The Patea 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 ...

in the

New Zealand electorate An electorate or electoral district ( mi, rohe pōti) is a geographical constituency used for electing a member () to the New Zealand Parliament. The size of electorates is determined such that all electorates have approximately the same populati ...

Patea Patea ( ) is the third-largest town in South Taranaki District, New Zealand. It is on the western bank of the Pātea River, 61 kilometres north-west of Whanganui on . Hāwera is 27 km to the north-west, and Waverley 17 km to the east ...

, a rural seat on the west coast of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

Background

The by-election was held on 13 April 1921, and was precipitated by the resignation of sitting Reform member of parliament,

Walter Powdrell Walter Dutton Powdrell (1872 – 9 March 1921) was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand. Powdrell was born in Wairoa in 1872. He won the Patea electorate in 1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legio ...

. The Reform Party chose Edwin Dixon, the Mayor of Hawera, as their official candidate, and apparently Clutha Mackenzie was their second preference. Earlier, Thomas William McDonald announced his intention to stand for the Reform Party, however left without contesting the by-election. Labour candidate

Lew McIlvride Lewis McIlvride (26 January 1882 – 9 November 1949) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament and trade unionist. Biography Early life and career McIlvride was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 26 January 1882. He emigrated to Canada and was employed ...

polled a small vote compared to Dixon and Morrison, however he was the only one of the three candidates who increased the vote for his party compared with and was rewarded with contesting a winnable seat in in

Napier Napier may refer to: People * Napier (surname), including a list of people with that name * Napier baronets, five baronetcies and lists of the title holders Given name * Napier Shaw (1854–1945), British meteorologist * Napier Waller (1893–19 ...

, which he won.

Result

The following table gives the election results:

References

Patea 1921 1921 elections in New Zealand Politics of Taranaki {{NewZealand-election-stub