1914 Wellington City mayoral election

1914 Wellington City mayoral election
Turnout	20,472 (50.19%)
Mayor before election; John Luke;	Elected mayor ; John Luke;

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.

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

^ "Wellington City Council". Free Lance. Vol. XIII, no. 671. 10 May 1913. p. 7. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
^ Taylor, Kerry. "McLaren, David - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
^ "Wellington Mayoral Contest". The Maoriland Worker. Vol. 5, no. 169. 29 April 1914. p. 8.
^ ^a ^b Betts 1970, pp. 133.
^ "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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[Wellington_City_Council-1] "Wellington City Council". Free Lance. Vol. XIII, no. 671. 10 May 1913. p. 7. Retrieved 24 May 2016.

[DNZB_McLaren-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.

[FOOTNOTEBetts1970133-4] Betts 1970, pp. 133.

[Official_Figures-5] "Official Figures". Maoriland Worker. Vol. 5, no. 170. 6 May 1914. p. 8. Retrieved 17 August 2016.

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