City of Wellington by-election, 1892

City of Wellington by-election, 1892

15 January 1892 (1892-01-15)

Turnout 75.50%   Candidate William McLean Francis Bell Party Liberal Conservative Popular vote 3,388 3,245 Percentage 51.08% 48.92%

MP before election Kennedy Macdonald Liberal Elected MP William McLean Liberal

The City of Wellington by-election of 1892 was a by-election held on 15 January 1892 during the 11th New Zealand Parliament in the urban seat of the City of Wellington.

Background

The election was triggered due to the resignation of sitting Member Kennedy Macdonald amidst a bankruptcy claim.^[1] The contest was won by William McLean of the Liberal Party. McLean narrowly beat the conservative Francis Bell by 3,388 votes to 3,245.^[2]

The election was marred by a scandal over double voting. Over twenty cases of people casting votes more than once were discovered in a subsequent investigation.^[3] In his congratulatory speech to McLean, Prime Minister John Ballance also made reference to the scandal, alleging that the Tory Party had brought in outsiders to vote who had long ceased to be residents in the electorate.^[4]

Results

The following table gives the election results:

McLean held the seat until the 1893 general election, when he was defeated.^[6] Bell won a seat in Parliament for the Wellington electorate in 1893 and would go on to become Prime Minister more than three decades later.^[7] Macdonald was cleared of his bankruptcy charges but was not re-elected in 1893. He was later appointed to the Legislative Council in 1903.^[8]

Notes

References

• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. 

« (1853–1890) «   By-elections in New Zealand in the Liberal Party era (1891–1911)   » (1912–1938) »
11th Parliament	Northern Maori, 1891 Egmont, 1891 Newton, 1891 Te Aroha, 1891 Waikato, 1891 City of Christchurch, 1891 City of Wellington, 1892 Bruce, 1892 Rangitikei, 1892 Inangahua, 1893 Wanganui, 1893 Thames, 1893 City of Auckland, 1893
12th Parliament	Waitemata, 1894 Tuapeka, 1894 City of Auckland, 1895 City of Christchurch, 1896
13th Parliament	Suburbs of Wellington, 1897 Awarua, 1897 City of Dunedin, 1897 City of Wellington, 1898 Mataura, 1898 Tuapeka, 1898 City of Wellington, 1899
14th Parliament	Otaki, 1900 City of Auckland, 1900 Waihemo, 1900 Northern Maori, 1901 City of Christchurch, 1901 Patea, Jul 1901 Patea, Nov 1901 Caversham, 1901
15th Parliament	Pahiatua, 1904 City of Wellington, 1905
16th Parliament	Westland, 1906 Manukau, 1906 Taranaki, 1907 Tuapeka, 1908
17th Parliament	Thames, 1909 Northern Maori, 1909 Rangitikei, 1909 Auckland East, 1910 Christchurch North, 1911