electionstracker

New Zealand 1946 general election

What was the result of the 1946 general election in New Zealand?

New Zealand Labour Party won 42 of 80 seats with 51.3% of the vote. 97.5% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • New Zealand
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : New Zealand Labour Party won 42 of 80 seats with 51.3% of the vote; 97.5% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • New Zealand Labour Party 42 51.3%
  • New Zealand National Party 38 48.4%
  • Communist Party of New Zealand 0 0.1%
  • Seats won
  • Share of the vote
41 of 80 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 51.3%

    Share of the vote won by New Zealand Labour Party

    New Zealand Labour Party won 42 of 80 seats. A majority needs 41.

  2. 97.5%

    Voter turnout

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats%Votes
New Zealand Labour Party4251.3536,994
New Zealand National Party3848.4507,139
Communist Party of New Zealand00.1836
Votes by party
  • New Zealand Labour Party 536,994
  • New Zealand National Party 507,139
  • Communist Party of New Zealand 836

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

97.5% of the 1,081,898 registered voters cast a ballot (1,055,204 ballots). 1,047,205 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • New Zealand Labour Party51.3% of votes52.5% of seats
  • New Zealand National Party48.4% of votes47.5% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 1.1 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 2.0 by votes and 2.0 by seats; New Zealand Labour Party led New Zealand National Party by 2.9 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of