1992 Wellington Central by-election

New Zealand by-election April 2024 January 2021 1992 Wellington Central by-election New Zealand 1992 presidential no 1990 New Zealand general election 1990 general 1993 New Zealand general election 1993 general 1992 12 12 y 15,644 (63.30%) 100px Chris Laidlaw New Zealand Labour Party 6,075 38.83 100px Pauline Gardiner New Zealand National Party 5,220 33.37 100px Denis Welch Alliance (New Zealand political party) 3,407 21.78 Wellington Central 1990-1993.png Wellington Central electorate boundaries used for the by-election Member Fran Wilde New Zealand Labour Party Chris Laidlaw New Zealand Labour Party The 1992 Wellington Central by-election was a by-election held in the Wellington Central electorate during the 43rd New Zealand Parliament, on 12 December 1992. It was caused by the resignation of incumbent MP Fran Wilde after her election as mayor of Wellington and was won by Chris Laidlaw with a majority of 855. 14 December 1992 By-election Special The Evening Post 23–24 Background and candidates Alliance The Green Party candidate from the previous election, Stephen Rainbow said he would not contest the seat again as he was opposed to the Green Party's decision to join the Alliance. As the Green Party vote was significantly higher than both NewLabour and the Democrat parties combined, a Green candidate was viewed as the Alliance's best route to gaining the seat. There were rumours that Rainbow would instead be approached by Labour (which he was formerly a member of) to stand for them. A Labour official downplayed the rumour but did not rule out the possibility. Rainbow himself said he had no official approach from Labour and stated in any event he wished to concentrate on his role as a Wellington City Councillor.Brent Edwards Rainbow tipped as Labour possibility The Evening Post 13 October 1992 3 Green Party city councillor Sue Kedgley was approached to stand, but she declined. Karen Roper, a policy manager at the Public Service Association was also contacted for nomination. She had previously contested the Wellington Central seat in the 1978 general election for the Values Party.Norton 1988 387 Another former Values Party candidate, New Zealand Listener writer Denis Welch, was ultimately chosen as the Alliance candidate over Roper. Welch contested Miramar, also in the 1978 general election.Eileen O'Leary Alliance candidate eyes Green, Maori and feminist style The Evening Post 19 October 1992 3 Labour Although Labour were gaining ground in opinion polls, the party was cautious on the heels of the recent Tamaki by-election where their candidate finished a distant third. Leader Mike Moore said that the quality of the candidates would be "absolutely crucial" to deciding the outcome.Simon Collins Mayoral win opens up byelection The New Zealand Herald 12 October 1992 1 Labour's candidate in the Tamaki by-election, Verna Smith, was "interested" in standing though decided to put her efforts into winning the candidacy for Titirangi in the lead up to the 1993 general election. Past President of the Public Service Association, Sue Piper contemplated standing. Former All Black Chris Laidlaw expressed his interest in standing for the seat immediately. He then held the position of New Zealand's Race Relations Conciliator.Bernard Orsman Laidlaw tests the wind The New Zealand Herald 14 October 1992 5 Frances Denz, a business skills adviser who unsuccessfully sought nomination in Dunedin North in 1990 put herself forward for the nomination.Welch sets sights on Wgtn seat The Evening Post 17 October 1992 1 Two radio journalists, Sharon Crosbie and Barry Soper, were approached by Labour to stand in the seat with Soper rebuffing the offer and Crosbie not responding.Soper rejects by-election bid The Evening Post 19 October 1992 1 Neil Gray, an operations manager at the Housing New Zealand Corporation, then declared his intentions to stand in the seat.Brent Edwards Housing boss eyes nomination The Evening Post 20 October 1992 3 Laidlaw ultimately won the selection over Denz and Gray.Eileen O'Leary Laidlaw to restore balance The Evening Post 30 October 1992 3 National National's candidate from the 1990 general election Pauline Gardiner (who lost by only 246 votes) announced she intended to stand again for the