The 31st New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1954 general election on 13 November of that year.
1954 general election
The 1954 general election was held on Saturday, 13 November. A total of 80 MPs were elected; 50 represented North Island electorates, 26 represented South Island electorates, and the remaining four represented Māori electorates; this was a gain of one electorate for the North Island from the South Island since the . 1,209,670 voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 91.4%.
Sessions The 31st Parliament sat for three sessions, and was prorogued on 25 October 1957.
Session Opened Adjourned first 22 March 1955 28 October 1955 second 4 April 1956 26 October 1956 third 11 June 1957 25 October 1957
Ministries The National Party under Sidney Holland had been in power since the , and Holland remained in charge until 1957, when he stepped down due to ill health in September 1957 some two months prior to the . Holland was succeeded by Keith Holyoake, but the Labour Party narrowly defeated National at the 1957 election, and the government changed in mid-December of that year.
Overview of seats The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1954 election and at dissolution:
Affiliation Members At 1954 election At dissolution Government 45 45 Opposition 35 35 Total 8080 Working Government majority 10 10
Notes The Working Government majority is calculated as all Government MPs less all other parties.
Initial composition of the 31st Parliament
By-elections during 31st Parliament There were a number of changes during the term of the 31st Parliament.
Electorate and by-election Date Incumbent Cause Winner
Notes
References