1936 Christchurch mayoral by-election
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox election
| election name = Christchurch mayoral by-election, 1936
| country = New Zealand
| flag_image = Christchurch COA pre-1949.jpg
| type = Presidential
| previous_election = 1935 Christchurch mayoral election
| previous_year = 1935
| next_election = 1938 Christchurch mayoral election
| next_year = 1938
| turnout = 30,167
| election_date = 11 March 1936
| ongoing = no
| image1 = 150x150px
| candidate1 = John Beanland
| party1 = Christchurch Citizens' Association
| popular_vote1 = 15,141
| percentage1 = 50.60
| image2 = 150x150px
| candidate2 = John Archer
| party2 = New Zealand Labour Party
| popular_vote2 = 14,310
| percentage2 = 47.82
| map_image =
| map_size =
| map_caption =
| title = Mayor
| before_election = Dan Sullivan
| before_party = New Zealand Labour Party
| after_election = John Beanland
| after_party = Christchurch Citizens' Association
}}
The Christchurch mayoral by-election in 1936 was triggered by the resignation of the incumbent, Dan Sullivan, who had been appointed cabinet minister after the Labour Party winning the general election in November 1935. The election was won by John Beanland of the Citizens' Association, who narrowly beat the Labour candidate.
Background
Sullivan was first elected mayor of Christchurch in 1931, when he beat William Hayward.{{cite news |title=The Municipal Elections |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=CHP19350315.2.163 |accessdate=8 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXI |issue=21423 |date=15 March 1935 |page=19}} The Labour Party won the November 1935 general election and Sullivan was appointed cabinet minister. Sullivan reluctantly resigned from the mayoralty in February 1936, as the heavy workload of a cabinet minister was incompatible with remaining mayor.{{DNZB|Watson|James|4s55|Sullivan, Daniel Giles|22 February 2011}}{{cite news |title=By-Elections for Council |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19351204.2.50 |accessdate=20 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXI |issue=21647 |date=4 December 1935 |page=10}} After a conference with the Citizens' Association, Sullivan's resignation date was agreed on to achieve a by-election date that suited all parties.{{cite news |title=Resignation in February |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19360114.2.56 |accessdate=20 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXII |issue=21680 |date=14 January 1936 |page=8}} There was a desire to hold only one by-election, and not also another one necessary by one of the councillors contesting the mayoral election then causing a vacancy. This required councillors wishing to stand to resign at the same time as the mayor. The mayor's resignation would result in a mayoral by-election at a date set by statute, and the resignation would take immediate effect. The deputy-mayor, John Beanland of the Citizens' Association, was one of the contenders, and to avoid that the city was both without a mayor and deputy-mayor for a period of time, Beanland needed to resign as deputy-mayor before the mayor, so that a new deputy could be appointed by the city councillors before the mayor himself resigned.{{cite news |title=No Deputy-Mayor |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19360115.2.60 |accessdate=20 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXII |issue=21681 |date=15 January 1936 |page=10}} Beanland resigned as deputy-mayor in early February, and Ernest Andrews was appointed in his place.{{cite news |title=Deputy-Mayor of City |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19360204.2.76 |accessdate=20 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXII |issue=21698 |date=4 February 1936 |page=10}} Councillor John Archer was confirmed as Labour's candidate; he had previously been mayor from 1925 to 1931.{{cite news |title=City Council Election |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19360207.2.73 |accessdate=20 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXII |issue=21701 |date=7 February 1936 |page=12}} The resignations of Sullivan as mayor, and Beanland (Citizens' Association) and Archer (Labour) as city councillors, were handed in on 14 February, triggering a by-election for 11 March.{{cite news |title=Resignations handed in |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19360215.2.21 |accessdate=20 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXII |issue=21708 |date=15 February 1936 |page=7}} Councillor Charles Edward Jones also resigned due to illness, thus creating a third vacancy amongst the city councillors.
