1918 Grey by-election

New Zealand by-election April 2024 April 2022 1918 Grey by-election New Zealand 1918 presidential no 1917 Grey by-election 1917 by-election 1919 New Zealand general election 1919 general 1918 05 29 y 5,628 (71.75%) 100px Harry Holland New Zealand Labour Party 2,865 50.90 100px Thomas Coates Reform Party (New Zealand) 2,717 48.27 Member Paddy Webb New Zealand Labour Party Harry Holland New Zealand Labour Party The Grey by-election of 1918 was a by-election during the 18th New Zealand Parliament. It was held on the 29 May 1918. The seat had become vacant due to the imprisonment of sitting member Paddy Webb who was jailed on the issue of his vocal opposition to conscription which had been enforced by Prime Minister William Massey.Richardson Len 3W5 Webb, Patrick Charles 24 August 2015 The by-election was won by the Labour candidate Harry Holland. Candidates Two candidates contested the seat. The Labour Party candidate was Harry Holland, who was chosen based on his strong performance in the 1918 Wellington North by-election four months earlier. Holland's candidacy was a surprise to most as he was not from the West Coast, with many expecting Mark Fagan to be selected.Richardson Len 4f1 Fagan, Mark Anthony 13 February 2016 Holland accepted with the knowledge that he was to resign the seat when Webb was released.O'Farrell 1964 80 Former Mayor of Greymouth Thomas Eldon Coates, a local farmer and lawyer, stood as the candidate for the national coalition government formed between the Reform and Liberal party's for the duration of the First World War. Initially the Liberal Party intended to stand their own candidate, James Kerr (the son of the former member of the Legislative Council of the same nameGrey Seat http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AG19180423.2.12 21 February 2016 Ashburton Guardian XXXVIII 9276 23 April 1918 3), but he withdrew in order to prevent the anti-Labour vote being split.Gustafson 1980 133Candidate for Grey The New Zealand Herald LV 16837 30 April 1918 4 Results The following table gives the election results: Outcome Despite a lower voter turnout, Holland's majority was far lower than Webb's had been in 1914. Many in the Labour Party were displeased with the result and were suspicious of Holland's perceived radicalism. Holland defended this, writing to Josiah Cocking: ...the whole Labor movement is agreed that the victory is the greatest ever won by Labor in New Zealand — because it was the first time that Labor had ever succeeded in defeating the Tories & Liberals in a straight out fight.O'Farrell 1964 83 A notable feature of the by-election was the poor voter turnout with well over a third abstaining. It was claimed that the majority of those who chose not to vote were Liberal Party supporters who had previously voted for Webb, thought Holland too extremist and withdrew their support.O'Farrell 1964 83 Notes References Barry Gustafson Barry Gustafson Labour's path to political independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1900–19 Auckland, New Zealand Auckland University Press 1980 0-19-647986-X P.J. O'Farrell Patrick O'Farrell Harry Holland: Militant Socialist https://archive.org/details/harryhollandmili0000ofar registration Canberra, Australia Australian National University Press 1964 Grey 1918 Category:1918 elections in New Zealand Category:History of the West Coast Region Category:Politics of the West Coast Region Category:May 1918 in Oceania