Misplaced Pages

1923 Tauranga by-election

← 1922 general 28 March 1923 1925 general →
Turnout	7,630 (85.53%)
Candidate Charles Macmillan Sir Joseph Ward Party Reform Liberal Popular vote 4,360 3,235 Percentage 57.41 42.59
Member before election William Herries Reform Elected Member Charles Macmillan Reform

The Tauranga by-election of 1923 was a by-election during the 21st New Zealand Parliament in the Tauranga electorate. The seat became vacant due to the death of the sitting Member, William Herries. The election was held on 28 March 1923 and won by Charles Macmillan, who defeated the former prime minister Joseph Ward.

Background

Two candidates contested the seat. The first was Charles Macmillan, a former Mayor of Tauranga (1915–1917. Macmillan represented the Reform Party and was put forward by the party to succeed Herries. The other candidate was Sir Joseph Ward, a former Liberal party Prime Minister.

The Labour Party took a keen interest in the by-election. Leader Harry Holland was fearful that Ward's return to Parliament might result in a revival of the Liberals, delaying Labour's rise as the main left-wing party. As a result, he sought to stand a candidate to split the anti-Reform vote. He was overruled however, by the party executive citing the lack of any established branches within the electorate and the possibility of a poor showing by the candidate damaging party morale and credibility.

Result

Macmillan won the by-election; Ward's defeat was humiliating to him.

Macmillan remained as Tauranga's representative until his defeat at the 1935 election. Ward was thought to be a spent force, but he was returned to Parliament again in the 1925 election, and then went on to become Prime Minister again in 1928. He retired in 1930, and died soon after.

Notes

1. Scholefield 1950, p. 113.
2. Scholefield 1950, p. 124.
3. "Reform Candidate Starts". The Evening Post. Vol. CV, no. 54. 5 March 1923. p. 8. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
4. ^ Bassett, Michael. "Ward, Joseph George". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
5. O'Farrell 1964, p. 128.
6. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 217.
7. Hislop 1923, p. 10.
8. Scholefield 1950, p. 146.
9. Scholefield 1950, p. 30.

References

• Hislop, J. (1923). The General Election, 1922. Government Printer. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
• O'Farrell, P.J. (1964). Harry Holland: Militant Socialist. Canberra, Australia: Australian National University Press.
• Scholefield, Guy (1950) . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

v t e Sir Joseph Ward
Prime Minister of New Zealand (1906–12, 1928–30) Leader of the Liberal Party (1906–12, 1913–19, 1928–30) Leader of the Opposition (1913–1919, 1928) Baronet of Wellington (1911–30)
Premiership	1906–12 1928–30
General elections	1908 1911 1914 1919 1928
By-elections	Awarua, 1897 Tauranga, 1923
Leadership elections	1906 1913 1928
Constituencies	Awarua Invercargill
Related articles	Electoral history Vincent Ward (son) Joseph Ward (grandson) Ward baronets

v t e « (1891–1911) «   By-elections in New Zealand in the multi-party era (1912–1938)   » (1939–1995) »
18th Parliament	1912 Egmont 1913 Grey 1913 Lyttelton
19th Parliament	1915 Dunedin Central 1915 Bay of Islands 1915 Taumarunui 1916 Pahiatua 1917 Hawkes Bay 1917 Bay of Islands 1917 Grey 1918 Wellington North 1918 Southern Maori 1918 Grey 1918 Wellington Central 1918 Taranaki 1918 Palmerston 1918 Wellington South
20th Parliament	1920 Bruce 1920 Stratford 1920 Bay of Plenty 1912 Patea 1921 Auckland East 1922 Southern Maori 1922 Dunedin North
21st Parliament	1923 Tauranga 1923 Oamaru 1925 Franklin
22nd Parliament	1926 Eden 1927 Raglan
23rd Parliament	1929 Bay of Islands 1929 Hutt 1930 Parnell 1930 Invercargill 1930 Waipawa 1930 Western Maori 1931 Hauraki
24th Parliament	1932 Southern Maori 1932 Motueka 1933 Lyttelton 1933 Buller 1935 Lyttelton
25th Parliament	1936 Manukau

• By-elections in New Zealand
• 1923 elections in New Zealand
• Politics of the Bay of Plenty Region
• Tauranga