From Suffrage to a Seat in the House by Jenny Coleman

Author:Jenny Coleman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Otago University Press
Published: 2020-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

1922 general election: ‘That time is not yet’

The long shadow of the war impacted the 1922 general election. Rampant postwar inflation coupled with record overseas prices and high land values had led to an economic collapse in 1921, resulting in sharp falls in export prices, growing unemployment, and many newly settled farmers facing bankruptcy. Despite a request from representatives of the Federation of Drapers and Clothiers to bring the election date forward to the end of November so it wouldn’t interfere with Christmas trade, the election was set for 7 December, with the Māori election the previous day.56

At their annual conference held in August 1922, the NCW reaffirmed the non-party and non-sectarian nature of their organisation. Their list of very specific questions for candidates gives an indication of their priorities:

1.Are you in favour of married mothers having equal rights and responsibilities in regard to their children with the fathers?

2.Are you in favour of the removal of all sex disqualifications in the appointments to the Public Service?

3.Are you in favour of extending the principle of payment of prisoners so as to include all men committed to gaol for failure to obey maintenance orders?

4.Are you in favour of women J.P.s?

5.Are you in favour of women police to work in the interests of women and children?

6.Are you in favour of the establishment of an institution intermediate between a mental hospital and a gaol for delinquents of sub-normal tendencies?57

Three women were to contest the election. Early in August 1922 Mrs Ann E. (Annie) Herbert, a well-known and popular social worker who had been working with the unemployed, announced she would be standing as an Independent candidate in the Avon electorate. A deputation had presented her with a petition signed by 1610 electors in the Avon electorate asking her to consent to be nominated as an Independent candidate for the seat, based mainly on her experience on the Canterbury Hospital Board. Those who collected signatures spoke of the considerable amount of goodwill toward her candidature and the cordial reception they had received, and added that there were more signatures still to be submitted. Unsure whether she could fulfil parliamentary duties and continue to attend to her social work commitments, Herbert did not immediately consent to the nomination, but when the number of signatures reached 2000, with the assurance of practical assistance from a 60-strong committee of supporters, she assented and her campaign began in earnest.

Ellen Melville chose to stand for the Roskill seat but, on this occasion, the Reform Party did not endorse her candidature. Supporters suggested she stand as an Independent in protest at being overlooked by the party hierarchy, but she did not think that being badly treated was sufficient reason for her to change her politics and cease to support the party.

Annie McVicar consented to stand as an Independent Reform candidate for the Wellington East seat after a petition asking her to do so was circulated by women in the electorate. She had always supported and worked for Alfred Newman and it

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