List of by-elections to the Wellington City Council

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List article

By-elections to the Wellington City Council occur to fill vacant seats in the City Council. The death, resignation, bankruptcy or expulsion of a sitting councillor can cause a by-election to occur. By-elections were particularly frequent in the 1980s and 1990s but have become a rarity in recent years with only two occurring since 2000. The most recent by-election in Wellington was in 2017 triggered by deputy mayor Paul Eagle’s resignation upon being elected MP for Rongotai.[1]

Background[edit]

Local by-elections normally have lower turnouts than full local body elections. A noted case occurred in 1960 when a vacancy triggered a by-election which had a turnout of only 7.7% of voters, prompting Mayor Frank Kitts to label the light turnout a “deplorable state of affairs” as “…there were responsible and worthwhile citizens who were prepared to devote their time and money in service to the people”.[2] By-elections on the city council were on occasion deferred if a substantial majority of the council agreed to fill the vacancy by appointment, resulting in the highest polling unsuccessful candidate at the previous election being appointed to the council unless there is a public demand for a poll to be held (known as extraordinary vacancies). This arrangement has happened several times such as in 1973 when Olive Smuts-Kennedy resigned her seat and Seton Nossiter was appointed to replace her, in 1979 when Irvine Yardley resigned and was replaced with Tala Cleverley after several higher polling candidates declined the appointment,[3] and in 1985 when Leone Harkness resigned and her council seat which was taken by Bruce Harris.[4]

Two Mayors first entered the Council via by-elections; John Luke (in 1905) and Celia Wade-Brown (in 1994).

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1901–86[edit]

Between 1901 and 1986 municipal elections in Wellington were conducted at large. The following is a list of by-elections held to fill vacancies on the Wellington City Council at large:

Key

Date Incumbent Cause Winner
1904 David Nathan Resignation Folk Cohen
1905 George Wiltshire Death John Luke
1906 Arthur Gibbs Resignation John Smith
1910 James Devine Death William Barber
Thomas Ballinger Resignation William Thompson
1912 David McLaren Elected as Mayor Edward Tregear
1920 George Frost Death William Gaudin
1922 Sydney Underwood Death Alexander Parton
1926 Alec Monteith Resignation John Glover
1927 John Caughley Resignation Charlton Morpeth
1933 Frank Meadowcroft Death Peter Fraser
1936 William Bennett Death John Read
1949 Frederick Furkert Death Berkeley Dallard
1955 Stewart Hardy Appointed as Magistrate Allan Highet
1960 Mervyn Castle Death Bob Archibald
1969 William Scollay Resignation Les Chapman
John Turk Hollis Reed

1986–present[edit]

Since 1986 municipal elections in Wellington have been held via a Wards system of local electoral districts.[6] The following is a list of by-elections held to fill vacancies on the Wellington City Council under the ward system:

Key

Results[edit]

1904 by-election[edit]

1905 by-election[edit]

1906 by-election[edit]

1910 by-election[edit]

1912 by-election[edit]

1920 by-election[edit]

1922 by-election[edit]

1926 by-election[edit]

1927 by-election[edit]

Ballot paper for the 1927 by-election

1933 by-election[edit]

1936 by-election[edit]

1949 by-election[edit]

1955 by-election[edit]

1960 by-election[edit]

1969 by-election[edit]

1987 by-election, Otari Ward[edit]

1987 by-election, Karori Ward[edit]

1989 by-election, Southern Ward[edit]

1991 by-election, Southern Ward[edit]

1994 by-election, Onslow Ward[edit]

1994 by-election, Southern Ward[edit]

1996 by-election, Southern Ward[edit]

1997 by-election, Northern Ward[edit]

2000 by-election, Eastern Ward[edit]

2017 by-election, Southern Ward[edit]

