1941: The General Election That Never Was
November 25, 2018
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Solid Oak Manrobe formerly owned by Prime Minister Hon Walter Nash.
Metal plaque inside reads “Presented to Hon .W.Nash by His Parliamentary Colleagues as a mark of their Esteem. 8th October 1941”
Furniture around Parliament was scarce at this time, and for decades yet to come too. The opposition in particular had shabby accommodations and limited furniture that might have been around before Wellington was ever the capital! Slapping Nash’s name on the side might be a way to protect a stick of their own furniture from being pilfered in the ritual, literal, musical chairs game at the change of Governments.1941: No Election For You
The Trojan Mandrobe
Word of Nash receiving this artefact would spread and indicate that Labour 1.0 was preparing for the 1941 General Election. The Opposition would read that into it, and so would the Press Gallery. Getting grabby, including name-plating your furniture, was doubtless a traditional pre-election ritual from 1856 all the way up to 1975 when furnishings became more standardised in The House. But in this case it would have been a faint, a Trojan Horse, calculated to deceive political opponents the election was to go ahead.
The election was not going to happen, and Prime Minister Peter Fraser and Walter Nash would already have been certain of it. This bit of furniture is a living chess piece, a decoy, probably understood well at the time but long since forgotten. For one whole week, this mandrobe would have ruffled and confounded the Opposition and its base as well as Labour’s own people. Even some annoying unruly Labour MPs might straighten their backs or even scurry out of Wellington to prepare their electorates. Do we need to fundraise? Are we facing an election or not? Are the candidates selected? Conduct some polls! Prepare that policy! While everyone else’s misspent energy hampered them, Fraser and Nash could sleep smugly and soundly while their Trojan Mandrobe generated a forcefield of anxious uncertainty for everyone else!Post syndicated from http://ahnz.anarkiwi.co.nz/1941-the-general-election-that-never-was/.
