1914 Wellington City mayoral election

The 1914 Wellington City mayoral by-election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

1914 Wellington City mayoral election
25 May 1914
Turnout20,472 (50.19%)
 
Candidate John Luke David McLaren John Glover
Party Citizens League United Labour Social Democrat
Popular vote 11,555 4,548 4,369
Percentage 56.44 22.21 21.34
Mayor before election

John Luke

 Elected Mayor

John Luke

Background

John Luke had been Mayor of Wellington since his election in 1913.[1] Luke sought re-election against former Mayor David McLaren who was defeated by Luke a year earlier and stood for the mayoralty once again.[2] The third contestant was John Glover, a newspaper editor, who entered the contest for the newly formed Social Democratic Party (SDP), a more radical labour party. Harry Holland was originally selected as the SDP candidate, but was unable to contest the mayoralty as he was engaged in a sedition case so Glover stood in his place.[3] The divisions were deepened by McLaren's statement that SDP ringleader Bob Semple (later a councillor) was "as free from political principles as a frog from feathers".[4] Glover's entry cut into McLaren's support base causing his polling to fall sharply from the previous two elections. Regardless of the divided labour vote, Luke won the contest with an outright majority.

The election came at the same time as the 1913 Great Strike, which began on the Wellington waterfront intensifying anti-Labour sentiment which assisted Luke in increasing his majority.[4]

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1914 Wellington mayoral election[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens League John Luke 11,555 56.44 +5.15
United Labour David McLaren 4,548 22.21 -26.50
Social Democrat John Glover 4,369 21.34
Majority 7,007 34.22 +31.64
Turnout 20,472 50.19 -6.83

Notes
  1. "Wellington City Council". Free Lance. Vol. XIII, no. 671. 10 May 1913. p. 7. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  2. Taylor, Kerry. "McLaren, David - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  3. "Wellington Mayoral Contest". The Maoriland Worker. Vol. 5, no. 169. 29 April 1914. p. 8.
  4. Betts 1970, pp. 133.
  5. "Official Figures". Maoriland Worker. Vol. 5, no. 170. 6 May 1914. p. 8. Retrieved 17 August 2016.

References
  • Betts, George (1970). Betts on Wellington:a city and its politics. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN 0 589 00469 7.
  • 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.


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