electionstracker

New Zealand 1949 general election

What was the result of the 1949 general election in New Zealand?

New Zealand National Party won 46 of 80 seats with 51.9% of the vote. 94.0% 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 National Party won 46 of 80 seats with 51.9% of the vote; 94.0% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 3.5 points on 1946.

  • New Zealand National Party 46 +8 seats 51.9% +3.5 points
  • New Zealand Labour Party 34 −8 seats 47.2% −4.1 points
  • Communist Party of New Zealand 0 0 seats 0.3% +0.2 points
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the New Zealand 1946 general election, party by party.

41 of 80 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 51.9%

    Share of the vote won by New Zealand National Party

    New Zealand National Party won 46 of 80 seats. A majority needs 41.

  2. +8 seats

    Seats gained by New Zealand National Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1946. New Zealand Labour Party lost 8 seats.

  3. 94.0%

    Voter turnout

    Down 3.5 points on 1946.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
New Zealand National Party46+851.9+3.5556,805
New Zealand Labour Party34−847.2−4.1506,073
Communist Party of New Zealand000.3+0.22,697

± is the change against the New Zealand 1946 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • New Zealand National Party 556,805
  • New Zealand Labour Party 506,073
  • Communist Party of New Zealand 2,697

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?

94.0% of the 1,148,748 registered voters cast a ballot (1,079,878 ballots), down 3.5 points on 1946. 1,073,154 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • New Zealand National Party51.9% of votes57.5% of seats
  • New Zealand Labour Party47.2% of votes42.5% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 5.2 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 2.0 by votes and 2.0 by seats; New Zealand National Party led New Zealand Labour Party by 4.7 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of