| Election Name: | 1936 Manukau by-election |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Flag Year: | 1936 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1935 New Zealand general election |
| Previous Year: | 1935 general |
| Next Election: | 1938 New Zealand general election |
| Next Year: | 1938 general |
| Election Date: | 30 September 1936 |
| Turnout: | 12,591 (78.69%) |
| Candidate1: | Arthur Osborne |
| Party1: | New Zealand Labour Party |
| Popular Vote1: | 8,593 |
| Percentage1: | 68.24% |
| Candidate2: | Frederick Doidge |
| Party2: | New Zealand National Party |
| Popular Vote2: | 3,998 |
| Percentage2: | 31.75% |
| MP | |
| Before Election: | Bill Jordan |
| Before Party: | New Zealand Labour Party |
| After Election: | Arthur Osborne |
| After Party: | New Zealand Labour Party |
The 1936 Manukau by-election was a by-election during the 25th New Zealand Parliament in the electorate. It was held on Wednesday 30 September 1936. This by-election came about because of the resignation of Bill Jordan upon his appointment to the position of High Commissioner to the UK during the term of the 25th New Zealand Parliament. The by-election in the electorate was contested by Arthur Osborne for Labour and Frederick Doidge for National, with Osborne winning the election.
A by-election was triggered due to Bill Jordan's resignation upon his appointment to the post of High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
The Labour party chose Arthur Osborne as their candidate for the seat. He had previously contested the electorate unsuccessfully in the,, and s.[1] [2] [3] In the, he unsuccessfully contested the electorate.[4]
The unsuccessful nominees for the Labour candidacy were Mary Dreaver, Alec Monteith and James Purtell.[5]
The newly created National Party chose Frederick Doidge as their contestant for the seat. In the 1935 election, Doidge ran as an Independent in the electorate, despite briefly courting the anti-Labour Democrat Party. Of the four candidates, he came second after Labour's Alexander Moncur.[6] As a new party this was National's first real electoral test to see if the unification of the United, Reform & Democrat parties would be able to combat Labour more effectively.
The following table contains the results of the by-election:
The Manukau electorate was abolished at the next election in . Osborne shifted to the new seat of, which he held until his death in 1953. Doidge later represented the electorate of for National from 1938 to 1951, when he retired.