| 30th Parliament of New Zealand | |
| Body: | New Zealand Parliament |
| Election: | 1951 New Zealand general election |
| Government: | First National Government |
| Term Start: | 25 September 1951 |
| Term End: | 1 October 1954 |
| Before: | 29th Parliament |
| After: | 31st Parliament |
| Chamber1: | House of Representatives |
| Chamber1 Image: | File:30th New Zealand Parliament Seating.png |
| Membership1: | 80 |
| Chamber1 Leader1 Type: | Speaker of the House |
| Chamber1 Leader1: | Matthew Oram |
| Chamber1 Leader2 Type: | Prime Minister |
| Chamber1 Leader2: | Sidney Holland |
| Chamber1 Leader3 Type: | Leader of the Opposition |
| Chamber1 Leader3: | Walter Nash |
| Chamber2: | Sovereign |
| Chamber2 Leader1 Type: | Monarch |
| Chamber2 Leader1: | HM Elizabeth II — HM George VI until 6 February 1952 |
| Chamber2 Leader2 Type: | Governor-General |
| Chamber2 Leader2: | HE Lt. Gen. The Lord Norrie from 2 December 1952 — HE Lt. Gen. The Lord Freyberg until 15 August 1952 |
The 30th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1951 general election on 1 September of that year.
See main article: 1951 New Zealand general election. The 1951 general election was held on Saturday, 1 September.[1] A total of 80 MPs were elected; 49 represented North Island electorates, 27 represented South Island electorates, and the remaining four represented Māori electorates; this was the same distribution used since the . 1,205,762 voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 89.1%.
The 30th Parliament sat for five sessions (there were two sessions in 1954), and was prorogued on 4 October 1954.
| Session | Opened | Adjourned | |
|---|---|---|---|
| first | 25 September 1951 | 6 December 1951 | |
| second | 25 June 1952 | 24 October 1952 | |
| third | 8 April 1953 | 27 November 1953 | |
| fourth | 12 January 1954 | 13 January 1954 | |
| fifth | 22 June 1954 | 1 October 1954 |
The National Party under Sidney Holland had been in power since the, and Holland remained in charge until 1957, when he stepped down due to ill health.
The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1951 election and at dissolution:
| Affiliation | Members | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At 1951 election | At dissolution | |||
| Government | 50 | 50 | ||
| Opposition | 30 | 30 | ||
| Total | 80 | 80 | ||
| Working Government majority | 20 | 20 | ||
Notes
The 1951 election saw the governing National Party re-elected with a twenty-seat margin, a substantial improvement on the twelve-seat margin it previously held. National won fifty seats compared with the Labour Party's thirty. The popular vote was closer, however, with National winning 54% to Labour's 46%. No seats were won by minor party candidates or by independents. This was the last New Zealand general election in which any party has ever captured a majority of the popular vote.
There were a number of changes during the term of the 30th Parliament.