The 1946 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 28th term . It saw the governing Labour Party re-elected, but by a substantially narrower margin than in the three previous elections. The National Party continued its gradual rise.

Background

The Labour Party had been in government since winning the 1935 elections, and had been re-elected twice. However, the National Party had managed to overcome the internal problems which had once troubled it, and now presented a credible threat to Labour. National's leader, Sidney Holland, was proving more effective than his predecessor, while the Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, was weary and in poor health. The after-effects of World War II, including ongoing shortages, were having an impact on the government's popularity.

The election

The date for the main 1946 elections was 27 November, a Wednesday. Elections to the four Maori seats were held the day before. 1,081,898 people were registered to vote, and there was a turnout of 93.5%. This turnout was the highest ever recorded at this point. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.

Results

The 1946 election saw a the governing Labour Party retain office by a four-seat margin, winning forty-two seats to the National Party's thirty-eight. In the popular vote — Labour won 51.3% and National won 48.4. No other parties won any significant share of the vote, and no independents were elected — only 0.3% of voters did not support one of the two major parties. No candidate who was not from these parties managed to enter Parliament until the 1966 elections, when the Social Credit Party won its first seat.