6th New Zealand Parliament
Encyclopedia
The 6th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament
Parliament of New Zealand
The Parliament of New Zealand consists of the Queen of New Zealand and the New Zealand House of Representatives and, until 1951, the New Zealand Legislative Council. The House of Representatives is often referred to as "Parliament".The House of Representatives usually consists of 120 Members of...

 of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

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Elections for this term were held in 69 European electorates between 20 December 1875 and 29 January 1876. Elections in the four Māori electorates were held on 4 and 15 January 1876. A total of 88 MPs were elected. Parliament was prorogued in August 1879. During the term of this Parliament, five Ministries were in power.

Sessions

The 6th Parliament opened on 15 June 1876, following the 1875–76 general election. It sat for four sessions, and was prorogued on 15 August 1879.
Session Opened Adjouned
first 15 June 1876 31 October 1876
second 19 July 1877 10 December 1877
third 26 July 1878 2 November 1878
fourth 11 July 1879 11 August 1879

Historical context

Political parties had not been established yet; this only happened after the 1890 election
New Zealand general election, 1890
The New Zealand general election of 1890 was one of New Zealand's most significant. It marked the beginning of party politics in New Zealand with the formation of the First Liberal government, which was to enact major welfare, labour and electoral reforms, including giving the vote to women.It was...

. Anyone attempting to form an administration thus had to win support directly from individual MPs. This made first forming, and then retaining a government difficult and challenging.

Ministries

Since July 1875, the Pollen Ministry was in power, led by Premier
Prime Minister of New Zealand
The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...

 Daniel Pollen
Daniel Pollen
Daniel Pollen was the son of Elizabeth and Hugh Pollen and became the ninth Premier of New Zealand, serving from 6 July 1875 to 15 February 1876.-Early life:...

. On 15 February 1876, the second Vogel Ministry was established, which lasted until 1 September 1876. This was followed by the Atkinson Ministry, what is known as the beginning of the Continuous Ministry
Continuous Ministry
The Continuous Ministry or Continuous Cabinet was an informal designation used to describe two nineteenth century colonial governments: in Queensland, Australia from 1890 to 1899; and in New Zealand from 1876 to 1890 except for 1877-79 & 1884-87....

, which lasted from 1 to 13 September 1876. It was reconstituted as the second Atkinson Ministry, which ruled from 13 September 1876 to 13 October 1877. This was succeeded by the Grey Ministry, which was in power from 13 October 1877 to 8 October 1879. This period extended slightly after the period of the 1879 general elections
New Zealand general election, 1879
The New Zealand general election of 1879 was held between 28 August and 15 September to elect a total of 88 MPs to the 7th session of the New Zealand Parliament. The Māori vote was held on 1 and 8 September. A total number of 82,271 voters turned out to vote.The election came about when George...

 for the 7th Parliament
7th New Zealand Parliament
The 7th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand.Elections for this term were held in 69 European electorates between 28 August and 15 September 1879. Elections in the four Māori electorates were held on 1 and 8 September of that year. A total of 88 MPs were elected....

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