1923 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election

New Zealand party leadership election April 2024 April 2022 1923 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election File:NZLP logo.jpg legislative no 1922 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election 1922 1933 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election 1933 February 1923 Caucus 110px Harry Holland DC241F 14 82.35% 105px Dan Sullivan DC241F 3 17.65% Leader Leader after election Harry Holland Harry Holland The 1923 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held in February 1923 to determine the future leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. The election was won by Buller MP Harry Holland, once again retaining office. Background Despite high hopes Labour had underperformed at the 1922 election. While the party had gained an extra nine seats in Parliament, it failed in its main objective to supersede the Liberal Party as the official opposition. The more moderate Labour MPs saw this as an opportunity to finally replace Harry Holland as leader of the party.Watson James 4s55 Sullivan, Daniel Giles 22 February 2016 James McCombs proposed that an office in the Labour Party should not be held by one member for longer than one Parliamentary term at a time, which was seconded by Sullivan. Rather than challenge Holland himself personally, as had been the case in the previous leadership elections, the pair appealed to the democratic nature of the party and hoped it would appeal to the influx of new members.Gee 1993 78 Candidates Harry Holland Holland had been Labour's leader since 1919 surviving several leadership challenges (opposed in all by McCombs).O'Farrell 1964 122 Many supported him as leader due to his stern emphasis on teamwork and majority rule which gave his colleagues a certain amount of freedom to speak out on issues themselves, so long as they didn't directly contravene Holland himself.O'Farrell Patrick Patrick O'Farrell 3h32 Holland, Henry Edmund - Biography 22 February 2016 Dan Sullivan Dan Sullivan had been an MP since 1919 and at the time was Labour’s senior whip. He was a moderate and had supported all of the previous challenges against Holland by Jimmy McCombs. He was one of the mainly Christchurch based MPs who found Holland's leadership to be too autocratic and overbearing. Result The election was conducted through a members ballot by Labour's parliamentary caucus. Holland secured fourteen votes to Sullivan's three.Gee 1993 78 Sullivan next stood for the Deputy-leader role, but was defeated by Holland's preferred candidate Michael Joseph Savage 11 votes to 16.Gustafson 1986 114 Leadership ballot NameVotesPercentageHarry Holland1482.35%Dan Sullivan317.65% Deputy-leadership ballot NameVotesPercentageMichael Joseph Savage1164.70%Dan Sullivan635.30% Aftermath Harry Holland would continue to lead the Labour Party without any further challenges to his leadership until his death in 1933. Sullivan's failure to secure the Leader and Deputy-leader positions signalled to the moderate wing of the Labour Party that they were clearly the caucus minority.Gee 1993 78 After his election as the deputy-chair, Savage proposed that the votes for leadership positions be held at the start of every new parliament rather than annually. After a long discussion, the motion was carried 10 votes to 5.Gustafson 1986 114 Notes References Gee David My Dear Girl: A biography of Elizabeth and James McCombs 1993 Treehouse Christchurch 0-473-02084-X P.J. O'Farrell Patrick O'Farrell Harry Holland: Militant Socialist https://archive.org/details/harryhollandmili0000ofar registration Canberra, Australia Australian National University Press 1964 Gustafson Barry Barry Gustafson From the Cradle to the Grave: a biography of Michael Joseph Savage 1986 Reed Methuen Auckland 0-474-00138-5 Labour Party leadership 1923 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election Category:February 1923 in Oceania