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Story: National Party

National Party parliamentarians, 1937

National Party members of Parliament pose outside the General Assembly Library in 1937. Prominent MPs in the front row include Apirana Ngata (third from left), George Forbes (fourth from left), party leader Adam Hamilton (fifth from left) and the party’s third leader Keith Holyoake (second from right). Its second leader, Sidney Holland, is in the middle row, third from left. Gordon Coates, like Forbes a former prime minister, is at top right.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, S. P. Andrew Collection (PAColl-3739)

Reference: 1/1-018499-F

by S. P. Andrews

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Colin James, National Party – Formation and rise, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/33851/national-party-parliamentarians-1937 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Colin James, published 21 March 2012, updated 1 July 2020.

Comments

Aaron Fox
11 May 2022
To the left of Sir Apirana Ngata is John Manchester Allen, then MP for Hauraki, who commanded 21 Battalion on Crete in May 1941. Ngata, who promoted Maori participation in war as 'The Price of Citizenship' and called in 1939 for the formation of an all-Maori unit even before war was declared. To the left of Sidney Holland, a veteran of the First World War and the first National Prime Minister is Colonel (later Brigadier) James Hargest, then the MP for Awarua, who commanded 5 NZ Brigade (which included 21 and 28 Battalions) on Crete in April/May 1941. Hargest was captured during Operation Crusader on 27 November 1941 (Rommel's wedding anniversary), while Allen was killed in action.