1945 Hamilton by-election

1945 Hamilton by-election
Turnout	13,855 (69.19%)
Member before election; Frank Findlay ; National	Elected Member; Hilda Ross ; National

Last updated April 17, 2024

The 1945 Hamilton by-election was a by-election held during the 27th New Zealand Parliament in the Waikato electorate of Hamilton. The by-election occurred following the death of MP Frank Findlay and was won by Hilda Ross, both of the National Party.

Background

Findlay, who was first elected to represent Hamilton in 1943, died on 31 March 1945. This triggered the Hamilton by-election, which was contested by four candidates.

Hilda Ross contested the election for the National Party. She had served as a member of the Hospital Board and Council in Hamilton for several years and was at the time of the election the Deputy-Mayor. Former Hamilton MP Charles Barrell was selected as the Labour Party's nominee. He had been MP for Hamilton between 1935 and 1943, before losing his seat to Findlay. Leader of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), John A. Lee was his party's candidate. Lee had lost his seat of Grey Lynn in 1943 following his split with the Labour Party in 1940 and contested the Hamilton seat in an attempt to re-enter Parliament, where the DLP no longer had any presence. The fourth person to put their name forward was independent candidate Douglas Seymour.

The by-election was held soon after VE Day (which Walter Nash decided should be celebrated on 9 not 8 May), and a "badly-timed" gazette notice calling up more 18-year-olds for unspecified military service. The National Party proposed that New Zealand troops should be withdrawn from Italy and New Zealand's role in the Pacific restricted to food supply. The Australian High Commissioner Thomas d'Alton was not the only one to see the irony that Labour wanted to keep New Zealand troops overseas (to have a say in the peace) while National wanted to withdraw them. The government candidate lost by an increased margin.^[1]

Previous election

1943 general election: Hamilton^[2]^[3]^{[ob 1]}
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Frank Findlay	7,660	48.04
	Labour	Charles Barrell	7,206	45.20	-11.65
	Democratic Labour	Alfred E. Allen	885	5.55
	Real Democracy	William Henry Thompson	193	1.21
Majority			454	2.85
Informal votes			167	1.04	+0.40
Turnout			16,111	92.21	-1.10
Registered electors			17,473

Table footnotes:

↑ Registered electors refers to civilian voters only; nationwide, 93,295 servicemen also cast valid votes although their names did not appear on electoral rolls.^[4]

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1945 Hamilton by-election ^[5]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Hilda Ross	6,772	48.87
	Labour	Charles Barrell	5,691	41.07	-4.13
	Democratic Labour	John A. Lee	1,229	8.87
	Independent	Douglas Seymour	163	1.17
Informal votes			58	0.41	-0.63
Majority			1,081	7.80
Turnout			13,855	69.19	-23.02
Registered electors			20,022

Ross won the election, and would win every subsequent general election until 1959, when she died in office.^[7] Her death caused the 1959 Hamilton by-election.^[8]

Notes

↑ Hensley, Gerald (2009). Beyond the Battlefield: New Zealand and its allies 1939-45. Auckland: Viking. p. 370. ISBN 9780670074044.
↑ The General Election, 1943. National Library. 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
↑ "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald . Vol. 80, no. 24713. 13 October 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
↑ McRobie 1989, p. 92.
↑ "Woman Wins". Auckland Star . Vol. LXXVI, no. 124. 28 May 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
↑ "Declaration of Result". The New Zealand Herald . Vol. 25219, no. 82. 4 June 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
↑ Wilson 1985, p. 231.
↑ Wilson 1985, p. 179.

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References

Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

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[5] Registered electors refers to civilian voters only; nationwide, 93,295 servicemen also cast valid votes although their names did not appear on electoral rolls.^[4]

[1] Hensley, Gerald (2009). Beyond the Battlefield: New Zealand and its allies 1939-45. Auckland: Viking. p. 370. ISBN 9780670074044.

[General_election,_1943-2] The General Election, 1943. National Library. 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2015.

[3] "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald . Vol. 80, no. 24713. 13 October 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 15 May 2017.

[FOOTNOTEMcRobie198992-4] McRobie 1989, p. 92.

[6] "Woman Wins". Auckland Star . Vol. LXXVI, no. 124. 28 May 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 6 June 2017.

[7] "Declaration of Result". The New Zealand Herald . Vol. 25219, no. 82. 4 June 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 6 June 2017.

[FOOTNOTEWilson1985231-8] Wilson 1985, p. 231.

[FOOTNOTEWilson1985179-9] Wilson 1985, p. 179.

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26th Parliament	Christchurch South, 1939 Auckland West, 1940 Waipawa, 1940 Waitemata, 1941 Bay of Plenty, 1941 Mid-Canterbury, 1942 Temuka, 1942 Hauraki, 1942 Christchurch East, 1943 Northern Maori, 1943
27th Parliament	Awarua, 1944 Western Maori, 1945 Hamilton, 1945 Dunedin North, 1945 Raglan, 1946
28th Parliament	Avon, 1947 Mount Albert, 1947 Westland, 1947
29th Parliament	Brooklyn, 1951
30th Parliament	Dunedin North, 1953 Onehunga, 1953 Onslow, 1954 Patea, 1954
31st Parliament	Riccarton, 1956 Bay of Plenty, 1957
32nd Parliament	Hamilton, 1959
33rd Parliament	Hurunui, 1961 Waitaki, 1962 Buller, 1962 Timaru, 1962 Otahuhu, 1963 Northern Maori, 1963 Grey Lynn, 1963
34th Parliament	There were no by-elections during the term of the 34th Parliament.
35th Parliament	Southern Maori, 1967 Fendalton, 1967 Petone, 1967 Palmerston North, 1967 Eastern Maori, 1967 Hutt, 1968
36th Parliament	Marlborough, 1970
37th Parliament	Sydenham, 1974
38th Parliament	Nelson, 1976 Mangere, 1977 Pahiatua, 1977 Rangitikei, 1978
39th Parliament	Christchurch Central, 1979 Northern Maori, 1980 Onehunga, 1980 East Coast Bays, 1980
40th Parliament	There were no by-elections during the term of the 40th Parliament.
41st Parliament	Timaru, 1985
42nd Parliament	There were no by-elections during the term of the 42nd Parliament.
43rd Parliament	Tamaki, 1992 Wellington Central, 1992 Tauranga, 1993
44th Parliament	Selwyn, 1994