Patea by-election, 1954

31 July 1954 (1954-07-31)



Candidate	William Sheat	Benjamin R Winchcombe
Party	Independent	Labour
Popular vote	3,648	3,630
Percentage	48.11%	47.87%

MP before election

William Sheat
National

Elected MP

William Sheat
Independent

The 1954 Patea by election was held on 31 July during the 30th New Zealand Parliament, and was caused by the resignation of incumbent National MP, William Sheat.

Background

William Sheat represented the Patea electorate between 1943 and 1954^[1] as a National MP, and as an independent, but in 1954, he failed to win reselection as a National Party candidate after boundary changes. On 14 May of that year, he promptly resigned his seat and won it back in the by-election as an Independent. He subsequently did not stand in the 1954 general election but was returned to Parliament in the 1957 election as the MP for Egmont and he retired at the 1966 election.

The writ for the by-election was originally issued on 3 June, but on 12 June Harry Combs (MP for Onslow) died,^[2] necessitating a second by-election. The government preferred both by-elections to held at the same time so in order to postpone the Patea poll the government passed the Patea By-election Act 1954. However, as the Labour candidate in Onslow (Henry May) was unopposed he was declared elected when the writs closed, on 7 July.

Previous election

1951 general election: Patea
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	National	William Sheat	7,910	59.24
	Labour	F. W. Finer	5,443	40.76
Majority			2,467	18.48
Informal votes
Turnout			13,353	88.25
Registered electors			15,131
	National hold		Swing

Results

The final vote count^[3] included 436 special votes, which were not included in the election-night results. Sheat's majority of 24 on election night was only 18 after the final count.

Patea by-election, 1954^[3]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William Sheat	3,648	48.11
	Labour	Benjamin R Winchcombe	3,630	47.87
	New Liberal	J Duggan	305	4.02
Majority			18	0.24
Turnout			7,583	50.12
Registered electors			15,131
	Independent gain from National		Swing

Notes

↑ Wilson 1985, p. 270.
↑ Wilson 1985, p. 190.
1 2 Norton 1988, p. ?.
↑ "Close Vote in N.Z. Poll". The Sun-Herald. Sydney, NSW. 1 August 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 19 March 2014.

References

Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand parliamentary election results, 1946–1987. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington Department of Political Science. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

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