Candidates
;John Beanland
John Beanland was a building contractor. Born and raised in Victoria, Australia, he moved to Christchurch with his wife and children in the early 1890s. Active in many clubs and on various committees, he was first elected as a Christchurch city councillor in 1914 for the conservative Citizens' Association.{{cite journal |last1=Campbell |first1=Hilaire |title=Honest John |journal=St Albans News |date=June 2010 |page=8 |url=http://www.stalbans.gen.nz/pdf/1006JuneSANEWS.pdf |accessdate=21 May 2016}} He first stood for mayor in 1921 when he was defeated by the incumbent, Henry Thacker.{{cite web |last=Greenaway |first=Richard L. N. |title=Bromley Cemetery Tour |url= http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/Cemeteries/Bromley/BromleyCemetery.pdf |publisher=Christchurch City Libraries |accessdate=26 October 2014 |page=47 |date=June 2007}} His next mayoral campaign in 1925 caused a serious rift within the Citizens' Association, and he ended up standing as an independent against three others, including the official candidate of the Citizens' Association and incumbent mayor, James Arthur Flesher.{{cite news |title=The Mayoralty |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19250209.2.57 |accessdate=24 October 2014 |work=The Press |volume=LXI |issue=18302 |date=9 February 1925 |page=8}}{{cite news |title=The Mayoralty |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19250214.2.74 |accessdate=24 October 2014 |work=The Press |volume=LXI |issue=18307 |date=14 February 1925 |page=12}} This vote splitting in 1925 helped Labour's John Archer win the mayoralty.{{cite news |title=Local Elections |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19250430.2.63 |accessdate=27 October 2014 |work=The Press |volume=LXI |issue=18369 |date=30 March 1925 |page=8}}{{cite news |title=Local Elections |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19250422.2.129.3 |accessdate=27 October 2014 |work=The Press |volume=LXI |issue=18363 |date=22 March 1925 |page=15}} Beanland stood for the Reform Party in the 1928 general election in Lyttelton but was unsuccessful against the incumbent.{{cite book |last=Skinner | first=W. A. G. |title=The General Election, 1928 |year=1929 |publisher=Government Printer |url= https://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&cl=search&d=AJHR1929-I.2.3.2.37 |page=3 |accessdate=22 May 2016}}
;John Archer
Rev John Archer was a Baptist minister and Labour Party politician. He was the foundation president of the Invercargill WEA (Workers' Educational Association) in 1915 and president of the Baptist Union of New Zealand from 1916 to 1918. The Baptist Church transferred him to Christchurch in 1919.{{DNZB|Gustafson|Barry |3A17|Archer, John Kendrick|8 April 2011||Barry Gustafson}} He was active in the Labour Party from its beginnings and was vice-president for many years, and president in 1928–29. He had stood in various electorates for the general elections of {{NZ election link year|1919}}, {{NZ election link year|1922}}, {{NZ election link year|1928}}, and {{NZ election link year|1931}}. He was a Christchurch city councillor from 1921 and had previously served on the Invercargill Borough council. He had first stood for mayor in the 1925 election mentioned above and was successful due to vote splitting by the Citizens' Association candidates. He won the subsequent elections in 1927 and 1929 and retired in 1931 in favour of Sullivan.
;Edward Leslie Hills
Hills was an independent Labour candidate. He had not previously served as a Christchurch city councillor{{cite web|url= http://www1.ccc.govt.nz/handbook/councillorsofthecityofchristchurch.asp| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110720010657/http://www1.ccc.govt.nz/handbook/councillorsofthecityofchristchurch.asp | archivedate = 20 July 2011 |title=Councillors of the City of Christchurch |publisher=Christchurch City Council|accessdate=12 May 2010|location=Christchurch}} but had stood in the Lyttelton electorate by-elections in 1933 and 1935, on both occasions polling just over 2% of the votes.{{cite news |title=Lyttelton Seat |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19330920.2.114 |accessdate=29 January 2011 |work=The Evening Post |volume=CXVI |issue=70 |date=20 September 1933|page=10}}{{cite news |title=Labour Wins |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19350725.2.93&cl=CL2.1935.07.25 |accessdate=13 November 2011 |work=The Evening Post |date=25 July 1935 |volume=CXX |issue=22 |page=10}}
;City council candidates
In addition to the mayoral election, there were three vacancies amongst the Christchurch city councillors to be filled. Seven candidates came forward: three representing the Citizens' Association (Hugh Acland, James Maling, and James Carter), three representing the Labour Party (Robert Macfarlane, John Mathison, and George Manning), and one independent (Berthold Ahlfeld).{{cite news |title=To Seats go to Labour |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=CHP19360312.2.86 |accessdate=22 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXII |issue=21730 |date=12 March 1936 |page=12}}
Results
The election was held on Wednesday, 11 March 1936, from 9am to 7pm. The first-past-the-post voting system was used. There were 17 polling booths in Christchurch Central, 17 polling booths across Linwood, Bromley, and Woolston, 19 polling booths across St Albans, Papanui, and Richmond, 23 polling booths across Sydenham and Spreydon, and 1 polling booth in Lyttelton.{{cite news |title=The Municipal By-Elections |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19360311.2.86 |accessdate=22 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXII |issue=21729 |date=11 March 1936 |page=12}} Beanland narrowly won the mayoral election over Archer, with Hills receiving less than 2% of the votes.{{cite news |title=The By-Election |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19360312.2.84 |accessdate=20 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXII |issue=21730 |date=12 March 1936 |page=12}} This was the first time since the 1925 mayoral election that the mayoralty did not go to the Labour candidate.
