The 1935 Auckland City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1935, elections were held for the

Mayor of Auckland The Mayor of Auckland is the directly elected head of the Auckland Council, the local government authority for the Auckland Region in New Zealand, which it controls as a unitary authority. The position exists since October 2010 after the amal ...

plus other local government positions including twenty-one city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

electoral method.

Background

The campaign featured a selection controversy when the Labour Party selected local businessman

Joe Sayegh Joseph Callil Sayegh (7 March 1884 – 29 March 1946) was a New Zealand politician and businessman. Early life and career Sayegh was of Assyrian origin, born in Lebanon 11 kilometres from Bethlehem on 7 March 1884. Sayegh's father Callil emigr ...

over prominent lawyer and MP

Rex Mason Henry Greathead Rex Mason (3 June 1885 – 2 April 1975) was a New Zealand politician. He served as Attorney General, Minister of Justice, Minister of Education, and Minister of Native Affairs, and had a significant influence on the directio ...

with the blessing of Auckland Labour Representation Committee executive Fred Young. Sayegh was viewed a respectable individual and competent city councillor, but most gave him little chance of beating Citizens Committee candidate Ernest Davis. As Young had been employed by Davis for many years, John A. Lee and several Labour MPs alleged that Young had been bribed by Davis to ensure the selection of a weak Labour candidate for the Mayoralty which caused a rift in the Auckland Labour Party. Sayegh's campaign was not helped due to continued interference by Lee who tried to discredit Sayegh, slandering him as a "dumb wop fellow who could not even speak English". Regardless, Sayegh polled extremely well in the election, exceeding predictions and lost to Davis by only 363 votes. Councillor

Ted Phelan Edward John Phelan (1874 – 28 March 1961) was a New Zealand trade unionist, politician and rugby league administrator. Biography Early life and union career Phelan was born in Auckland in 1874 and attended Wellesley Street School. He left scho ...

had earlier declined to seek the Labour nomination for mayor, citing a conflict of interest, as he was also running the Hotel Auckland (which was owned by Davis), who had already declared his candidacy. Despite Sayegh's nomination, the returning officer received a nomination for Mason, whose consent was telegraphed from Wellington, though he later sent a second telegraph to withdraw. Ellen Melville also announced her intention to stand for mayor, but ultimately decided not to stand "in view of the confusion of issues." She successfully sought re-election to the council. The main talking point following the election was that the Labour Party had won a majority on the city council winning 15 of the 21 seats. This was the first (and only) time Labour had ever done so. There was also a huge turnout in voters with a record 60.36% of electors casting their votes, much higher than usual, an increase of nearly 12% from the 1933 election.

Mayoralty results

Councillor results

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Auckland City Mayoral Election, 1935 Mayoral elections in Auckland 1935 elections in New Zealand Politics of the Auckland Region 1930s in Auckland