1913 Wellington City mayoral election

The 1913 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1913, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. David McLaren, the incumbent Mayor, was defeated by John Luke by a relatively narrow margin, becoming the new Mayor of Wellington. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

1913 Wellington City mayoral election
30 April 1913
Turnout19,490
 
Candidate John Luke David McLaren
Party Citizens League United Labour
Popular vote 9,997 9,493
Percentage 51.29 48.71
Mayor before election

David McLaren

 Elected Mayor

John Luke

Background

Incumbent Mayor David McLaren sought a second term, opposed only by former MP John Luke. To avoid a repeat of the previous election, a conscious effort was made to ensure only a single "anti-Labour" candidate for the mayoralty. The strategy worked, although Luke's slim majority of only 500 votes coupled with the fact that McLaren's share of the vote went substantially up caused real alarm. In addition the two sitting Labour councillors were re-elected with Labour's proportion of votes increasing there as well. This confounded expectations of a strong anti-Labour backlash at the polls following the Waihi miners' strike only months before.[1]

Mayoralty results
1913 Wellington mayoral election[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens League John Luke 9,997 51.29
United Labour David McLaren 9,493 48.71 +7.73
Majority 504 2.58
Turnout 19,490

Councillor results
1913 Wellington local election[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Robert Fletcher 10,845 55.64 -15.53
Citizens League William Barber 10,026 51.44 -9.27
Independent John Fuller Jr. 9,745 50.00 +5.59
Citizens League Arthur Atkinson 9,632 49.42 +1.94
Citizens League Robert Wright 9,296 47.69
Citizens League George Frost 9,253 47.47 +7.00
Citizens League Len McKenzie 9,106 46.72 +5.93
Citizens League Thomas Hislop 8,466 43.43
Citizens League James Godber 8,445 43.32 +1.68
United Labour Alfred Hindmarsh 8,197 42.05 -10.43
Citizens League Harry Buddle 8,139 41.75
Citizens League William Thompson 7,911 40.59
Independent John Fitzgerald 7,654 39.27 -12.96
Citizens League Martin Luckie 7,644 39.22
United Labour Edward Tregear 7,639 39.19 -13.97
Independent Falk Cohen 7,620 39.09
Citizens League James Trevor 7,606 39.02 -2.12
Independent John Castle 7,357 37.74 +8.76
Independent William Perry 7,204 36.96
Citizens League Thomas Neave 6,136 31.48
United Labour Walter Bedford 5,465 28.04
United Labour Elijah Carey 5,078 26.05 -6.20
United Labour Michael Reardon 5,063 25.97 -6.19
United Labour Andrew Hornblow 4,483 23.00
United Labour Tom Young 4,325 22.19
United Labour Charles Henry Chapman 4,320 22.16
Independent John Pollock 4,285 21.98
United Labour William Dobson 4,014 20.59
United Labour Edward Kennedy 3,775 19.36
United Labour William Hampton 3,734 19.15
United Labour John Dalrymple 3,652 18.73
Independent Daniel Moriarty 3,247 16.65
United Labour William Noot 3,113 15.97
United Labour Solomon Gordon 3,072 15.76
Independent Robert Williams 2,898 14.86
Independent Cyril Tanner 1,298 6.65

Notes
  1. Betts 1970, pp. 132-3.
  2. "Wellington City Council". Free Lance. XIII (671). 10 May 1913. p. 7. Retrieved 24 May 2016.

References
  • Betts, G.M. (1970). Betts on Wellington:a city and its politics. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN 0 589 00469 7.
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