1945 Western Maori by-election

The Western Maori by-election 1945 was a by-election held in the Western Maori electorate during the 28th New Zealand Parliament, on 10 February 1945.

1945 Western Maori by-election
10 February 1945 (1945-02-10)
Turnout9,335
 
Candidate Matiu Ratana Pei te Hurinui Jones
Party Labour National
Popular vote 4,697 2,908
Percentage 53.63 33.20
Member before election

Toko Ratana
Labour

 Elected Member

Matiu Ratana
Labour

Background

The by-election was caused by the death of incumbent MP Toko Ratana on 30 October 1944. He had been the MP since 1935.

The by-election was won by his younger brother Matiu Ratana who also succeeded him as head of the Ratana Church. They were sons of the church founder T W Ratana. Ratana had an electoral alliance with Labour.

The challenger Pei te Hurinui Jones was supported by National and Kingitanga, the Maori King Movement.

Kaponga Erueti who had initially announced his intention to contest the election as an Independent Labour candidate later decided to withdraw from the contest, his withdrawal came late enough that his name still appeared on the ballot paper.[1]

The other six challengers all lost their deposits, although one motorist complainant was aggrieved that all the candidates got a petrol allocation of 250 gallons when the usual personal allocation was ten or fifteen gallons![2]

Results

The following table gives the election results (the results included some "servicemens votes" [3] from overseas):[4][5][6]

1945 Western Maori by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Matiu Ratana 4,697 53.63
National Pei Te Hurinui Jones 2,908 33.20
Independent Winiata Piahana 452 5.16
Independent Takumaru Roetana Tupaea 371 4.24
Independent Rehe Parene Rewi Maniapoto Amohanga 111 1.27
Independent Pepiriri Reweti 108 1.23
Independent Labour Kaponga Erueti 93 1.06
Independent Reha Kau Hou 41 0.47
Majority 1,789 19.16
Informal votes 554
Turnout 9,335

References
  1. "Withdraws From W. Maori". Northern Advocate. 8 February 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  2. "Petrol allowances protest by motorists". Auckland Star. LXXVI (39). 15 February 1945. p. 6. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  3. "Labour win (provisional)". Auckland Star. LXXVI (36). 12 February 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  4. "Western Maori (final result)". The Evening Post. CXXXIX (47). 17 February 1945. p. 9. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  5. "Labour win (provisional)". The Evening Post. CXXXIX (36). 12 February 1945. p. 6. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  6. "Labour keeps seat (provisional)". LXXIII (13680). Bay of Plenty Times. 12 February 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 18 April 2020.


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