1935 Christchurch mayoral election

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1935 Christchurch mayoral election
← 1933 8 May 1935 1936 →
Turnout39,803
 
Candidate Dan Sullivan Hugh Acland
Party Labour Citizens'
Popular vote 20,066 19,737
Percentage 50.41 49.59
Mayor before election

Dan Sullivan

 Elected Mayor

Dan Sullivan

The 1935 Christchurch City mayoral election was held on 8 May. The incumbent, Dan Sullivan of the Labour Party narrowly beat the conservative candidate, Hugh Acland, a surgeon and World War I veteran. The election attracted nationwide attention, as Christchurch was a Labour-stronghold and due to Acland's widespread popularity, it was regarded as a test whether Labour could potentially win the November 1935 general election.

Background[edit]

In 1935, the voting system returned to the initially used first-past-the-post after a ranked voting system had been tried for some years.[1] The country experienced the Great Depression at the time, with high unemployment. Sullivan had been the city's mayor since 1931, when he beat William Hayward.[1]

Candidates[edit]

Dan Sullivan

Dan Sullivan was first elected to Christchurch City Council in 1915. He had first stood for the House of Representatives in the 1908 election and in 1919, he decisively beat the Minister of Public Health, George Warren Russell, in the wake of the 1918 flu epidemic. Since then, Sullivan had been representing the Avon electorate. Sullivan stood for mayor in 1923 but was beaten by James Arthur Flesher. A Labour Party politician, he was regarded as a moderate.[2]

Hugh Acland

Sir Hugh Acland was from a prominent Canterbury family. The youngest of John Acland's 11 children, he was a grandson of Christchurch's first bishop, Henry Harper.[3] John Acland was a member of the Legislative Council for a third of a century.[4] Just prior to the election, the engagement of his son Jack was announced to Kit Ormond;[5] her family was equally prominent in New Zealand, and her grandfather, John Davies Ormond, had been Superintendent of Hawke's Bay Province.[6] Hugh Acland was a prominent surgeon who served with the New Zealand Medical Corps during World War I.[3] Acland was knighted in the 1933 Birthday Honours for services to medicine.[7] Acland stood in the election for the conservative Citizens' Association.[8]

Campaign[edit]

Sullivan's selection for the 1935 mayoralty election was announced on 1 February.[9] John Beanland and Ernest Andrews were rumoured as possible candidates for the Citizens' Association,[10] but Acland's candidacy was announced on 25 February.[11][12]

Results[edit]

Sullivan beat Acland by a small margin, with the election resulting in a record turnout. There were significant differences between the preliminary results released on the evening of the election, and the final results three days later.[13]

Christchurch mayoral election, 1935[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Dan Sullivan 20,066 50.41
Citizens' Hugh Acland 19,737 49.59
Majority 329 0.83
Turnout 39,803

Council results[edit]

