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The Mount Albert seat in the House of Representatives. Election by simple majority using first-past-the-post voting. | ||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 12,943 (87.09%) | |||||||||||||||
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The 1947 Mount Albert by-election was a by-election held during the 28th New Zealand Parliament in the Auckland electorate of Mount Albert. The by-election occurred following the death of MP Arthur Richards and was won by Warren Freer.
Arthur Richards, who was first elected to represent Roskill for the Labour Party in 1931, died on 5 August 1947. [1] This triggered the Mount Albert by-election, which occurred on 24 September 1947. Warren Freer was the candidate for the Labour Party, and Jack Garland was the candidate for the National Party.
There were nine nominees for the Labour Party candidacy who included: [2]
The decision was deferred to the Labour Party's national executive. Freer was only 26 and relatively unknown to executive members, but local member Dick Barter convinced party leader Peter Fraser that his candidacy in Eden was adequate apprenticeship. [3] He was eventually selected. [4] [5] Richards had urged Freer to stand for the safe Labour seat of Mt Albert when he died. [3]
The National Party had five nominations which were: [6]
Garland was chosen after winning a ballot of local members. [7]
Freer recalled two inspiring campaign speeches delivered by Martyn Finlay and Mabel Howard which were received well by voters. [8]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Arthur Richards | 7,681 | 56.88 | ||
| National | Frederick Ashley Hosking | 5,824 | 43.12 | ||
| Informal votes | 74 | 0.54 | |||
| Majority | 1,857 | 13.75 | |||
| Turnout | 13,579 | 94.47 | |||
| Registered electors | 14,374 | ||||
The following table gives the election results:
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Warren Freer | 7,235 | 56.01 | ||
| National | Jack Garland | 5,682 | 43.99 | ||
| Majority | 1,553 | 12.02 | |||
| Informal votes | 26 | 0.20 | -0.34 | ||
| Turnout | 12,943 | 87.09 | -7.38 | ||
| Registered electors | 14,861 | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Freer obtained 56% of the votes and was successful. [9] Freer was staggered when his majority was close to that of Richards in 1946, rather than being well below (as for most by-elections). [10] At the November local-body elections Garland was elected a member of the Auckland City Council.
Freer would hold the Mount Albert electorate for more than three decades until he retired at the 1981 election.
Henry Greathead Rex Mason was a New Zealand politician. He served as Attorney General, Minister of Justice, Minister of Education, and Minister of Native Affairs, and had a significant influence on the direction of the Labour Party. The longest-serving Member of Parliament in New Zealand history, Mason served in Parliament continuously from 1926 to 1966. He is also the only person to serve as an Member of the New Zealand Parliament for over 40 years.
Auckland Central is a New Zealand electoral division returning one member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The electorate is currently represented by Chlöe Swarbrick, a member of the Green Party; she has represented the seat since 2020.
Frederick William Schramm was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was the eleventh Speaker of the House of Representatives, from 1944 to 1946.
Mount Albert is a parliamentary electorate based around the suburb of Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand, returning one member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Representatives. It has elected only Labour Party MPs since it was first contested at the 1946 election. The electorate is currently held by Helen White and was recently represented by Jacinda Ardern, formerly Prime Minister of New Zealand, who was first elected in a 2017 by-election and stepped down from parliament on 15 April 2023. Before her, Mt Albert was represented by David Shearer from 13 June 2009 to 31 December 2016; it was represented by Helen Clark from the 1981 general election until her resignation from Parliament on 17 April 2009.
Warren Wilfred Freer was a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party. He represented the Mount Albert electorate from 1947 to 1981. He is internationally known as the first Western politician ever to visit the People's Republic of China.
William Theophilus Anderton was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He served as Minister of Internal Affairs in the second Labour Government, from 1957 to 1960.
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Arthur Shapton Richards was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.
Roskill was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, from 1919 to 1996. The electorate was represented by eight Members of Parliament.
Roger Patrick Blundell Drayton was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.
Michael Philip Wood is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and a former member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, representing Mount Roskill between 2016 and 2023.
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