1945 Hamilton by-election

New Zealand by-election April 2024 August 2017 1945 Hamilton by-election New Zealand 1945 presidential no 1943 New Zealand general election 1943 general 1946 New Zealand general election 1946 general 27 May 1945 13,855 (69.19%) 150x150px Hilda Ross New Zealand National Party 6,772 150x150px Charles Barrell New Zealand Labour Party 5,691 150x150px John A. Lee Democratic Labour Party (New Zealand) 1,229 Member Frank Findlay Hilda Ross New Zealand National Party New Zealand National Party 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 The National Party proposed that New Zealand troops should be withdrawn from Italy and New Zealand's role in the Pacific restricted to food supply.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. Hensley Gerald Beyond the Battlefield: New Zealand and its allies 1939-45 2009 Viking Auckland 9780670074044 370 Previous election 1943 general election: Hamilton The General Election, 1943 https://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&cl=search&d=AJHR1944-I.2.2.5.37 National Library 16 May 2015 4 1944Electoral https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19431013.2.49.6 15 May 2017 The New Zealand Herald 80 24713 13 October 1943 5ob Registered electors refers to civilian voters only; nationwide, 93,295 servicemen also cast valid votes although their names did not appear on electoral rolls.McRobie 1989 92 New Zealand National Party Frank Findlay 7,660 48.04 New Zealand Labour Party Charles Barrell 7,206 45.20 -11.65 Democratic Labour Party (New Zealand) Alfred E. Allen 885 5.55 Real Democracy Movement William Henry Thompson 193 1.21 454 2.85 167 1.04 +0.40 16,111 92.21 -1.10 17,473 Table footnotes: ob Results The following table gives the election results: Ross won the election, and would win every subsequent general election until 1959, when she died in office.Wilson 1985 231 Her death caused the 1959 Hamilton by-election.Wilson 1985 179 See also List of New Zealand by-elections Notes References Gustafson Barry Barry Gustafson The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party 1986 Reed Methuen Auckland 0-474-00177-6 Electoral Atlas of New Zealand McRobie Alan 1989 GP Books Wellington 0-477-01384-8 Wilson James Oakley New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 4th First published in 1913 1985 V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer Wellington 154283103 Category:1945 elections in New Zealand Hamil Category:Politics of Hamilton, New Zealand Category:May 1945 in Oceania Category:20th century in Hamilton, New Zealand