1901 Wellington City Council election

1901 Wellington City Council election

← 1900 24 April 1901 1902 →
Turnout	8,533 (82.24%)
Mayoral election
Candidate John Aitken Thomas Wilford Party Independent Independent Liberal Popular vote 5,801 2,732 Percentage 67.98 32.02
Mayor before election John Aitken Independent Elected mayor John Aitken Independent
Council election
12 seats on the Wellington City Council 7 seats needed for a majority
Party Seats +/– Ratepayers / Progressive 6 Progressive 3 Ratepayers 2 Independent Labour / Progressive 1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The 1901Wellington City Council election was a local election held on 24 April in Wellington, New Zealand as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. Voters elected the mayor of Wellington for a one-year term and 15 city councillors for a two-year term. In person voting and the first-past-the-post voting system were used.

Background

Electoral reforms were implemented in 1901, which extended the municipal term for councillors to biennial terms and saw the abolition of the ward system, implementing the process of electing councillors at large instead. ^{[1] [2]}

Ticket voting began in the city, bringing political competition in civic affairs with electors voting en bloc. ^[3] A Ratepayers' Association was founded in 1899 opposing several of the then mayor, John Rutherfurd Blair 's, policies. Initially more of a pressure group, the association grew into a municipal ticket that claimed "The advancing of public enterprise likely to be for the public benefit" as it core policy belief. It was not wholly opposed to change but it favoured caution and defend the interests of the ratepayer in the new electoral environment in which the franchise had been widened. In 1901, a rival organisation, the Wellington Municipal Progressive Association, was established. It supported a more active policy for the city and promoted the interests of newly enfranchised voters. ^[4] Both tickets interest-group activities were insufficient to maintain them outside of an election period. By 1902 both had largely faded away. ^[5]

Candidates

Wellington Ratepayers' Association

The Wellington Ratepayers' Associations endorsed 12 candidates, including William Henry Peter Barber, Frederick Bolton, Paul Coffey, Robert Davenport, James Devine, James Godber, John Luke, Matthew Murdoch, David Nathan, Allan Orr, John Smith Jr., and George Winder. ^[6]

Municipal Progressive Association

The Municipal Progressive Association endorsed the incumbent mayor John Aitken for re-election, as well as 12 candidates for council. These included William Henry Peter Barber, William Evans, James Godber, Alfred Hindmarsh, Charles Hayward Izard, John Luke, Matthew Murdoch, Robert McKenzie, David McLaren, Robert Tolhurst, John Smith Jr., and George Winder. ^[7]

Independent Labour

Candidates with connections to the organised labour and trade union movement included David McLaren, Robert McKenzie, Allan Orr, Paul Coffey, Edmond Carrigan, and Alfred Hindmarsh. ^{[7] [8]}

Results

The results of the election were: ^{[9] [6] [7] [8] [10] [11]}

1901 Wellington City Council election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ratepayers	David Nathan	5,847	86.51
	Ratepayers/Progressive	John Luke	5,316	78.66
	Ratepayers/Progressive	William Henry Peter Barber	5,170	76.50
	Progressive	William Evans	5,074	75.08
	Ratepayers/Progressive	George Winder	5,056	74.81
	Ratepayers/Progressive	Matthew Murdoch	4,424	65.46
	Ratepayers/Progressive	John Smith Jr.	4,315	63.85
	Ratepayers	James Devine	4,127	61.06
	Progressive	Charles Hayward Izard	3,908	57.82
	Ratepayers/Progressive	James Godber	3,744	55.40
	Progressive	Robert Tolhurst	3,640	53.86
	Labour/Progressive	David McLaren	3,210	47.49
	Labour/Progressive	Robert McKenzie	3,035	44.90
	Independent	Frederic Townsend	2,955	43.72
	Independent	George Anderson	2,755	40.76
	Labour/Ratepayers	Allan Orr	2,699	39.93
	Labour/Ratepayers	Paul Coffey	2,491	36.86
	Ratepayers	Robert Davenport	2,236	33.08
	Ratepayers	Frederick Bolton	2,189	32.39
	Independent	Henry Fielder	2,084	30.83
	Labour	Edmond Carrigan	2,033	30.08
	Labour/Progressive	Alfred Hindmarsh	2,028	30.00
	Independent	Alexander Rand	1,464	21.66
	Independent	Alexander Wilson	1,299	19.22
Turnout			8,533
Registered electors			10,376

References

• Betts, George (1970). Betts on Wellington: A City and its Politics. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN   0 589 00469 7.

Citations

1. "Municipal Corporations Act 1900". New Zealand Parliament. 1900. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
2. Betts 1970, p. 39.
3. Betts 1970, p. 35.
4. Betts 1970, p. 96.
5. Betts 1970, p. 97.
6. "City Council Election". The Evening Post . Vol. LXI, no. 94. 23 April 1901. p. 6. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
7. "Municipal Elections". New Zealand Times . Vol. 71, no. 4333. 17 April 1901. p. 7.
8. "The Municipal Elections". New Zealand Times . Vol. 71, no. 4321. 2 April 1901. p. 5.
9. "Wellington City Council". The Free Lance. Vol. I, no. 43. 27 April 1901. p. 11. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
10. "The City Elections". Evening Post . Vol. 61, no. 96. 25 April 1901. p. 4.
11. "The Trades Council and the Mayoralty". Evening Post . Vol. 61, no. 84. 11 April 1901. p. 5.