Editing New Zealand Labour Party (section)

=== Early years (1916–1935) ===
Almost immediately, the new Labour Party became involved in the acrimonious debate about [[Military history of New Zealand during World War I#Recruiting and conscription|conscription]] which arose during [[World War I]]. The party strongly opposed conscription,{{sfn|Miller|2005|p=30}} and several leading members – [[Peter Fraser]], [[Harry Holland]], [[Bob Semple]] and [[Paddy Webb]] – were jailed and expelled from Parliament for their stand against the war.<ref name="Derby">{{cite encyclopedia|last1= Derby|first1= Mark|title= Conscription, conscientious objection and pacifism – Conscription|url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/conscription-conscientious-objection-and-pacifism/page-1 |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]]|access-date=19 June 2017|date=20 June 2012}}</ref> The loss of leadership threatened to seriously destabilise the party, but the party survived.<ref name="Derby"/> (Fraser, Semple and Webb later supported conscription in [[World War II]].<ref name="Derby"/>)

In its first real electoral test as a united party, the {{NZ election link|1919}}, Labour won eight seats – the party's quick success shocked many conservatives.{{sfn|Lipson|2011|p=211}} The eight seats compared with 47 for the governing [[Reform Party (New Zealand)|Reform Party]] and 21 for the [[New Zealand Liberal Party|Liberal Party]].{{sfn|Gustafson|1980|p=18}}

Although Labour had split with its more militant faction (which went on to form various socialist parties), it maintained what were at the time radical socialist policies. Labour's 'Usehold' policy on land was, in essence, the replacement of freehold tenure by a system of perpetual lease from the state, with all land-transfer conducted through the state (the full nationalisation of farmland). This policy proved unpopular with voters, and Labour dropped it, along with other more radical policies, in the course of the 1920s.<ref name="McLintock1966" />

[[File:New Zealand Parliamentary Labour Party, 1922.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Members of the Labour parliamentary [[caucus]], 1922. Prominent members are [[Harry Holland]] (seated, left of centre), [[Peter Fraser]] (seated, right of centre) and [[Michael Joseph Savage]] (back row, rightmost).]]
In the {{NZ election link|1922}}, Labour more than doubled its number of seats, winning seventeen. In the {{NZ election link|1925}}, it declined somewhat but had the consolation of soon overtaking the Liberals as the second-largest party. Labour leader Harry Holland became the official [[Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand)|Leader of the Opposition]] on 16 June 1926, after the [[1926 Eden by-election|Eden by-election]] on 15 April elected [[Rex Mason]] (Labour) to replace [[James Parr (politician)|James Parr]] (Reform), who had resigned. After the {{NZ election link|1928}}, however, the party was left in an advantageous position – the Reform Party had 28 seats and the new [[United Party (New Zealand)|United Party]] (a revival of the Liberals) had 27 seats, and neither could govern without Labour support. Labour chose to back United, the party closest to its own views – this put an end to five terms (1912–1928) of Reform Party government.{{sfn|Franks|McAloon|2016|p=79}}

In the early 1930s the rigours of the [[Great Depression]] brought Labour considerable popularity, but also caused tension between Labour and the United Party. In 1931 United passed a number of economic measures which Labour deemed hostile to workers, and the agreement between the two parties collapsed. United then formed [[United–Reform coalition Government of New Zealand|a coalition government]] with Reform, making Labour the Opposition. The coalition retained power in the {{NZ election link|1931}}, but gradually, the public became highly dissatisfied with its failure to resolve the country's economic problems. Harry Holland died in 1933 and his deputy, Michael Joseph Savage, became the Labour Party parliamentary leader. In the {{NZ election link|1935}}, the Labour Party gained a significant majority, gaining 53 seats to the coalition's 19, and returned to government.

Several of the early Labour Party stalwarts were Australian-born: [[Alfred Hindmarsh]], [[Harry Holland]], [[Michael Joseph Savage]], [[Bob Semple]], [[Paddy Webb]], [[Bill Parry (politician)|Bill Parry]] and later [[Jerry Skinner]], [[Mabel Howard]], [[Hugh Watt]], [[Jim Edwards (New Zealand politician)|Jim Edwards]] and [[Dorothy Jelicich]].