New Zealand general election, 1908

← 1905

17 November to 2 December 1908

1911 →

← outgoing members

elected members →

All 80 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives
41 seats were needed for a majority

Turnout

79.8%

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Joseph Ward	William Massey	David McLaren
Party	Liberal	Conservative	Ind. Labour League
Leader since	1906	1903	1908
Leader's seat	Awarua	Franklin	Wellington East
Last election	58 seats	16 seats	0 seats
Seats won	50	26	1
Seat change	8	10	1
Popular vote	315,220	149,286	16,974
Percentage	58.7%	27.8%	3.1%
Swing	5.6%	1.9%	2.3%

Prime Minister before election

Joseph Ward
Liberal

Prime Minister-designate

Joseph Ward
Liberal

The New Zealand general election of 1908 was held on Tuesday, 17 November, 24 November and 1 December in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 2 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 17th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 537,003 (79.8%) voters turned out to vote.

The Second Ballot Act 1908 provided for second or runoff ballots between the top two candidates where the top candidate did not get an absolute majority. The second ballot was held seven days after the first ballot except in ten large rural seats, where fourteen days were allowed. In 1908, 22 second ballots were held on 24 November and one (Bay of Plenty) on 1 December. At the 1911 election, all 30 second ballots were held seven days later. Two 1909 by-elections (in Rangitikei and Thames) also required second ballots.

The Second Ballot Act of 1908, which did not apply to the Maori electorates, was repealed in 1913.

The following table gives party strengths and vote distribution.

The following are the results of the 1908 general election:

Key

Liberal Conservative Ind. Labour League Independent Liberal Liberal-Labour Independent

...
Wikipedia