A BIG MAJORITY.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 300, 18 December 1931, Page 9

A BIG MAJORITY.

Analysis of Election Figures. THE PARTY POSITION. The Coalition Government was given a substantial majority of the votes cast at the general election. Now that the polls have been declared in all electorates, it is possible to make an analysis of the figures. There were 707,050 votes cast in the seventy-six electorates which were contested, and of these the Government obtained 394,712, while the total cast against the Coalition came to 312,338. The poll was smaller than in 1928, when the total was 744,754, but results were very different. In 1928 there were 267,457 votes cast for the Reform t Government, which was then in power, and, excluding the Independent and Country Party votes, 425,776 against the Government. The total votes polled at the 1931 election were allocated as follows: — Coalition 394,712 Labour 242,466 Independents 69,233 Communists 639 Party Voting. Through the formation of the Coalition Government, the issues facing the electors were vastly different this year from those of 1928, and there were many cases of straight-out fights between a Coalition candidate and a Labour candidate. In such cases the Reform and United votes went to the Coalition candidate. Dividing the Coalition supporters into their old parties, the number of votes cast may be compared with those cast in 1928 as follows: 1928. 1931. Reform 231,329 195,284 Independent Reform 16,128 39,295 247,457 234,579 United 216,739 117,438 Ind. United 1,362 26,869 Lib.-Lab 4,330 Ind. Lib 2,635 225,066 144,307 Ind. Coalition Coalition Labour 198,383 239,229 Ind. Labour 2,327 3,237 200,710 242,466 Independents 31,849 51,835 Country Party ..... 12,009 17,398 43,858 69,233 Communists The Independent group includes straight-out Independents, the women's candidate and the Ratana Maori group. Many Candidates. Including the Maori seats, there were 200 candidates facing the electors for eighty seats at the general election this year, while in 1928 there were 210. At this year’s election, there were four seats allowed to go unopposed, all of these being held by Coalitionists, three being United seats and one Reform. Still retaining candidates in their original parties, the comparison with 1928 is as follows: 1928. 1931. *5 % “ c - *5 jg JS o -a Reform 71 29 40 28 United 54 26 29 19 Labour 60 19 53 24 Independents .. 20 5 20 4 Ind. United .... Ind. Reform .... Ind. Coalitionist Country Party .5 1 5 1 Ind. Labour Communists .... —2 Women’s candidate In the figures shown for 1928, the Independent Reform and Independent United candidates are grouped with the official party figures. In the case of the Independent United and Independent Reform candidates who were elected at this year’s polls, it is almost certain that they will take their seats in the House as Coalitionists. The state of the parties when the House assembles will probably be as follows: Coalition 51 Labour 24 Independents 4 Country Party 1 Eight of the members will be new to Parliament, and three who have been elected have previously been in Parliament, these being the Hon A. D. M’Leod (Independent Reform), Mr J. A. Lee (Labour), and Mr D. S. Reid (Coalition Reform). Compared with the previous election, the contests in the electorates were as follows: Seats. 1931. 1928. Unopposed 4 - Straight-out 42 26 Three candidates 23 40 Four candidates 5 10 Five candidates 2