1919 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election

New Zealand party leadership election April 2024 April 2022 1919 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election File:NZLP logo.jpg legislative no 1920 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election 1920 27 August 1919 Caucus 110px Harry Holland DC241F 3 50.0% 100px James McCombs DC241F 3 50.0% Leader Leader after election Alfred Hindmarsh Harry Holland The New Zealand Labour Party leadership election, 1919 was held on 27 August 1919 to choose the next leader of the New Zealand Labour Party. The election was won by Grey MP Harry Holland. It followed the formation of the party and merging of the United Labour Party and Social Democratic Party into one united caucus three years prior. Background In 1915 members of the Social Democrats and the United Labour remnant agreed to form a united caucus to better combat the Reform and Liberal party's. Former United Labour MP Alfred Hindmarsh had acted the new Labour Party's chairman and was tasked with unifying the two groups.http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=SUNCH19150706.2.96 Sun 11 A Separate Identity 6 July 1915 30 March 2016 II 438 When the ULP and SDP formally merged into the modern Labour Party, Hindmarsh was chosen to remain the Parliamentary leader.Paul 1946 70 Hindmarsh died in late 1918 in the influenza epidemic leaving the position vacant. Candidates Harry Holland Holland was acknowledged with having a great amount of political courage, a quality his supporters emphasized would be essential for a fledgling party.Paul 1946 70 Holland was associated with the more radical front of Labour holding strong socialist beliefs, he was backed by members such as Peter Fraser, Michael Joseph Savage, Bob Semple and John A. Lee.Brown Bruce Macdonald 3h32 HOLLAND, Henry Edmond - Biography 30 August 2015 James McCombs McCombs had been elected the Labour Party's first president in 1916 until resigning in the following year over the liquor question. He had more parliamentary experience than Holland, serving as an MP since 1913. He was also seen as having a better knowledge of the country than Holland, having lived in New Zealand, far longer.Paul 1946 70 He was the leader of the Labour movement's more moderate wing. Result The election was conducted through a members ballot by the then parliamentary caucus. After the votes were counted both candidates won the same number of votes. To break the deadlock drawing by lot was held upon where Holland was eventually successful. The probable votes cast specifically being Peter Fraser and Bob Semple for Holland with Tom Paul and Andrew Walker for McCombs.O'Farrell 1964 102 Aftermath Harry Holland led Labour until his death in 1933. Historians have often seen his victory as being due more to his public profile opposed to his policies. He was at the helm for the next five elections, contested unsuccessfully. He also served two spells as the leader of the opposition, the first Labour member to do so. McCombs remained an MP until his own death, also in 1933, leading the more moderate opposing wing to Holland in the caucus alongside Dan Sullivan. Notes 30em References Paul J.T. Tom Paul (politician) Humanism in Politics 1946 NZ Working Printing & Publishing Wellington P.J. O'Farrell Patrick O'Farrell Harry Holland: Militant Socialist https://archive.org/details/harryhollandmili0000ofar registration Canberra, Australia Australian National University Press 1964 Labour Party leadership 1919 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election Category:August 1919 in Oceania