1925 New Zealand Liberal Party leadership election

Election in New Zealand April 2024 July 2023 1925 New Zealand Liberal Party leadership election New Zealand presidential no September 1920 New Zealand Liberal Party leadership election 1920 1928 United Party (New Zealand) leadership election 1928 13 August 1925 120x125px George Forbes ≥12 FFDF00 120x125px Thomas Sidey <12 FFDF00 Leader Leader after election Thomas Wilford George Forbes An election for the leadership of the New Zealand Liberal Party was held on 13 August 1925 to choose the next leader of the party. The election was won by Hurunui MP and former senior whip George Forbes. Background Thomas Wilford had been elected party leader in September 1920. He presided over a period of continued decline for the Liberal Party. There were internal divisions that emerged with a small band of Liberal MPs who did not accept Wilford as their leader and preferred the party to remain leaderless until Ward could re-enter Parliament. Wilford had reconciled with these members over the next year and led the party at the 1922 general election, gaining three seats. With the indecisive result of the 1922 election Wilford attempted to merged the Liberal and Reform parties, but this was rejected by the Reform party. Wilford attempted a rebrand of his party adding the word "National" to its name. Soon after he resigned the leadership for health reasons in August 1925 so he could travel to England for medical treatment.Butterworth Susan 3w17 Wilford, Thomas Mason 17 December 2011 Candidates Two candidates were identified as possible replacement leaders to Wilford. George Forbes was seen as the most likely successor, but Thomas Sidey was also thought to have had strong claims to the leadership.https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19250813.2.23 Mr. Wilford's Resignation Auckland Star 13 August 1925 LVI 190 6 https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/forbes-george-william William James Gardner Forbes, George William Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1966 24 July 2023 George Forbes Forbes had been the MP for Hurunui since 1908 and was Senior Whip of the Liberal Party from 1912 to 1923. He, rather than Wilford, had led the Liberal Party's delegation to a joint conference with the Reform Party in June 1926, but had been rebuffed by Reform leader Gordon Coates. Popular with his constituents even they hitherto had not considered him likely to ever lead the party. Like wise he was not known very well in the North Island.Gardner W. J. 3f9 Forbes, George William – Biography 11 December 2011 Thomas Sidey Sidey had been an MP since 1901 for the Caversham and then Dunedin South electorates. Despite having been passed over more than once for a cabinet position previously, by the 1920s he was seen as a senior member in the reduced strength Liberal Party.http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/alt_essayBody.asp?essayID=3S15 Sidey, Thomas Kay 1863 - 1933 Olssen Erik Erik Olssen 22 June 2007 Dictionary of New Zealand Biography 21 July 2010 His stint as deputy leader of the party under Wilford was his strongest claim to the leadership.https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19221214.2.11 Political Situation Poverty Bay Herald 14 December 1922 XLVIII 16004 3 While respected for his length of service and believed by observers to have many of the required characteristics for the leadership, he was not considered a particularly talented parliamentary debater, a defect that outweighed his more desirable qualities. Result A caucus meeting in the evening of 13 August 1925. Wilford tendered his resignation which was accepted by the caucus with regret. Forbes was then elected as leader by the caucus at the same meeting. No announcement was made of this decision and the outcome only became known when MPs took their seats whence Forbes occupied the frontbench seat that was allocated to the Leader of the Opposition.https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19250814.2.14 The Opposition Leader - Mr Wilford Resigns The Otago Daily Times 14 August 1925 19558 5 Aftermath Forbes led the party to a disastrous result at the 1925 general election, losing eleven seats while Reform totaled fifty-five. As Forbes was still not well known outside the South Island the Liberal campaign in the North Island had been run by Wanganui MP Bill Veitch. Shortly afterwards, Forbes even lost his status as Leader of the Opposition as the Labour Party had more parliamentary seats than the Liberals, enabling Labour leader Harry Holland to claim the title. By 1927, Veitch began working with Albert Davy, a former Reform Party organiser to rebrand the Liberal Party, later becoming the United Party. Forbes remained leader until he made way for former Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward to become the new party's leader in 1928, with Forbes becoming a co-deputy leader. References 30em Liberal Party leadership 1925 September New Zealand Liberal Party leadership election Category:August 1925 in Oceania