Wellington North by-election, 1918

Wellington North by-election, 1918

12 February 1918

The Wellington North seat in the House of Representatives. Election by simple majority using first-past-the-post voting. Turnout 7,128   Candidate John Luke Harry Holland Alfred Brandon Party Reform Labour Liberal Popular vote 2,986 2,566 816

Member before election Alexander Herdman Reform Elected Member John Luke Reform

The Wellington North by-election of 1918 was a by-election held in the Wellington North electorate during the 19th New Zealand Parliament, on 12 February, 1918. It was caused by the resignation of incumbent MP Alexander Herdman of the Reform Party, who was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court, and was won by John Luke with a majority of 420.

Candidates

Then current Mayor of Wellington John Luke was selected as the Reform Party's candidate.^[1]

Under the terms of the coalition agreement between Reform and the Liberal's a condition was made not to oppose each other in by-elections for deceased or retiring MP's from their own parties. However, the Liberal Party were not completely satisfied with Luke being the Government's candidate and two Liberal candidates emerged to contest. Former Mayor of Wellington Alfred Brandon chose to contest the seat and another, Angus Polson chose to likewise contest as an Independent Liberal.^[1]

The Labour Party chose Harry Holland, editor of the Maoriland Worker, as their candidate who had contested the seat in 1914 for the Social Democratic Party coming third.^[2] Holland was contemplating leaving New Zealand at the time and returning to Sydney though his candidacy persuaded him to stay. Holland reveled in the personal attacks made on him which was exactly the type of recognition he craved.^[2]

Results

The results of the Wellington North electorate at the 1914 general election were:

General election, 1914[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Alexander Herdman	4,550	55.23
	Liberal	William Turnbull	1,895	23.00
	Social Democrat	Harry Holland	1,688	20.49
Majority			2,655	32.23
Informal votes			104	1.26
Turnout			8,237	82.90
Registered electors			9,936

Results of the by-election held on 12 February 1918 were:

Wellington North by-election, 1918[4][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	John Luke	2,986	41.89
	Labour	Harry Holland	2,566	35.99
	Liberal	Alfred Brandon	816	11.44
	Independent Liberal	Angus (James Neville) Polson	720	10.10
Majority			420	5.89
Informal votes			40	0.56
Turnout			7,128
	Reform hold		Swing

Outcome

Though the National Government retained the seat many within were alarmed by the near success of Labour. Their majority of 1,807 in 1914 shrunk to just 420 was a shock to conservative minds. At the declaration of Luke's victory, Prime Minister William Massey spoke to the crowd. He was greeted by much jeering and was pelted with eggs and rotten fruit. He lost his temper and thumbed his nose at them before storming off the stage, later re-created in an effective newspaper cartoon.^[1]

Based on his strong performance in Wellington North, Holland was chosen by the Labour Party as their candidate in the Grey by-election four months later where Holland was eventually successful in winning a seat in Parliament.^[2]

Notes

1. Gustafson 1980, p. 132.
2. O'Farrell, Patrick. "Holland, Henry Edmund - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
3. Hislop, J. (1915). The General Election, 1914. National Library. pp. 1–33. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
4. "Wellington North". Colonist LX (14665). 20 March 1918. p. 1. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
5. "Wellington North electorate". Free Lance XVII (919). 22 February 1918. p. 9. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

References

• Gustafson, Barry (1980). Labour's path to political independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1900–19. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press. ISBN 0-19-647986-X.