1945 Hamilton by-election explained

Election Name:1945 Hamilton by-election
Country:New Zealand
Flag Year:1945
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1943 New Zealand general election
Previous Year:1943 general
Next Election:1946 New Zealand general election
Next Year:1946 general
Election Date:27 May 1945
Turnout:13,855 (69.19%)
Candidate1:Hilda Ross
Party1:New Zealand National Party
Popular Vote1:6,772
Candidate2:Charles Barrell
Party2:New Zealand Labour Party
Popular Vote2:5,691
Candidate3:John A. Lee
Party3:Democratic Labour Party (New Zealand)
Popular Vote3:1,229
Member
Before Election:Frank Findlay
After Election:Hilda Ross
Before Party:New Zealand National Party
After Party:New Zealand National Party
Result:Labour hold

The 1945 Hamilton by-election was a by-election held during the 27th New Zealand Parliament in the Waikato electorate of Hamilton. The by-election occurred following the death of MP Frank Findlay and was won by Hilda Ross, both of the National Party.

Background

Findlay, who was first elected to represent Hamilton in 1943, died on 31 March 1945. This triggered the Hamilton by-election, which was contested by four candidates.

Hilda Ross contested the election for the National Party. She had served as a member of the Hospital Board and Council in Hamilton for several years and was at the time of the election the Deputy-Mayor. Former Hamilton MP Charles Barrell was selected as the Labour Party's nominee. He had been MP for Hamilton between 1935 and 1943, before losing his seat to Findlay. Leader of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), John A. Lee was his party's candidate. Lee had lost his seat of in 1943 following his split with the Labour Party in 1940 and contested the Hamilton seat in an attempt to re-enter Parliament, where the DLP no longer had any presence. The fourth person to put their name forward was independent candidate Douglas Seymour.

The by-election was held soon after VE Day (which Walter Nash decided should be celebrated on 9 not 8 May), and a "badly-timed" gazette notice calling up more 18-year-olds for unspecified military service. The National Party proposed that New Zealand troops should be withdrawn from Italy and New Zealand's role in the Pacific restricted to food supply. The Australian High Commissioner Thomas d'Alton was not the only one to see the irony that Labour wanted to keep New Zealand troops overseas (to have a say in the peace) while National wanted to withdraw them. The government candidate lost by an increased margin.[1]

Previous election

Table footnotes:

Results

The following table gives the election results:

Ross won the election, and would win every subsequent general election until 1959, when she died in office. Her death caused the 1959 Hamilton by-election.

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hensley, Gerald . Beyond the Battlefield: New Zealand and its allies 1939-45 . 2009 . Viking . Auckland . 9780670074044 . 370 .