Eden by-election, 1926

15 April 1926 (1926-04-15)



Candidate	Rex Mason	James Gunson	Ellen Melville
Party	Labour	Reform	Independent Reform
Popular vote	4,589	4,163	2,197
Percentage	41.5%	37.6%	19.8%

Member before election

James Parr
Reform

Elected Member

Rex Mason
Labour

The Eden by-election of 1926 was a by-election for the Eden electorate during the 22nd New Zealand Parliament. The seat became vacant after the appointment of the sitting member, James Parr of the Reform Party as High Commissioner to London. Parr resigned on 26 March.^[1]

Background

The by-election was held on 15 April 1926.^[2] Three candidates contested the seat. James Gunson the official Reform candidate had been Mayor of Auckland from 1915 to 1925. Ellen Melville stood as an "Independent" Reform candidate, claiming interference by the party organiser Albert Davy prevented her being selected as the official candidate. The Reform Party vote was split allowing the Labour candidate, Rex Mason, to win.^[2] The Liberal Party was "so weak .... that they could not field a candidate.^[3]

Gunson was expected to "romp home" in the by-election; Reform had 55 seats. But with the Liberals having 11 seats plus two Liberal-leaning independents and Labour 12, Labour realised their chance to be the official Opposition and "threw their all" into their contest; helped by Melville standing as Independent Reform. "Never before or since have people in the sprawling electorate stretching from Eden Park, through Mount Albert, Pt Chevalier, New Lynn, Te Atatu, Massey and Hobsonville been wooed as assiduously as they were in March and April 1926" with party leaders Coates and Holland spending days in the electorate.^[4]

Harry Holland became Leader of the Opposition on 16 June 1926, as a result of the Eden by-election. Labour was now the second largest party in Parliament, replacing the Liberal Party (currently called the National Party ^[3]).

Result

Eden by-election, 1926
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rex Mason	4,589	41.54
	Reform	James Gunson	4,163	37.68
	Independent Reform	Ellen Melville	2,197	19.89
Informal votes			99	0.90
Majority			3,811	3.86
Turnout			11,048
	Labour gain from Reform		Swing

Notes

↑ Scholefield 1950, p. 131.
1 2 Scholefield 1950, p. 125.
1 2 Bassett 1982, p. 35.
↑ Bassett 1982, p. 36-37.

References

Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
Bassett, Michael (1982). Three Party Politics in New Zealand 1911-1931. Auckland: Historical Publications. ISBN 0-86870-006-1.

« (1891–1911) « By-elections in New Zealand in the multi-party era (1912–1938) » (1939–1995) »

18th Parliament	Egmont, 1912 Grey, 1913 Lyttelton, 1913

19th Parliament	Dunedin Central, 1915 Bay of Islands, 1915 Taumarunui, 1915 Pahiatua, 1916 Hawke's Bay, 1917 Bay of Islands, 1917 Grey, 1917 Wellington North, 1918 Southern Maori, 1918 Grey, 1918 Wellington Central, 1918 Taranaki, 1918 Palmerston, 1918 Wellington South, 1918

20th Parliament	Bruce, 1920 Stratford, 1920 Bay of Plenty, 1920 Patea, 1921 Auckland East, 1921 Southern Maori, 1922 Dunedin North, 1922

21st Parliament	Tauranga, 1923 Oamaru, 1923 Franklin, 1925

22nd Parliament	Eden, 1926 Raglan, 1927

23rd Parliament	Bay of Islands, 1929 Hutt, 1929 Parnell, 1930 Invercargill, 1930 Waipawa, 1930 Western Maori, 1930 Hauraki, 1931

24th Parliament	Southern Maori, 1932 Motueka, 1932 Lyttelton, 1933 Buller, 1933 Lyttelton, 1935

25th Parliament	Manukau, 1936

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