The 1935 Christchurch City mayoral election was held on 8 May. The incumbent,

Dan Sullivan Dan, Danny, or Daniel Sullivan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Daniel J. Sullivan (born 1940), American film and theater director * Daniel G. Sullivan, American screenwriter * Dan Sullivan (musician), indie rock musician * Dan Panic, Amer ...

of the Labour Party narrowly beat the conservative candidate, Hugh Acland, a surgeon and World War I veteran. The election attracted nationwide attention, as Christchurch was a Labour-stronghold and due to Acland's widespread popularity, it was regarded as a test whether Labour could potentially win the November 1935 general election.

Background

In 1935, the voting system returned to the initially used

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 their ...

after a

ranked voting system A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...

had been tried for some years. The country experienced the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

at the time, with high unemployment. Sullivan had been the city's mayor since

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, when he beat William Hayward.

Candidates

;Dan Sullivan

was first elected to

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, who ...

in 1915. He had first stood for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in the and in , he decisively beat the

Minister of Public Health The Minister for Public Health and Women's Health is a junior ministerial post in the Scottish Government. The minister is not a member of the Scottish Cabinet, however, they report to the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care. ...

George Warren Russell George Warren Russell (24 February 1854 – 28 June 1937) was a New Zealand politician from Christchurch. He served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of Public Health in the wartime National government, and was responsible for the N ...

, in the wake of the

1918 flu epidemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

. Since then, Sullivan had been representing the electorate. Sullivan stood for mayor in 1923 but was beaten by

James Arthur Flesher James Arthur Flesher (13 August 1865 – 18 August 1930) was a politician in Christchurch, New Zealand. He held many public offices and was Mayor of Christchurch from 1923 to 1925. Early life Flesher was born on 13 August 1865 in Christchurch. ...

. A Labour Party politician, he was regarded as a moderate. ;Hugh Acland Sir Hugh Acland was from a prominent

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

family. The youngest of John Acland's 11 children, he was a grandson of Christchurch's first bishop, Henry Harper. John Acland was a member of the Legislative Council for a third of a century. Just prior to the election, the engagement of his son

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

was announced to Kit Ormond; her family was equally prominent in New Zealand, and her grandfather,

John Davies Ormond John Davies Ormond (31 May 1831 – 6 October 1917) was a New Zealand politician whose positions included Superintendent of Hawke's Bay Province, Minister of Public Works and member of the New Zealand Legislative Council. He represe ...

, had been

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

Hawke's Bay Province The Hawke's Bay Province was a province of New Zealand. The province separated from the Wellington Province following a meeting in Napier in February 1858, and existed until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. At the time of its es ...

. Hugh Acland was a prominent surgeon who served with the

New Zealand Medical Corps New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

during World War I. Acland was knighted in the 1933 Birthday Honours for services to medicine. Acland stood in the election for the conservative Citizens' Association.

Campaign

Sullivan's selection for the 1935 mayoralty election was announced on 1 February.

John Beanland John Walton Beanland (3 November 1866 – 7 December 1943) was a building contractor and Mayor of Christchurch from 1936 to 1938. Early life Beanland was born in Durham Lead near Ballarat, Victoria in 1866. His parents were John Griffith Beanla ...

and

Ernest Andrews Sir Ernest Herbert Andrews (25 June 1873 – 9 November 1961) was a New Zealand teacher, printer and cricketer and local-body politician. He was on the Christchurch City Council from 1919 and Mayor of Christchurch from 1941 until his retirement ...

were rumoured as possible candidates for the Citizens' Association, but Acland's candidacy was announced on 25 February.

Results

Sullivan beat Acland by a small margin, with the election resulting in a record turnout. There were significant differences between the preliminary results released on the evening of the election, and the final results three days later.

Council results

Aftermath

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. The resulting by-election on 11 March 1936 was narrowly won by the deputy-mayor,

, who represented the Citizens' Association. Beanland beat Labour's candidate, John Archer who had previously been mayor from 1925 to 1931.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christchurch Mayoral Election, 1935 Mayoral elections in Christchurch 1935 elections in New Zealand Politics of Christchurch 1930s in Christchurch