1945 Dunedin North by-election

The 1945 Dunedin North by-election was a by-election held during the 27th New Zealand Parliament in the Dunedin electorate of Dunedin North. The by-election occurred following the death of MP James W. Munro and was won by Robert Walls.

1945 Dunedin North by-election
21 July 1945 (1945-07-21)
Turnout12,924 (79.77%)
 
Candidate Robert Walls Norman Jones
Party Labour National
Popular vote 6,791 6,087
Percentage 52.54 47.09
Member before election

James W. Munro
Labour

 Elected Member

Robert Walls
Labour

Background

Munro, who was first elected to represent Dunedin North for the Labour Party in 1922, died on 27 May 1945.[1] This triggered the Dunedin North by-election, which was contested by Robert Walls for Labour, and Norman Jones for National. Walls obtained 53.1% of the votes and was successful.[2] Walls represented Dunedin North until his death in 1953,[3] and the Labour Party would go on to hold the electorate until 1975.[4]

There was talk of John A. Lee standing as a Democratic Labour (DLP) candidate as soon as the seat fell vacant, though no nomination either on his behalf or another DLP candidate was received before nominations closed.[5]

It was the first time that Jones contested an election; he contested six more elections unsuccessfully before he was finally successful in the Invercargill electorate 30 years later.[6][7]

The by-election was held soon after the 1945 Hamilton by-election, when National had campaigned on withdrawing New Zealand troops from Italy and restricting New Zealand's role in the Pacific War to food supply, though Labour wanted to keep New Zealand troops in the Pacific to "have a say" in the peace. But Peter Fraser wanted to contribute to a Commonwealth force against Japan. He met the Opposition leaders Sidney Holland and Adam Hamilton; noting the divisions in his own caucus. Holland agreed with Fraser not to refer to the matter (which was agitating the whole country) during the campaign. The government held the seat, and in a (non-broadcast) semi-secret session of the House on 2 August agreed to participate in a force against Japan "within the capacity of our remaining resources of manpower". And National's proposal to reduce the total armed forces to 55,000 was accepted.[8]

Previous election
1943 general election: Dunedin North[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Munro 8,038 55.82
National Alexander Cassie 5,240 36.39
People's Movement Frederick Allan Keane 858 5.95
Democratic Labour Cornelius Machin Ross 263 1.82
Informal votes 123 0.85
Majority 2,798 19.43
Turnout 14,399 91.76
Registered electors 15,691

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1945 Dunedin North by-election[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Robert Walls 6,791 52.54
National Norman Jones 6,087 47.09
Informal votes 46 0.35 -0.50
Majority 704 5.44
Turnout 12,924 79.77 -11.99
Registered electors 16,200

See also

Notes
  1. Wilson 1985, p. 222.
  2. "Seat Retained". Auckland Star. Vol. LXXVI, no. 172. 23 July 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  3. Wilson 1985, p. 243.
  4. Wilson 1985, p. 262.
  5. "Straight Out Contest". Evening Star. No. 25527. 4 July 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  6. Gustafson 1986, pp. 323f.
  7. Wilson 1985, p. 209.
  8. Hensley, Gerald (2009). Beyond the Battlefield: New Zealand and its allies 1939-45. Auckland: Viking. p. 372. ISBN 9780670074044.
  9. "The General Election, 1943". National Library. 1944. p. 11. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  10. "Declaration of Result of Poll". Evening Star. No. 25553. 3 August 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 9 November 2018.

References
  • Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.


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