Holland, Sidney (1893-1961)—commonly known as Sid Holland—was prime minister of New Zealand from 1949 to 1957. He was the first prime minister elected from the conservative New Zealand National Party. The National Party has traditionally favored free enterprise, a system that allows people to carry out most economic activities free from government control. Holland merged several conservative groups with the Nationals to create solid opposition to the Labour government of Prime Minister Peter Fraser. Today, the Nationals are one of the two major political parties in New Zealand.
Early life and family
Sidney George Holland was born on Oct. 18, 1893, in Greendale, Canterbury, on New Zealand’s South Island. Sidney was one of eight children born to Jane Eastwood and her husband, Henry Holland. Both parents had emigrated from England. Henry worked as a farmer and later as a businessman in nearby Christchurch. 
Young Sid grew up surrounded by politics. In 1912, his father was elected mayor of Christchurch. In 1925, Henry Holland was elected to the House of Representatives, which at that time was the lower house of New Zealand’s Parliament. Henry represented the Christchurch North electorate (voting district). He belonged to the conservative Reform Party, which merged with the United Party in 1936 to form the New Zealand National Party.
Sid Holland left school at the age of 15 to work in a hardware store. He later worked as an accountant for his father’s transport company. During World War I (1914-1918), Sid served in the New Zealand Field Artillery. He joined the army in December 1915. He had been promoted to the rank of second lieutenant by the time he shipped out for Europe in September 1916. He fell ill while serving in Belgium in 1917 and was honorably discharged from service.
After returning to New Zealand, Sid continued to work for his father’s company. Sid and one of his brothers founded an engineering company in 1918. Sid became a well-known businessman in Canterbury. He eventually served as president of the Canterbury Employers’ Association and was active in the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce and the Christchurch Businessmen’s Club.
On May 12, 1920, Holland married Florence Beatrice Drayton. The couple had two sons, Eric and Geoffrey, and two daughters, Jocelyn and Lois. One of the sons, Eric, became a member of Parliament in the same electorate as his father and grandfather. He served as a Cabinet minister under Prime Ministers John Marshall and Robert David Muldoon in the 1970’s.
Early political career
Entry into politics.
Sid Holland worked on his father’s election campaigns in 1925, 1928, and 1931. Health concerns forced Henry Holland to drop out of his reelection campaign in 1935. The Reform Party and the United Party fought that election together as the National Political Federation. The Nationals nominated Sid to take his father’s place. In the general election that November, Sid was elected to represent Christchurch North (later renamed Fendalton) in the House. In May 1936, the Reform and United parties formally joined to create the New Zealand National Party. Holland was one of the few Nationals left in Parliament. The Labour Party held a majority of the seats.
National Party leader.
Sid quickly made his name as an able debater aligned with urban interests within the party. He stood his ground against Labour. He worked for several years as the private secretary to National’s leader Adam Hamilton, who was a farmer. In June 1940, during World War II (1939-1945), Prime Minister Peter Fraser divided government administration between two cabinets. A small war cabinet, which included senior members from both the Labour and National parties, handled war policy. The regular, all-Labour cabinet handled domestic matters. The National members of the war cabinet were Adam Hamilton and former Prime Minister Joseph Gordon Coates.
Because Hamilton had to work closely with Fraser in the war cabinet, some Nationals felt he was not free enough to act as an effective leader of the opposition party. In November 1940, the National caucus (group of party members in parliament) elected Holland to replace Hamilton as its head. It was a victory for the urban, business-oriented wing of the National Party. Holland soon persuaded several other conservative groups to merge with the Nationals to form a more unified opposition to Labour.
In June 1942, Holland joined the war cabinet as deputy chairman. At the same time, Fraser’s government also created a larger administrative body called the war administration. Holland also served on it as minister in charge of war expenditure.
Holland’s time working with Fraser was short, however. Holland openly criticized what he considered government waste and the government’s censorship of the press. In September 1942, Fraser’s government suspended the sentences of coal miners who had been convicted of striking illegally. Holland accused Fraser’s government of inappropriately interfering with the law. Holland withdrew the Nationals from the war cabinet and the war administration. Hamilton and Coates disagreed with Holland’s decision to leave Fraser’s wartime government and accepted Fraser’s invitation to rejoin the war cabinet.
In 1943, Holland wrote a political pamphlet titled Passwords to Progress, in which he outlined the core beliefs of the National Party. Key among Holland’s principles was support for free enterprise. Although Holland breathed new life into the Nationals, Labour remained in power following general elections in September 1943 and November 1946.
Prime minister
At the 1949 general election, the Nationals gained a majority in the House. Holland became prime minister on December 13. From 1949 to 1954, he also served as finance minister.
Abolition of the Legislative Council.
In 1947, Holland had submitted a bill to abolish the Legislative Council, which he considered ineffective. The council at that time was one of two houses of New Zealand’s Parliament, and its members were appointed by the government rather than elected. In 1950, Holland renewed his efforts. The bill passed the House of Representatives with ease. Holland stacked the Legislative Council with Nationals, and the council supported the move to a unicameral (one-house) Parliament.
Holland established a constitutional reform committee, which suggested the creation of a new upper house. However, nothing came of that recommendation.
Waterfront dispute.
A major test of Holland’s leadership came in early 1951. Workers on New Zealand’s docks, which were crucial to the nation’s economy, believed they were underpaid. Members of the Waterside Workers’ Union refused to work overtime, and the shipping companies refused to give work to anyone who would not work overtime. The workers and ship owners could not reach an agreement, and work on New Zealand’s docks came to a halt on February 16.
On February 21, Holland declared a state of emergency. A few days later, he deregistered the striking union and sent members of the armed forces to load and unload ships. His government imposed emergency measures that included censorship and increased police powers. It eventually replaced the New Zealand Waterfront Workers’ Union with local unions at the country’s ports. The strike ended in mid-July.
Holland faced sharp criticism from the Labour Party over his handling of the affair. On July 13, he dissolved Parliament and called an election to test public opinion. The Nationals remained in power following the September 1 vote with an increased majority in Parliament. The election’s outcome signaled that the country approved of Holland’s handling of the dispute.
Economic policies.
In the early 1950’s, Holland’s government began deregulating (removing controls from) New Zealand’s economy. The effort was consistent with the free enterprise principles that Holland had long championed. The government also ended rationing—that is, the limits on the sales of such goods as gasoline and butter that had been established during World War II. Deregulation was partially reversed after price controls returned in 1951. Tighter import controls were put in place to protect employment within New Zealand.
Later prime ministership.
The Nationals remained in power following the 1954 general election. But Holland surrendered the finance minister’s position to another member of his Cabinet. He wanted to focus on his duties as prime minister. At this time, following a scandal involving the police commissioner, he also served as minister of police.
Holland’s health and memory eventually began to fail, however. On Aug. 12, 1957, he announced his retirement at the National Party’s annual conference. His deputy, Keith Jacka Holyoake, was elected party leader the next day. But Holland delayed the transfer of office, and Holyoake did not become prime minister until September 20. Holland remained in Holyoake’s Cabinet as a minister without portfolio (area of official responsibility) until the election on November 30. At the election, Labour narrowly defeated the National Party.
Honors.
In 1950, Holland was nominated to the Privy Council, a mainly honorary council appointed by the British monarch. The following year, he was named to the Order of the Companions of Honour, which is awarded for service to the British monarchy. In 1957, after he stepped down as prime minister, Holland became a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, one of the highest orders of British knighthood.
Retirement and death
Holland left politics following the 1957 general election. He retired to Wellington. Holland suffered a stroke in 1960, and he died in a Wellington hospital on Aug. 5, 1961.
