1945 Hamilton by-election

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.

1945 Hamilton by-election
27 May 1945
Turnout13,855 (69.19%)
 
Candidate Hilda Ross Charles Barrell John A. Lee
Party National Labour Democratic Labour
Popular vote 6,772 5,691 1,229
Member before election

Frank Findlay
National

 Elected Member

Hilda Ross
National

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 Grey Lynn 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 The National Party proposed that New Zealand troops should be withdrawn from Italy and New Zealand's role in the Pacific restricted to food supply.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
1943 general election: Hamilton[2][3][ob 1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Frank Findlay 7,660 48.04
Labour Charles Barrell 7,206 45.20 -11.65
Democratic Labour Alfred E. Allen 885 5.55
Real Democracy William Henry Thompson 193 1.21
Majority 454 2.85
Informal votes 167 1.04 +0.40
Turnout 16,111 92.21 -1.10
Registered electors 17,473

Table footnotes:

  1. Registered electors refers to civilian voters only; nationwide, 93,295 servicemen also cast valid votes although their names did not appear on electoral rolls.[4]

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1945 Hamilton by-election[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Hilda Ross 6,772 48.87
Labour Charles Barrell 5,691 41.07 -4.13
Democratic Labour John A. Lee 1,229 8.87
Independent Douglas Seymour 163 1.17
Informal votes 58 0.41 -0.63
Majority 1,081 7.80
Turnout 13,855 69.19 -23.02
Registered electors 20,022

Ross won the election, and would win every subsequent general election until 1959, when she died in office.[7] Her death caused the 1959 Hamilton by-election.[8]

See also

Notes
  1. Hensley, Gerald (2009). Beyond the Battlefield: New Zealand and its allies 1939-45. Auckland: Viking. p. 370. ISBN 9780670074044.
  2. The General Election, 1943. National Library. 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  3. "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. 80 (24713). 13 October 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  4. McRobie 1989, p. 92.
  5. "Woman Wins". Auckland Star. LXXVI (124). 28 May 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  6. "Declaration of Result". The New Zealand Herald. 25219 (82). 4 June 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  7. Wilson 1985, p. 231.
  8. Wilson 1985, p. 179.

References
  • Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
  • McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
  • 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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