electionstracker

New Zealand 1951 general election

What was the result of the 1951 general election in New Zealand?

New Zealand National Party won 50 of 80 seats with 53.9% of the vote. 89.1% 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 50 of 80 seats with 53.9% of the vote; 89.1% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 4.9 points on 1949.

  • New Zealand National Party 50 +4 seats 53.9% +2.1 points
  • New Zealand Labour Party 30 −4 seats 45.9% −1.3 points
  • Communist Party of New Zealand 0 0 seats 0.1% −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 1949 general election, party by party.

41 of 80 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 53.9%

    Share of the vote won by New Zealand National Party

    New Zealand National Party won 50 of 80 seats. A majority needs 41.

  2. +4 seats

    Seats gained by New Zealand National Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1949. New Zealand Labour Party lost 4 seats.

  3. 89.1%

    Voter turnout

    Down 4.9 points on 1949.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
New Zealand National Party50+453.9+2.1577,625
New Zealand Labour Party30−445.9−1.3491,200
Communist Party of New Zealand000.1−0.2657

± is the change against the New Zealand 1949 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • New Zealand National Party 577,625
  • New Zealand Labour Party 491,200
  • Communist Party of New Zealand 657

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?

89.1% of the 1,205,762 registered voters cast a ballot (1,074,475 ballots), down 4.9 points on 1949. 1,070,843 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • New Zealand National Party53.9% of votes62.5% of seats
  • New Zealand Labour Party45.9% of votes37.5% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 8.5 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 2.0 by votes and 1.9 by seats; New Zealand National Party led New Zealand Labour Party by 8.1 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of