Regal and viceregal
Head of State - George V
Governor-General - The Earl of Liverpool, succeeded the same year by The Viscount Jellicoe GCB OM GCVO
The 20th New Zealand Parliament commenced, with the Reform Party in Government
Speaker of the House - Frederic Lang (Reform Party)
Prime Minister - William Massey
Minister of Finance - James Allen
Minister of External Affairs - James Allen until 20 April, then Ernest Page Lee until 17 May, then Francis Bell
Leader of the Opposition - William MacDonald (Liberal Party) until his death on 31 August, then Thomas Wilford.
Main centre leaders
Mayor of Auckland - James Gunson
Mayor of Hamilton - John Robert Fow
Mayor of Wellington - John Luke
Mayor of Christchurch - Henry Thacker
Mayor of Dunedin - William Begg
1 May: The Colonist publishes its final issue, and is incorporated into The Nelson Evening Mail. The newspaper began in 1857.
Arts and literature
See 1920 in art, 1920 in literature, Category:1920 books
See: 1920 in music
See: Category:1920 film awards, 1920 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1920 films
The 29th National Chess Championship was held in Wellington, and was won by W.E. Mason of Wellington, his fifth title.
Plunket Shield
The 10th New Zealand Open championship was won by J.H. Kirkwood.
The 24th National Amateur Championships were held in Hamilton Men: Sloan Morpeth (Hamilton)
Women: Miss N.E. Wright (2nd title)
New Zealand Trotting Cup: Reta Peter
Auckland Trotting Cup: Man O'War
New Zealand at the 1920 Summer Olympics
New Zealand also competed at the Inter-Allied Games held in Paris.
1920 Great Britain Lions tour of New Zealand, won test series 3-0
1st test, 23-10 Wellington
2nd test, 19 - 3, Christchurch
3rd test, 31 - 7, Auckland
1920 New Zealand rugby union tour of New South Wales
Wellington defended the Ranfurly Shield 10 times before losing it to Southland:vs Canterbury 15-3
vs Bay of Plenty 22-3
vs Taranaki 20-9 (played in Hawera)
vs Hawkes Bay 20-5
vs Auckland 23-20 (played in Auckland)
vs Taranaki 16-5
vs Wanganui 20-14
vs Auckland 20-3
vs South Canterbury 32-16 (played in Timaru)
vs Otago 16-5 (played in Dunedin)
vs Southland 6-17 (played in Invercargill)
Provincial league champions:
Auckland: YMCA
Canterbury: Nomads
Hawke's Bay: Waipukurau
Otago: Kaitangata FC
Southland: No competition
Wanganui: Eastbrooke
Wellington: Wellington Thistle
