HOW UNITED PARTY GOT ADDED SEATS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18614, 16 November 1928, Page 1

HOW UNITED PARTY GOT ADDED SEATS.

PROGRESS WAS MADE IN RURAL DISTRICTS. (Special to the “Star.”) WELLINGTON, November 16. “Observer,” writing to the “Evening Post,” says: “At the moment of penning this, the United Party wave—the feature of the General Election —is credited with bringing to the party nineteen gains and three losses, and the total number of the (more or less) Uniteds is given at twenty-six. It is worth noting that half of the United seats—and more than half, if the two Maori seats are included—are distinctly country. The rural character of the following fifteen will scarcely be denied: “Waikato, Wairau, Pahiatua, Wairarapa, Ilurunui, Hawke’s Bay, Rotorua, Awarua, Marsden, Central Otago, Motueka, Oroua, Waitomo—thirteen in all, or fifteen if the fwo United Maori seats are added. “I don’t know whether to the rural list should be added such constituencies as Oamaru, or how one should classify Wanganui, Invercargill and New Plymouth, which are big provincial towns, but the following United seats, at or near one of the metropolitan centres, seem to be distinctly urban or suburban : “Auckland East, Parnell, Grey Lynn, Eden, Roskill, in the Auckland group; Hutt, in the Wellington group; Kaiapoi and Riccarton, in the Christchurch group. The United Party has not scored any leads. in Dunedin, but at time of writing is only 20 votes behind Labour in Dunedin South. “Generally speaking. the United Party has made its progress in the rural districts, at the expense of Reform. But it has successfully invaded Labour urban territory at one point, Auckland, where it has put out Lee and Bartram, and incidentally has stopped the march of the invinciLle Mr Dickson (Reform Whip) and the mercurial semi-Reformer Mr V. Potter, while Miss Melville’s ambition to repair in the Reform Party the damage she did at the Eden by-election has been checked in Roskill by Mr Munns. “In short, the despisefl third party, after being wished dead time and again by the other two parties, and after being declared dead and buried by Mr Massey, Mr Holland and Mr Coates, has done in 1928 what it failed to do foi Mr Wilford in 1925. ‘lt is to be presumed that all pledges about voting foi o nr;;;;. ie Refo n Government or ‘the Cur- Government ’ would become null and void if the Government r- ei, and if a new Loate. \ - - a Wara-Coat.es fox moon lines not altogether unlike those of the Commonwealth Cabinet.”