{{Election box begin | title=1936 Christchurch mayoral by-election{{cite news |title=Mayor's Reduced Majority |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19360314.2.101 |accessdate=22 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXII |issue=21732 |date=14 March 1936 |page=18}}
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link
|party = Christchurch Citizens' Association
|candidate = John Beanland
|votes = 15,141
|percentage = 50.60
|change =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party = New Zealand Labour Party
|candidate = John Archer
|votes = 14,310
|percentage = 47.82
|change =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party = Independent Labour
|candidate = Edward Leslie Hills
|votes = 472
|percentage = 1.58
|change =
}}
{{Election box informal
|votes = 244
|percentage = 0.80
|change =
}}
{{Election box majority
|votes = 831
|percentage = 2.78
|change =
}}
{{Election box turnout
|votes = 30,167
|percentage =
|change =
}}
{{Election box end}}
=Councillor results=
In the by-election for vacant city council positions, Acland, Macfarlane and Manning were successful. Beanland and the new councillors were sworn in on 16 March.{{cite news |title=New Mayor's Wish |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19360317.2.26 |accessdate=22 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXII |issue=21734 |date=17 March 1936 |page=6}}
{{Election box begin | title=1936 Christchurch city council by-election{{cite news |title=Cost of city by-election |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19360317.2.125 |accessdate=17 February 2020 |work=The Press |volume=LXXII |issue=21734 |date=17 March 1936 |page=16 }}
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link
|party = Christchurch Citizens' Association
|candidate = Hugh Acland
|votes = 15,749
|percentage = 52.19
|change =
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link|
|party = New Zealand Labour Party
|candidate = Robert Macfarlane
|votes = 14,800
|percentage = 49.05
|change = +9.64
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link|
|party = New Zealand Labour Party
|candidate = George Manning
|votes = 14,689
|percentage = 48.68
|change = +6.53
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party = Christchurch Citizens' Association
|candidate = James Maling
|votes = 13,896
|percentage = 46.05
|change = +3.47
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = New Zealand Labour Party
|candidate = John Mathison
|votes = 13,465
|percentage = 44.62
|change = +6.08
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party = Christchurch Citizens' Association
|candidate = James Carter
|votes = 11,792
|percentage = 39.08
|change = +0.94
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = Independent politician
|candidate = Berthold Ahlfeld
|votes = 1,390
|percentage = 4.60
|change =
}}
{{Election box informal
|votes = 711
|percentage = 2.35
|change =
}}
{{Election box majority|
|votes = 793
|percentage = 2.62
|change =
}}
{{Election box turnout|
|votes = 30,173
|percentage =
|change =
}}
{{Election box end}}
Aftermath
At the end of his mayoral term, Beanland failed to get the nomination from the Citizens' Association for the 1938 mayoral election, but Dr. John Guthrie was chosen instead.{{cite news |title=The Municipal Elections |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19380319.2.89 |work=The Press |volume=LXXIV |issue=22355 |date=19 March 1938 |page=16 | accessdate=21 October 2019}}{{cite news |title=General News |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19380412.2.48 |accessdate=21 October 2019 |work=The Press |volume=LXXIV |issue=22375 |date=12 April 1938 |page=10}} Guthrie was beaten by Labour's Robert Macfarlane.{{cite news |title=Local Body Elections |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19380512.2.75 |accessdate=22 May 2016 |work=The Press |volume=LXXIV |issue=22399 |date=12 May 1938 |page=12}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Mayors of Christchurch}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christchurch Mayoral By-Election, 1936}}
Category:Mayoral elections in Christchurch
Category:1936 elections in New Zealand