The 1878 Grey Valley by-election was a by-election held on 22 May 1878 during the 6th New Zealand Parliament in the West Coast electorate of Grey Valley.
The by-election was caused by the resignation of the incumbent MP Martin Kennedy on 13 April 1878. [1]
The by-election was won by Richard Reeves.
He was opposed by William Henry Harrison (who had been elected for the electorate in the 1871 election) and John Barrowman; [2] Heber Newton withdrew but got 25 votes. [3] [4]
The following table gives the election result:
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Independent | Richard Reeves | 487 | 47.61 | ||
Independent | William Henry Harrison | 302 | 29.52 | ||
Independent | John Barrowman | 209 | 20.43 | ||
Majority | 185 | 18.08 | |||
Informal votes | 25 | ||||
Turnout | 1023 |
Greymouth is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is 14,250, which accounts for 43% of the West Coast's inhabitants. The Greymouth urban area had an estimated population of 8,340. A large proportion of the District, 65%, is part of the Conservation Estate owned and managed by the Department of Conservation making Greymouth a natural centre for walkers and trampers.
Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is 44 km south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is 34 km to the north, Maruia is 63 km to the east, and the Lewis Pass is 66 km to the south-east.
The 1896 New Zealand general election was held on Wednesday, 4 December in the general electorates, and on Thursday, 19 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 13th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 337,024 (76.1%) voters turned out to vote.
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Richard Harman Jeffares Reeves was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party. He was acting Speaker of the Legislative Council in 1905.
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