Leon Götz | 1,275 | Alex Dixon |
| Otaki | Jimmy Maher | Jimmy Maher | Jimmy Maher | 374 | Denzil Capstick |
| Pahiatua | Keith Holyoake | Keith Holyoake | Keith Holyoake | 4,507 | G P O'Leary |
| Palmerston North | Ormond Wilson | | Blair Tennent | 518 | Ormond Wilson |
| Parnell | Duncan Rae | Duncan Rae | Duncan Rae | 960 | Bill Schramm |
| Patea | William Sheat | William Sheat | William Sheat | 1,841 | Frederick William Finer |
| Petone | Mick Moohan | Mick Moohan | Mick Moohan | 2,527 | Norm Croft |
| Piako | Stan Goosman | Stan Goosman | Stan Goosman | 6,266 | Gilbert Parsons Kenah |
| Ponsonby | Ritchie Macdonald | Ritchie Macdonald | Ritchie Macdonald | 2,278 | Brian Kingston |
| Raglan | Alan Baxter | | Hallyburton Johnstone | 1,022 | Alan Baxter |
| Rangitikei | Edward Gordon | Edward Gordon | Edward Gordon | 3,310 | Eric De Malmanche |
| Remuera | Ronald Algie | Ronald Algie | Ronald Algie | 5,079 | Hugh Watt |
| Riccarton | Angus McLagan | Angus McLagan | Angus McLagan | 2,707 | Harry Lake |
| Rodney | Clifton Webb | Clifton Webb | Clifton Webb | 4,546 | Arthur Leaming |
| Roskill | Frank Langstone | | John Rae | 1,415 | James Freeman |
| St Albans | Jack Watts | Jack Watts | Jack Watts | 1,142 | George Manning |
| St Kilda | Fred Jones | Fred Jones | Fred Jones | 331 | Gerald Lyon |
| Selwyn | John McAlpine | John McAlpine | John McAlpine | 1,327 | Alan Sharp |
| Sydenham | Mabel Howard | Mabel Howard | Mabel Howard | 5,643 | Oliver G. Moody |
| Tamaki | Tom Skinner | | Eric Halstead | 1,095 | Tom Skinner |
| Tauranga | Frederick Doidge | Frederick Doidge | Frederick Doidge | 4,595 | Hillary Joseph Pickett |
| Timaru | Clyde Carr | Clyde Carr | Clyde Carr | 832 | Jack Lockington |
| Waikato | Geoffrey Sim | Geoffrey Sim | Geoffrey Sim | 5,923 | John Ronald Burfitt |
| Waimarino | Paddy Kearins | Paddy Kearins | Paddy Kearins | 202 | Arthur Herbert MacPherson |
| Waimate | David Campbell Kidd | David Campbell Kidd | David Campbell Kidd | 1,767 | Roy Davison |
| Wairarapa | Garnet Mackley | | Bert Cooksley | 963 | George Anders Hansen |
| Waitakere | Rex Mason | Rex Mason | Rex Mason | 930 | Robert Tapper |
| Waitomo | Walter Broadfoot | Walter Broadfoot | Walter Broadfoot | 5,079 | Frank Kitts |
| Wallace | Tom Macdonald | Tom Macdonald | Tom Macdonald | 4,511 | Herman Victor Freeman |
| Wanganui | Joe Cotterill | Joe Cotterill | Joe Cotterill | 1,019 | Ernest Victor O'Keefe |
| Wellington Central | Charles Chapman | Charles Chapman | Charles Chapman | 575 | Will Appleton |
| Westland | Jim Kent | Jim Kent | Jim Kent | 2,744 | Patrick Joseph O'Regan |
| Māori electorates ||||||||
| Eastern Maori | Tiaki Omana | Tiaki Omana | Tiaki Omana | 3,211 | Turi Carroll |
| Northern Maori | Tapihana Paraire Paikea | Tapihana Paraire Paikea | Tapihana Paraire Paikea | 2,029 | James Henare |
| Southern Maori | Eruera Tirikatene | Eruera Tirikatene | Eruera Tirikatene | 687 | Huro Nathanial Bates |
| Western Maori | vacant | | Iriaka Rātana | 6,317 | Hoeroa Marumaru |
Table footnotes:
* ↑ Matiu Ratana, the previous holder of the Western Maori electorate, died on 7 October 1949. His wife Iriaka Rātana stood for election instead.

### By-elections during 29th Parliament

There was one by-election during the term of the 29th Parliament.
| Electorate and by-election | Electorate and by-election | Date | Incumbent | Incumbent | Cause | Winner | Winner |
| Brooklyn | 1951 | 17 February | | Peter Fraser | Death | | Arnold Nordmeyer |