1941 Wellington City mayoral election

The 1941 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1941, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington and fifteen city councillors plus seats on the Wellington Hospital Board and Wellington Harbour Board. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

1941 Wellington City mayoral election

17 May 1941
Turnout31,158 (51.51%)
 
Candidate Thomas Hislop Robert McKeen
Party Citizens' Labour
Popular vote 19,919 10,978
Percentage 63.92 35.23

Mayor before election

Thomas Hislop

Elected Mayor

Thomas Hislop

Background

While residents as well as ratepayers had been able to vote in local elections since 1910, in this election tenants of state houses throughout New Zealand were made borough electors as though they were ratepayers (though they did not pay rates directly to councils, which were paid by central government). This meant that there was no qualifying period of residence for them, though they did not acquire the ratepayers' right to vote on loan or rating proposals.[1]

The 'Nathan Incident'

The election resulted in a landslide victory for the right-leaning local ticket the Citizens' Association with their candidates capturing all council seats and the mayoralty, blitzing the Labour Party.[2] This resulted from a scandal involving Hubert Nathan, a Citizens candidate for the Wellington Harbour Board and a stockbroker. Like other Citizens candidates, he had been critical of the number of union secretaries on the Labour ticket, asking how they could serve ratepayers and the city while dependent on the unions for their jobs. Nathan agreed to a visit on Friday 9 May by a union official and an associate, but that afternoon five men called and used "Gestapo tactics" according to Nathan. They reviling him because he was a Jew and saying no Jew should hold any public position, as well as saying they would stop him travelling or getting deliveries unless he apologised and withdrew in writing. On Wednesday 14 May after four days his account was splashed over the papers, giving the unions little time to respond. The Labour Representation Committee said his accusations were "hardly credible" but newspaper editorials condemned the use of union power to victimise opponents. No Labour candidate was returned to any of the three authorities, though McKeen (as highest polling unsuccessful candidate) was appointed to the Council in 1942 to fill a vacancy caused by Len McKenzie's death.[3]

It was nine years before a Labour candidate was again elected to the Council. The Citizens' clean sweep included Elizabeth Gilmer an active conservationist and daughter of Richard Seddon. Labour also lost all seats on the Wellington Hospital Board, although the board still had Labour representatives from Mākara, Petone and Johnsonville.[4]

Mayoralty results

1941 Wellington mayoral election[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens' Thomas Hislop 19,919 63.92 +7.07
Labour Robert McKeen 10,978 35.23
Informal votes 261 0.83 +0.15
Majority 8,941 28.69 +14.30
Turnout 31,158 51.51 -4.85

Councillor results

1941 Wellington City Council election[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens' Robert Wright 19,468 62.48 +7.59
Citizens' Will Appleton 19,038 61.10 +9.55
Citizens' Malcolm Fraser 18,293 58.71 +7.51
Citizens' Elizabeth Gilmer 18,248 58.56
Citizens' Martin Luckie 18,150 58.25 +8.06
Citizens' William Gaudin 17,933 57.55 +7.14
Citizens' William Duncan 17,599 56.48 +7.25
Citizens' Len McKenzie 17,266 55.41 +6.76
Citizens' Robert Macalister 17,225 55.28 +9.35
Citizens' Bryan Todd 16,944 54.38
Citizens' Robert Nimmo 16,863 54.12
Citizens' Frederick Furkert 16,664 53.48
Citizens' Charles Bowden 16,416 52.68
Citizens' William Stevens 15,055 48.31
Citizens' James Sievwright 14,512 46.57
Labour Robert McKeen[nb 1] 12,517 40.17 -14.56
Labour Charles Chapman 11,715 37.95 -13.95
Labour Tom Brindle 10,779 34.59 -13.20
Labour Peter Butler 10,706 34.36 -14.39
Labour Adam Black 10,383 33.32 -12.91
Labour Margaret Semple 10,379 33.31 -14.31
Labour Catherine Stewart 9,947 31.92
Labour Roy Holland 9,787 31.41
Labour William Atkinson 9,643 30.94
Labour Andrew Parlane 9,636 30.92 -13.44
Labour John Read 9,307 29.87 -13.80
Labour Jim Collins 9,214 29.57 -13.29
Labour John Fleming 8,820 28.30
Labour Harold Aspen 8,389 26.92
Labour Percival Hansen 8,158 26.18
Independent Leslie Austin 3,607 11.57 -8.62
Independent Charlie Teece 3,230 10.36
Independent Arthur Carman 2,239 7.18
Independent Daniel Campbell 2,096 6.72
Communist Alexander Galbraith 2,007 6.44
Communist Connie Birchfield 1,731 5.55
Communist William Wood 1,713 5.49
Communist Jessie Probyn 1,081 3.46 -1.70

Table footnotes:

  1. McKeen was appointed to fill the vacancy on the council in 1942 caused by Len McKenzie's death

Notes

  1. Betts 1970, pp. 42.
  2. "New City Council". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXXI, no. 116. 19 May 1941. p. 9. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  3. "City Council Vacancy". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXXIV, no. 140. 10 December 1942. p. 4. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  4. Yska, Redmer (2006). Wellington: Biography of a City. Auckland: Reed. pp. 159, 160. ISBN 0-7900-1117-4.
  5. "The Mayoralty". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXXI, no. 121. 24 May 1941. p. 11. Retrieved 27 October 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.
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