seat. The other nomination for the National candidacy was British-born Barbara Stones, a nursing lecturer at Wellington PolytechnicBernard Orsman Candidates sought for affluent voters The New Zealand Herald 13 October 1992 2 Another ex-All Black, David Kirk, was approached by National to stand for the seat, though he declined nomination. Wellington City Councillor Rex Nicholls, who regained a seat on the council in 1992 after failing to win the Mayoralty in 1989, also considered standing. His main concern was whether he could do two jobs at once as he did not want to force a council by-election should he win the seat.Eileen O'Leary Nicholls's sights on Parliament The Evening Post 16 October 1992 14 Another city councillor, Kerry Prendergast, ruled out seeking the nomination but stated national politics were a future possibility. Nicholls did not stand and former Wellington Regional Councillor Mike Gibson (alongside Gardiner and Stones) were the three candidates for the nomination with Gardiner gaining selection.Roger Foley By-election 'not a litmus test' The Evening Post 30 October 1992 3 Others Lawyer David Stevenson announced his candidature as an independent and would campaign against the extravagant superannuation payments for MPs. Stevenson had previously been a National member but resigned in 1990 after an expose by the programme Frontline which showed large business donations being behind the party. Prior, while still a member, he had sought National's nomination in Wellington Central, but lost to Gardiner.Eileen O'Leary By-election candidate focuses on party funding The Evening Post 30 October 1992 1 The McGillicuddy Serious Party initially announced they would contest the by-election. They selected Tony Greer, a poet, as their candidate. Greer had made news in 1991 when he stole a delphinium plant from the home of social welfare minister Jenny Shipley's home as an act of protest against benefit cuts for which he was fined $286. Greer had just recently stood at the Christchurch mayoral election. Polling The first poll conducted was before candidate selections were officially announced.Labour ahead in Wgtn Central The Evening Post 21 October 1992 5 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19921114.2.48 Riddell Oliver Alliance ahead in poll The Press 14 November 1992 8 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19921118.2.40 Riddell Oliver Labour leads in run-up The Press 18 November 1992 6 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19921209.2.9 Riddell Oliver National distant third in by-election poll The Press 9 December 1992 1 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19921210.2.56 Labour leads in by-election poll The Press 10 December 1992 8 PollDateThese are the survey dates of the poll, or if the survey dates are not stated, the date the poll was released. PaulineGardiner ChrisLaidlaw DenisWelch ONE News-Heylen 17 October 1992 32 38 30 NBR-Insight Review 14 November 1992 13 37 17 ONE News-Heylen 18 November 1992 28 38 28 ONE News-Heylen 6 December 1992 28 38 28 Radio NZ/Dominion-MRL 7 December 1992 23 31 24 nb Previous election 1990 general election: Wellington CentralElection results 1990 Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place New Zealand Chief Electoral Office 1990 New Zealand Labour Party Fran Wilde 9,069 41.39 -13.15 New Zealand National Party Pauline Gardiner 8,823 40.26 Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand Stephen Rainbow 3,164 14.45 NewLabour Party (New Zealand) Jeff Montgomery 604 2.76 McGillicuddy Serious Party P P Clarke 175 0.80 New Zealand Democratic Party for Social Credit R Henderson 49 0.22 Communist League (New Zealand) Janet Roth 29 0.13 246 1.12 -20.55 21,913 88.67 -1.43 24,714 Results The following table gives the election results: 1 Alliance vote change from 3,817 combined vote for Green Party, NewLabour and Democrats in 1990 election. 2 Based on 1990 election figures. See also 1992 Wellington City mayoral election Notes References Norton Clifford New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science 1988 Victoria University of Wellington Wellington 0-475-11200-8 Wellington Central 1992 Wellington Central Category:1990s in Wellington Category:December 1992 in Oceania Category:Politics of the Wellington Region