1935 Wellington City mayoral election
← 1933 7 May 1935 1938 →
Turnout41,139 (60.49%)
 
Candidate Thomas Hislop Bob Semple
Party Citizens' Labour
Popular vote 21,583 19,249
Percentage 52.46 46.79
Mayor before election

Thomas Hislop

 Elected Mayor

Thomas Hislop

The 1935 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1935, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

Background

Incumbent mayor Thomas Hislop stood for a third-term, the first mayor to do so since Sir John Luke in 1915. His opponent was Bob Semple, a Labour councillor and MP for Wellington East. During the campaign, Semple received slanderous allegations of being an Atheist, which he denied stating "If the people of the world followed the philosophy of Jesus there would be no poverty...".[1]

For the second election in a row, Labour won a majority of the vote, but could not win a majority of seats.[2] However, Labour did win one more seat than in 1933 and then went on to win a by-election soon after increase their representation further.[3]

Mayoralty results

1935 Wellington mayoral election[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens' Thomas Hislop 21,583 52.46
Labour Bob Semple 19,249 46.79
Informal votes 307 0.74
Majority 2,334 5.67
Turnout 41,139 60.49

Councillor results

1935 Wellington City Council election[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Peter Fraser 28,362 68.94 +20.30
Labour Charles Chapman 26,049 63.31 -3.11
Labour Robert McKeen 25,571 62.15 -2.22
Citizens' Robert Wright 22,450 54.57 +7.26
Labour Peter Butler 20,646 50.18 +6.32
Labour Tom Brindle 20,345 49.45 +3.56
Citizens' William Bennett 19,930 48.44 -4.10
Citizens' John Burns 19,063 46.33 +1.88
Citizens' Will Appleton 19,036 46.27 -1.95
Citizens' William Gaudin 18,944 46.04 -6.85
Citizens' Martin Luckie 18,616 45.25 -3.54
Citizens' Len McKenzie 18,579 45.16 -2.85
Labour Adam Black 18,559 45.11 +4.88
Citizens' Herbert Huggins 18,467 44.88 -2.27
Citizens' William Duncan 18,309 44.50 -2.43
Labour Andrew Parlane[nb 1] 18,271 44.41 +1.75
Labour Alexander Croskery 18,143 44.10
Labour Michael Reardon 18,043 43.85
Citizens' Thomas Forsyth 17,827 43.33 -3.16
Labour John Read 17,648 42.89
Labour Jim Collins 17,327 42.11 +1.57
Labour Michael Walsh 16,970 41.25 +1.46
Labour John Tucker 16,963 41.23 +1.99
Citizens' Robert Macalister 16,892 41.06 -2.23
Labour Caryll Hay 16,343 39.72 +0.90
Labour James Ranson 16,270 39.54 -0.21
Citizens' Paul Hoskins 15,592 37.90 +3.94
Communist Charlie Brooks 3,310 8.04
Communist John Joseph Robinson 2,994 7.27
Communist Connie Rawcliffe 2,695 6.55
Communist Albert Birchfield 2,680 6.51
Communist Miles Ormerod 2,153 5.23

Table footnotes:

  1. ^ Parlane was appointed to fill the vacancy on the council in 1936 caused by Peter Fraser's resignation[6]

Notes

  1. ^ Hickey, Carina (2010). From Coal Pit to Leather Pit: Life Stories of Robert Semple (PDF) (PhD). Massey University. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  2. ^ Betts 1970, pp. 146.
  3. ^ "Labour Victory". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXII, no. 110. 5 November 1936. p. 10. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  4. ^ "The Mayoral Issue". The Evening Post. Vol. CXIX, no. 110. 11 May 1935. p. 10. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Wellington City Council". The Evening Post. Vol. CXIX, no. 119. 22 May 1935. p. 3.
  6. ^ "No by-election". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXI, no. 109. 9 May 1936. p. 10. Retrieved 29 June 2018.

References


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