1935 Christchurch local election[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens' John Beanland 21,444 53.87
Citizens' Melville Lyons 20,312 51.03
Citizens' Ernest Andrews 19,708 49.51
Citizens' John Guthrie 19,478 48.93
Citizens' Charles Edward Jones 19,463 48.89
Citizens' Alfred Charles Sandston 19,265 48.40
Citizens' Thomas Andrews 18,340 46.07
Citizens' William Hayward 17,954 45.10
Labour Edward Parlane 17,838 44.81
Labour John Archer 17,718 44.51
Citizens' Thomas Milliken 17,545 44.07
Labour Thomas Henry Butterfield 17,432 43.79
Labour Jack Barnett 17,339 43.56
Citizens' Bill MacGibbon 17,238 43.30
Citizens' Arthur Graham Jamieson 17,147 43.07
Citizens' Frank Driessen Sargent 16,991 42.68
Citizens' James Maling 16,949 42.58
Labour George Manning 16,777 42.15
Labour George Thomas Thurston 16,198 40.69
Citizens' James Seymour Middleton 16,007 40.21
Labour Mabel Howard 15,867 39.86
Labour Robert Macfarlane 15,688 39.41
Labour John Mathison 15,342 38.54
Citizens' James Carter 15,181 38.14
Labour Isabella Parlane 15,050 37.81
Citizens' John Gordon Leslie Vernon 15,009 37.70
Labour Harold Denton 13,764 34.58
Labour John David Carey 13,624 34.22
Labour Joseph William Roberts 12,878 32.35
Labour Arthur Edwin Tongue 12,582 31.61
Labour William Patrick Hickey 11,323 28.44
Labour Alfred John Beauchamp 11,298 28.38
Independent Labour Tommy Armstrong 11,169 28.06
Independent Henry Thacker 8,919 22.40
Independent Lancelot Charles Walker 6,849 17.20
Independent Charles Seymour Trillo 4,417 11.09
Independent George Thomas Baker 3,840 9.64
Independent Labour Charles Henry Cole 3,452 8.67
Independent Labour Edward Leslie Hills 3,395 8.52
Independent Labour Jack Selwyn Edwin Wiggs 2,873 7.21
Independent James Sturrock 1,713 4.30
Socialist William Henry Bayard 1,624 4.08
Socialist Herbert Henry Dunkley 1,615 4.05
Communist Alexandrina Penny 1,204 3.02

Aftermath[edit]

The Labour Party won the November 1935 general election and Sullivan was appointed cabinet minister. Sullivan reluctantly resigned from the mayoralty in February 1936, as the heavy workload of a cabinet minister was incompatible with remaining mayor.[2][15] The resulting by-election on 11 March 1936 was narrowly won by the deputy-mayor, John Beanland, who represented the Citizens' Association.[16][17] Beanland beat Labour's candidate, John Archer who had previously been mayor from 1925 to 1931.[18]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b "The Municipal Elections". The Press. Vol. LXXI, no. 21423. 15 March 1935. p. 19. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b Watson, James. "Sullivan, Daniel Giles". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  3. ^ a b Maling, Peter B. "Acland, Hugh Thomas Dyke". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  4. ^ McLintock, A. H., ed. (22 April 2009) [originally published in 1966]. "Acland, John Barton Arundel". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  5. ^ "News For Women". The Press. Vol. LXXI, no. 21399. 15 February 1935. p. 2. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  6. ^ Boyd, Mary. "Ormond, John Davies". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  7. ^ Welch 2015, p. 35.
  8. ^ "The Municipal Elections". The Press. Vol. LXXI, no. 21424. 16 March 1935. p. 20. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Mr Sullivan for Mayoralty". The Press. Vol. LXXI, no. 21387. 1 February 1935. p. 12. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Candidates for Mayoralty". The Press. Vol. LXXI, no. 21388. 2 February 1935. p. 16. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  11. ^ "The Mayoralty". The Press. Vol. LXXI, no. 21407. 25 February 1935. p. 10. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Sir Hugh Acland to stand". The Press. Vol. LXXI, no. 21407. 25 February 1935. p. 12. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  13. ^ a b "The Elections". The Press. Vol. LXXI, no. 21471. 13 May 1935. p. 12. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  14. ^ "Christchurch City Council". The Press. Vol. LXXI, no. 21473. 15 May 1935. p. 21. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  15. ^ "By-Elections for Council". The Press. Vol. LXXI, no. 21647. 4 December 1935. p. 10. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  16. ^ "The By-Election". The Press. Vol. LXXII, no. 21730. 12 March 1936. p. 12. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  17. ^ "Mayor's Reduced Majority". The Press. Vol. LXXII, no. 21732. 14 March 1936. p. 18. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  18. ^ "City Council Election". The Press. Vol. LXXII, no. 21701. 7 February 1936. p. 12. Retrieved 20 May 2016.

References[edit]

  • Welch, David (June 2015). Chippenham Lodge: Linked in History. Christchurch: Heartwood Community Inc. Te Ngakau O Te Rakau.
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