The 1891 Newton by-election was a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

held on 31 March 1891 during the

11th New Zealand Parliament The 11th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Elections for this term were held in 4 Māori electorates and 62 European electorates on 27 November and 5 December 1890, respectively. A total of 74 MPs were elected ...

in the Auckland city electorate of . The by-election was caused by the resignation of the incumbent MP David Goldie because of the demands of his business. The by-election was won by Sir

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...

. He had retired from politics, but had accepted nomination for the vacancy provided he was not opposed, so was declared elected. He was in frail health, but had gone as a delegate to the Federation Convention in Australia. Another delegate, tired of Grey's numerous speeches inquired whether New Zealand intended to "come in". Grey replied ''Not at present, but we are interested in securing a Constitution which may tempt us to come in later on''.

Notes

References

* Newton 1891 1891 elections in New Zealand Politics of the Auckland Region 1890s in Auckland {{NewZealand-election-stub