1945 Western Maori by-election

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1945 Western Maori by-election
Flag of New Zealand.svg
  1943 general 10 February 1945 (1945-02-10) 1946 general  
Turnout9,335
  Matiu Ratana.PNG No image.png
Candidate Matiu Ratana Pei te Hurinui Jones
Party Labour National
Popular vote4,6972,908
Percentage53.6333.20

Member before election

Toko Ratana
Labour

Elected Member

Matiu Ratana
Labour

The Western Maori by-election 1945 was a by-election held in the Western Maori electorate during the 28th New Zealand Parliament, on 10 February 1945.

Contents

Background

The by-election was caused by the death of incumbent MP Toko Ratana on 30 October 1944. He had been the MP since 1935.

The by-election was won by his younger brother Matiu Ratana who also succeeded him as head of the Ratana Church. They were sons of the church founder T W Ratana. Ratana had an electoral alliance with Labour.

The challenger Pei te Hurinui Jones was supported by National and Kingitanga, the Maori King Movement.

Kaponga Erueti who had initially announced his intention to contest the election as an Independent Labour candidate later decided to withdraw from the contest, his withdrawal came late enough that his name still appeared on the ballot paper. [1]

The other six challengers all lost their deposits, although one motorist complainant was aggrieved that all the candidates got a petrol allocation of 250 gallons when the usual personal allocation was ten or fifteen gallons! [2]

Results

The following table gives the election results (the results included some "servicemens votes" [3] from overseas): [4] [5] [6]

1945 Western Maori by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Matiu Ratana 4,697 53.63
National Pei Te Hurinui Jones 2,90833.20
Independent Winiata Piahana4525.16
Independent Takumaru Roetana Tupaea3714.24
Independent Rehe Parene Rewi Maniapoto Amohanga1111.27
Independent Pepiriri Reweti1081.23
Independent Labour Kaponga Erueti931.06
Independent Reha Kau Hou410.47
Majority1,78919.16
Informal votes554
Turnout 9,335

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References

  1. "Withdraws From W. Maori". Northern Advocate . 8 February 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  2. "Petrol allowances protest by motorists". Auckland Star . Vol. LXXVI, no. 39. 15 February 1945. p. 6. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  3. "Labour win (provisional)". Auckland Star . Vol. LXXVI, no. 36. 12 February 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  4. "Western Maori (final result)". The Evening Post . Vol. CXXXIX, no. 47. 17 February 1945. p. 9. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  5. "Labour win (provisional)". The Evening Post . Vol. CXXXIX, no. 36. 12 February 1945. p. 6. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  6. "Labour keeps seat (provisional)". Vol. LXXIII, no. 13680. Bay of Plenty Times. 12 February 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 18 April 2020.