The City of Wellington by-election of 1892 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 15 January 1892 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 urban seat of the

City of Wellington Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, ...

Background

The election was triggered due to the resignation of sitting Member

Kennedy Macdonald Thomas Kennedy Macdonald (6 April 1847 – 17 October 1914), known as Kennedy Macdonald or Kennedy Mac, was a 19th-century New Zealand Liberal Party, Liberal Party Member of Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand. Early life Macdonald was born ...

amidst a bankruptcy claim. The contest was won by William McLean of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. McLean narrowly beat the conservative

Francis Bell Francis Bell may refer to: *Arthur Bell (martyr) (1590–1643), also known as Francis Bell, Franciscan and English martyr *Dillon Bell (Francis Dillon Bell; 1822–1898), New Zealand politician, father of the New Zealand Prime Minister *Francis Bel ...

by 3,388 votes to 3,245. The election was marred by a scandal over double voting. Over twenty cases of people casting votes more than once were discovered in a subsequent investigation. In his congratulatory speech to McLean, Prime Minister

John Ballance John Ballance (27 March 1839 – 27 April 1893) was an Irish-born New Zealand politician who was the 14th premier of New Zealand, from January 1891 to April 1893, the founder of the Liberal Party (the country's first organised political part ...

also made reference to the scandal, alleging that the Tory Party had brought in outsiders to vote who had long ceased to be residents in the electorate.

Results

The following table gives the election results: McLean held the seat until the 1893 general election, when he was defeated. Bell won a seat in Parliament for the Wellington electorate in 1893 and would go on to become

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

more than three decades later. Macdonald was cleared of his bankruptcy charges but was not re-elected in 1893. He was later appointed to the Legislative Council in 1903.

Notes

References

* Wellington 1892 1892 elections in New Zealand January 1892 events Politics of the Wellington Region 1890s in Wellington {{NewZealand-election-stub