Forbes, George (1869-1947), was prime minister of New Zealand from 1930 to 1935. He came to power as head of the United Party, a conservative political party. He later led a coalition (partnership) government of the United and Reform parties. Forbes was prime minister during the Great Depression, a worldwide economic slump of the 1930’s.
Early life and family
George William Forbes was born in Lyttelton, near Christchurch, on New Zealand’s South Island, on March 12, 1869. His parents were Robert Forbes and Annie Adamson Forbes. Robert Forbes was a sailmaker and also sold other equipment for sailing ships. 
George Forbes worked in the family business. Through his friendship with a future political colleague, George Laurenson, Forbes developed an early interest in debating and in liberal politics. In the 1890’s, Forbes established himself as a farmer in Cheviot, north of Christchurch. Cheviot had been a large, privately owned estate that the government bought and broke up into sections to be settled by small landholders. Forbes served on the Cheviot County Council and the Cheviot Settlers’ Association. On Dec. 12, 1898, he married Emma Serena Gee, the daughter of a timber merchant. The couple had a son, Robert, and two daughters, Jessie and Bertha.
Early political career
Forbes entered national politics in the early 1900’s. In 1902, he made an unsuccessful run for Parliament. At the time, Forbes belonged to the Liberal Party, New Zealand’s first stable political party.
In 1905, Prime Minister Richard Seddon, head of the Liberal Party, appointed Forbes to the royal commission on crown lands to study New Zealand’s land policies. Crown land was property owned by the British government. There was controversy between those who wanted all land to be leased from the crown and those who wanted private land ownership. At the time, New Zealand was a British colony. New Zealand became a dominion, or self-governing territory, in 1907. Still later, in 1947, it gained full independence.
In 1908, Forbes was elected to represent his own electorate (voting district) of Hurunui in Parliament. He held the seat until he retired from politics in 1943.
In March 1912, Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward of the Liberal Party resigned. Thomas Mackenzie took his place as Liberal Party head and prime minister. Mackenzie appointed Forbes to the post of Liberal whip (parliamentary assistant). Forbes held the position until 1922. On July 6, 1912, Mackenzie’s government faced a vote of no confidence. In such a vote, Parliament decides whether there is a majority in support of the prime minister’s program. When Mackenzie’s government lost the vote, Mackenzie resigned and the Liberals went into opposition. William Ferguson Massey of the Reform Party took over as prime minister.
In 1925, the Liberal Party, much depleted in numbers, changed its name to the National Party and elected Forbes as its new leader. Forbes briefly became leader of the opposition in Parliament.
The National Party performed poorly in the 1925 general election. As a result, the New Zealand Labour Party took over as the official opposition to the still-dominant Reform Party.
In 1928, Forbes joined the United Party. It was a new party that had been created by disgruntled Reform and Liberal supporters. United recruited Sir Joseph Ward, the former prime minister, to lead the party. United sought to topple the Reform government of Prime Minister Joseph Gordon Coates, which had lost popularity due in part to sliding economic conditions and uninspiring leadership. In a general election on November 14, United won more parliamentary support than either Reform or Labour.
In December 1928, Coates lost a confidence vote. Coates stepped down, and Ward again became prime minister with the backing of the Labour Party. Under Ward, Forbes served as minister of lands and minister of agriculture. In October 1929, Ward became seriously ill, and Forbes served as unofficial Cabinet head.
Prime minister
Ward resigned as prime minister and United Party head on May 28, 1930. He died in July. United’s caucus (group of party members in Parliament) elected Forbes as their new leader, and he was sworn in as prime minister on May 28.
By the time Forbes took office, New Zealand’s economy was rapidly sliding into depression. The Labour Party supported Forbes at first, but it withdrew support after a series of disagreements on economic policies. Former Prime Minister Coates, however, supported Forbes’s proposals, and Reform eventually agreed to form a coalition government with United. In the new government, formed on Sept. 22, 1931, Forbes remained prime minister. He assigned several important portfolios (areas of official responsibility) that had been held by United’s ministers to Reform politicians. In a general election on December 2, the coalition was returned to office. In 1932, the government’s term of office was extended due to the severity of the economic crisis.
The new government sought to guide the country through the severe hardship of the Great Depression. Many of the measures passed by the coalition proved controversial because they involved reducing government expenditure. One such measure was the 1932 amendment of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act. The original act had been passed by a Liberal government in 1894 to provide a system for settling labor disputes peacefully. But with prices falling during the Depression, many workers were enjoying wages that had risen in value. The changes made by the Forbes government restricted the bargaining power of unions. Public service salaries were also reduced. Those directly affected argued that Forbes was abandoning key aspects of the old Liberal Party’s policies.
New Zealand’s overseas income came mostly from British sales of butter, wool, cheese, and meat. This income sank drastically from 1929 to 1934. Many historians regard Forbes as New Zealand’s weakest prime minister, and he is often seen as a weak leader. As the Depression continued, Coates became more influential in the coalition’s leadership. His background in farming helped him address the concerns of struggling farmers. In 1933, he became finance minister. Forbes allowed Coates to control most economic matters. In effect, Forbes’s deputy became more powerful than the prime minister himself.
By 1935, the worst of the Depression had passed. However, many voters still associated Forbes and Coates with the country’s economic despair and the tough economic measures taken. In the general election on November 27, the Labour Party, led by Michael Joseph Savage, defeated Forbes’s coalition by a wide margin.
Later career
Following the 1935 election, Forbes again briefly became opposition leader. In 1936, Reform and United officially merged to form the New Zealand National Party in opposition to Labour.
At the end of the 1936 parliamentary session, Forbes resigned as leader of the National Party. He kept his seat in Parliament until 1943, when he retired from politics. He died at his farm in Cheviot on May 17, 1947.
