Christchurch mayoral by-election, 1936

Christchurch mayoral by-election, 1936

11 March 1936

Candidate John Beanland John Archer Party Citizens' Association Labour Popular vote 15,141 14,310 Percentage 50.60 47.82

Mayor before election Dan Sullivan Labour Party Elected Mayor John Beanland Citizens' Association

The Christchurch mayoral by-election in 1936 was triggered by the resignation of the incumbent, Dan Sullivan, who had been appointed cabinet minister after the Labour Party winning the general election in November 1935. The election was won by John Beanland of the Citizens' Association, who narrowly beat the Labour candidate.

Background

Sullivan was first elected mayor of Christchurch in 1931, when he beat William Hayward.^[1] 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][3] After a conference with the Citizens' Association, Sullivan's resignation date was agreed on to achieve a by-election date that suited all parties.^[4] There was a desire to hold only one by-election, and not also another one necessary by one of the councillors contesting the mayoral election then causing a vacancy. This required councillors wishing to stand to resign at the same time as the mayor. The mayor's resignation would result in a mayoral by-election at a date set by statute, and the resignation would take immediate effect. The deputy-mayor, John Beanland of the Citizens' Association, was one of the contenders, and to avoid that the city was both without a mayor and deputy-mayor for a period of time, Beanland needed to resign as deputy-mayor before the mayor, so that a new deputy could be appointed by the city councillors before the mayor himself resigned.^[5] Beanland resigned as deputy-mayor in early February, and Ernest Andrews was appointed in his place.^[6] Councillor John Archer was confirmed as Labour's candidate; he had previously been mayor from 1925 to 1931.^[7] The resignations of Sullivan as mayor, and Beanland (Citizens' Association) and Archer (Labour) as city councillors, were handed in on 14 February, triggering a by-election for 11 March.^[8] Councillor Charles Edward Jones also resigned due to illness, thus creating a third vacancy amongst the city councillors.^[8]

Candidates

John Beanland

John Beanland was a building contractor. Born and raised in Victoria, Australia, he moved to Christchurch with his wife and children in the early 1890s. Active in many clubs and on various committees, he was first elected as a Christchurch city councillor in 1914 for the conservative Citizens' Association.^[9] He first stood for mayor in 1921 when he was defeated by the incumbent, Henry Thacker.^[10] His next mayoral campaign in 1925 caused a serious rift within the Citizens' Association, and he ended up standing as an independent against three others, including the official candidate of the Citizens' Association and incumbent mayor, James Arthur Flesher.^[11][12] This vote splitting in 1925 helped Labour's John Archer win the mayoralty.^[13][14] Beanland stood for the Reform Party in the 1928 general election in Lyttelton but was unsuccessful against the incumbent.^[15]

John Archer

Rev John Archer was a Baptist Minister and Labour Party politician. He was the foundation president of the Invercargill WEA (Workers' Educational Association) in 1915 and president of the Baptist Union of New Zealand from 1916 to 1918. The Baptist Church transferred him to Christchurch in 1919.^[16] He was active in the Labour Party from its beginnings and was vice-president for many years, and president in 1928–29. He had stood in various electorates for the general elections of 1919, 1922, 1928, and 1931. He was a Christchurch city councillor from 1921 and had previously served on the Invercargill Borough council.^[16] He had first stood for mayor in the 1925 election mentioned above^[13] and was successful due to vote splitting by the Citizens' Association candidates. He won the subsequent elections in 1927 and 1929 and retired in 1931 in favour of Sullivan.^[16]

Edward Leslie Hills

Hills was an independent Labour candidate. He had not previously served as a Christchurch city councillor^[17] but had stood in the Lyttelton electorate by-elections in 1933 and 1935, on both occasions polling just over 2% of the votes.^[18][19]

City council candidates

In addition to the mayoral election, there were three vacancies amongst the Christchurch city councillors to be filled. Seven candidates came forward: three representing the Citizens' Association (Hugh Acland, James Maling, and James Carter), three representing the Labour Party (Robert Macfarlane, John Mathison, and George Manning), and one independent (Berthold Ahlfeld).^[20]

Results

The election was held on Wednesday, 11 March 1936, from 9am to 7pm. The first-past-the-post voting system was used. There were 17 polling booths in Christchurch Central, 17 polling booths across Linwood, Bromley, and Woolston, 19 polling booths across St Albans, Papanui, and Richmond, 23 polling booths across Sydenham and Spreydon, and 1 polling booth in Lyttelton.^[21] Beanland narrowly won the mayoral election over Archer, with Hills receiving less than 2% of the votes.^[22][23] This was the first time since the 1925 mayoral election that the mayoralty did not go to the Labour candidate.^[21]

In the by-election for vacant city council positions, Acland, Macfarlane and Manning were successful.^[20] Beanland and the new councillors were sworn in on 16 March.^[24]

At the end of his mayoral term, Beanland failed to get the nomination from the Citizens' Association for the 1938 mayoral election, but Dr. John Guthrie was chosen instead.^[25][26] Guthrie was beaten by Labour's Robert Macfarlane.^[27]

References

Mayors of Christchurch
Chairman	John Hall John Ollivier Isaac Luck Edward Bishop William Wilson
Mayors	elected by councillors William Wilson John Anderson Andrew Duncan James Jameson Henry Sawtell Edward Bishop Michael Hart Fred Hobbs elected at large Fred Hobbs James Gapes Henry Thomson Charles Thomas Ick James Gapes (2nd) George Ruddenklau Charles Hulbert Aaron Ayers Charles Louisson Samuel Manning Charles Gray William Prudhoe Eden George Thomas Gapes Walter Cooper Harry Joseph Beswick Walter Cooper (2nd) Charles Louisson (2nd) William Reece Arthur Rhodes Henry Wigram Charles Mathew Gray (2nd) John Hall George Payling Charles Allison Thomas Taylor John Joseph Dougall1 Henry Holland Henry Thacker James Arthur Flesher Rev John Archer Dan Sullivan John Beanland Robert Macfarlane Ernest Andrews Robert Macfarlane (2nd) George Manning Ron Guthrey Neville Pickering Hamish Hay Vicki Buck Garry Moore Bob Parker Lianne Dalziel
Mayoral elections	annual term 1875† 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882† 1883 1884† 1885† 1886 1887† 1888† 1889† 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897† 1898† 1899† 1901† 1902† 1903† 1904† 1905 1906† 1907† 1908 1909 1910† 1911 1912 1913 1914 biennial term 1915 1917 1919 1921 1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1933 triennial term 1935 1936‡ 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1958‡ 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
† Elected unopposed · ‡ By-election · 1 appointed following death of incumbent