Wellington City mayoral election, 1875

Wellington City mayoral election, 1875

15 December 1875

Candidate William Hutchison William Gisborne Party Independent Independent Popular vote 658 586 Percentage 52.89 47.11

Mayor before election William Sefton Moorhouse Elected Mayor William Hutchison

The Wellington City mayoral election, 1875 was the first election for the Mayor of Wellington held by public vote. The election was won by William Hutchison, who beat William Gisborne.

Background

Initially, councillors elected one of their own as mayor towards the end of the year, and the role was usually awarded to the most senior councillor. The system changed with the introduction of The Municipal Corporations Acts Amendment Act, 1875, as that legislation stipulated that mayors had to be elected at large (i.e. by eligible voters).^[1]

The incumbent mayor, William Sefton Moorhouse, did not stand again, and a farewell dinner was given for him on 1 December.^[2] William Gisborne was a strong candidate for the role, but he fell out with the public over him favouring denominational education. In addition, he then announced himself as a candidate for the 1875 general election in the City of Wellington electorate, and that triggered a concerted effort to find a suitable opponent. A 'less than optimal' candidate was eventually secured in William Hutchison, who had been in Wellington for less than two years, and whose newspaper, the Tribune, had failed during that time.^[3] One of the local newspapers, The Evening Post, was a very strong supporter of Gisborne, and lost no opportunity to outline the failings of Hutchison to the public.^[4]

Election results

The election was held on 15 December.^[6] Hutchison beat Gisborne, and The Evening Post commented that this came as no surprise as Gisborne's stance on education had been misrepresented and twisted without scruple.^[7] The defeat caused Gisborne to withdraw from the general election.^[3] In December 1876, Hutchison was re-elected unopposed for a second term as mayor.^[8]

References

Mayors of Wellington City
Mayors	elected by councillors George Hunter William Guyton Joseph Dransfield Charles Borlase William Sefton Moorhouse elected at large William Hutchison Joseph Dransfield George Allen William Hutchison George Fisher Arthur Winton Brown Samuel Brown John Duthie Charles Johnston Arthur Winton Brown Francis Bell Alfred Brandon Charles Luke George Fisher Francis Bell John Blair John Aitken Thomas William Hislop Alfred Newman Thomas Wilford David McLaren John Luke Robert Wright Charles Norwood George Troup Thomas Hislop Will Appleton Rob Macalister Frank Kitts Michael Fowler Ian Lawrence James Belich Fran Wilde Mark Blumsky Kerry Prendergast Celia Wade-Brown Justin Lester
Mayoral elections	Annual term 1875 1876† 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 Biennial term 1899 1901 1903† 1905 1907 1909 1910‡ 1911† 1912‡ 1913 1915 1917† 1919 1921 1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1933† Triennial term 1935 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
† Elected unopposed · ‡ By-election