  1. ^ McAndrew, Ruby (24 September 2017). “Just when you thought it was safe to relax … it’s back to the polls in Wellington and Hastings”. Stuff. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  2. ^ “Light election poll ‘appalling’“. The Dominion. 12 September 1960.
  3. ^ Brown, Karen (15 February 1979). “Tala Cleverley is Ready for the Council”. The Evening Post.
  4. ^ Moran, Paul (16 May 1985). “Harris back on Council”. The Dominion.
  5. ^ “Local elections on ward basis”. The Evening Post. 9 October 1984.
  6. ^ “Extraordinary Vacancy”. Free Lance. Vol. V, no. 216. 20 August 1904. p. 14. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  7. ^ “City Council Election”. The Evening Post. Vol. LXX, no. 54. 1 September 1905. p. 2. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  8. ^ “City Council By-election”. The Evening Post. Vol. LXXI, no. 100. 28 April 1906. p. 5. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  9. ^ “Election Notices”. The Dominion. Vol. 3, no. 918. 10 September 1910. p. 2. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  10. ^ “Labour Wins City Council Elections”. Oamaru Mail. Vol. XXXVI, no. 11636. 18 May 1912. p. 5. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  11. ^ “The by-election”. The Dominion. Vol. 13, no. 305. 18 September 1920. p. 6. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  12. ^ “Extraordinary Vacancy”. The Evening Post. Vol. CIV, no. 17. 20 July 1922. p. 2. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  13. ^ “Win for Labour”. The Evening Post. Vol. CXII, no. 20. 23 July 1926. p. 4. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  14. ^ “The by-election”. The Evening Post. Vol. CIV, no. 132. 1 December 1927. p. 8. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  15. ^ “Labour Win”. Auckland Star. Vol. LXIV, no. 152. 30 June 1933. p. 12. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  16. ^ “Extraordinary Vacancy”. The Evening Post. Vol. CXXII, no. 111. 6 November 1936. p. 2. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  17. ^ “Labour Victory”. The Evening Post. Vol. CXXII, no. 110. 5 November 1936. p. 10. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  18. ^ Coppin, W. S. (9 November 1949). Result of By-Election (Report). Wellington City Council.
  19. ^ James, T. W. (10 February 1955). City By-Election (Report). Wellington City Council.
  20. ^ James, T. W. (12 September 1960). City By-Election (Report). Wellington City Council.
  21. ^ “Final Results of City By-election”. The Evening Post. 24 November 1969.
  22. ^ Bly, Ross (13 July 1987). Otari Ward By-Election (Report). Wellington City Council.
  23. ^ “Stephens’ clear Otari win gives fillip to Citizens”. The Evening Post. 11 May 1987.
  24. ^ Bly, Ross (13 July 1987). Karori Ward By-Election (Report). Wellington City Council.
  25. ^ “Declaration of Result of Election”. The Evening Post. 14 July 1987.
  26. ^ Bly, Ross (13 March 1989). Southern Ward By-Election (Report). Wellington City Council.
  27. ^ “Declaration of Result of Election”. The Evening Post. 14 March 1989.
  28. ^ Bly, Ross (29 April 1991). Southern Ward By-Election (Report). Wellington City Council.
  29. ^ “Declaration of Result of Election”. The Evening Post. 1 May 1991.
  30. ^ a b Murphy, Lyn (2 May 1994). “New Councillors get to work”. The Evening Post. p. 3.
  31. ^ Moran, Paul (4 November 1996). “Pepperell wins council by-election”. The Dominion. p. 2.
  32. ^ Walsh, Rebecca (24 March 1997). “New City Councillor Promises Changes”. The Evening Post. p. 1.
  33. ^ “Environmentalist wins council by-election”. The Dominion. 1 May 2000. p. 7.
  34. ^ Lampp, Warwick (22 December 2017). “Results”. Wellington City Council. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  35. ^ Devlin, Collette (22 December 2017). “Fleur Fitzsimons wins Wellington City Council southern ward by-election”. Stuff. Retrieved 23 December 2017.

References[edit]

  • Betts, G.M. (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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