1918 Wellington Central by-election
{{short description|New Zealand by-election}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1918 Wellington Central by-election
| country = New Zealand
| flag_year = 1918
| type = By-election
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1914 New Zealand general election
| previous_year = 1914 general
| next_election = 1919 New Zealand general election
| next_year = 1919 general
| seats_for_election =
| election_date = {{Start date|1918|10|03|df=y}}
| turnout = 4,719 (51.43%)
| image1 = 100x140px
| candidate1 = Peter Fraser
| party1 = New Zealand Labour Party
| popular_vote1 = 2,668
| percentage1 = 56.54%
| image2 = 100x140px
| candidate2 = Joe Mack
| colour2 = FFBBBB
| party2 = Independent Labour
| popular_vote2 = 1,044
| percentage2 = 22.12%
| image4 = 100x130px
| candidate4 = William Hildreth
| party4 = New Zealand Liberal Party
| popular_vote4 = 784
| percentage4 = 16.61%
| image5 = 100x130px
| candidate5 = Harry Atmore
| party5 = Independent politician
| popular_vote5 = 185
| percentage5 = 3.92%
| title = Member
| before_election = Robert Fletcher
| after_election = Peter Fraser
| before_party = New Zealand Liberal Party
| after_party = New Zealand Labour Party
| result = Labour gain from Liberal
}}
The Wellington Central by-election of 1918 was a by-election held in the {{NZ electorate link|Wellington Central}} electorate during the 19th New Zealand Parliament, on 3 October 1918. It was caused by the death of incumbent MP Robert Fletcher of the Liberal Party and was won by Peter Fraser with a majority of 1,624.
Candidates
=Coalition government=
The Wartime Coalition government between the Reform Party and Liberal Party sought to retain the seat, though were anxious of their chances of retaining an urban electorate following their narrow win in the Wellington North by-election several months earlier. 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. Several candidates were approached for the Liberal nomination and eventually William Hildreth, a Wellington City Councillor was selected and endorsed by acting-Prime Minister James Allen.{{sfn|Gustafson|1980|p=}}
=Labour Party=
The Labour Party had supported Robert Fletcher (a left winger amongst the Liberals) in the 1911 and 1914 elections, but decided to contest the election for his vacated seat themselves. Labour were confident following a near victory in the Wellington North by-election earlier in the year. There were three contestants for the Labour Party nomination Peter Fraser, John Read and Michael Reardon.{{cite news |title=Wellington Central by-election |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19180914.2.56 |access-date=1 July 2018 |newspaper=The Press |date=14 September 1918 |volume=LIV |issue=16317 |page=9}} Fraser was selected as the official Labour candidate and had a large local following. Fraser had gained much notability after spending one year in jail for sedition after speaking out against the war and conscription. Even on his release he was still a prominent critic of the government.{{DNZB|Beaglehole|Tim|4f22|Fraser, Peter|11 December 2011||Tim Beaglehole}}
=Others=
Joe Mack stood as an independent Labour candidate. He was a moderate amongst the union movement and unlike most others he supported both the war effort and conscription. To many observers, Mack represented "sane Labour" due to his distance from the radical views held by many socialists at the time. His candidature was put forward by the Protestant Political Association of New Zealand claiming him to be a patriotic individual and not a "Bolshevik" like many of his union colleagues.{{DNZB|Atkinson|Neill|3m13|Matthew Joseph Mack|26 December 2016}}
Previous election
{{Election box begin | title=1914 general election: Wellington Central{{cite book |title=The General Election, 1914 |year=1915 |publisher=Government Printer |url= http://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&d=AJHR1915-I.2.3.2.35 |page=3 |access-date=15 March 2014}}
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link
|party = New Zealand Liberal Party
|candidate = Robert Fletcher
|votes = 5,208
|percentage = 64.40
|change =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party = Reform Party (New Zealand)
|candidate = Francis Fisher
|votes = 2,879
|percentage = 35.60
|change =
}}
{{Election box majority|
|votes = 2,329
|percentage = 28.80
|change =
}}
{{Election box informal
|votes = 84
|percentage = 1.03
|change =
}}
{{Election box turnout|
|votes = 8,171
|percentage = 84.47
|change =
}}
{{Election box registered electors|
|reg. electors= 9,673
}}
{{Election box gain with party link|
|winner = New Zealand Liberal Party
|loser = Reform Party (New Zealand)
|swing =
}}
|}
Results
The following table gives the election results:
{{Wellington Central by-election, 1918}}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{cite book |first = Barry |last = Gustafson |author-link = Barry Gustafson |title = Labour's path to political independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1900–19 |place = Auckland, New Zealand |publisher = Auckland University Press |year = 1980 |isbn = 0-19-647986-X}}
{{1912–1938 New Zealand by-elections}}