The 1992 Wellington Central 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 in the electorate during the 43rd New Zealand Parliament, on 12 December 1992. It was caused by the resignation of incumbent MP

Fran Wilde Dame Frances Helen Wilde (née Kitching, born 11 November 1948) is a New Zealand politician, and former Wellington Labour member of parliament, Minister of Tourism and Mayor of Wellington. She was the first woman to serve as Mayor of Welling ...

after her election as

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Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

and was won by Chris Laidlaw with a majority of 855.

Background and candidates

;Alliance The

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

candidate from the previous election, Stephen Rainbow said he would not contest the seat again as he was opposed to the Green Party's decision to join the Alliance. As the Green Party vote was significantly higher than both NewLabour and the

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

parties combined, a Green candidate was viewed as the Alliance's best route to gaining the seat. There were rumours that Rainbow would instead be approached by Labour (which he was formerly a member of) to stand for them. A Labour official downplayed the rumour but did not rule out the possibility. Rainbow himself said he had no official approach from Labour and stated in any event he wished to concentrate on his role as a Wellington City Councillor. Green Party city councillor Sue Kedgley was approached to stand, but she declined. Karen Roper, a policy manager at the

Public Service Association The Public Service Association ( mi, Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi) or PSA is a democratic trade union that represents over workers in the Aotearoa New Zealand public sector. The aims of the PSA are: * strong public and community services * ...

was also contacted for nomination. She had previously contested the Wellington Central seat in the 1978 general election for the

Values Party The Values Party was a New Zealand political party. It is considered the world's first national-level environmentalist party, pre-dating the use of "Green" as a political label. It was established in May 1972 at Victoria University of Wellingto ...

. Another former Values Party candidate, '' New Zealand Listener'' writer Denis Welch, was ultimately chosen as the Alliance candidate over Roper. Welch contested , also in the 1978 general election. ;Labour Although Labour were gaining ground in opinion polls, the party was cautious on the heels of the recent Tamaki by-election where their candidate finished a distant third. Leader

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said that the quality of the candidates would be "absolutely crucial" to deciding the outcome. Labour's candidate in the Tamaki by-election, Verna Smith, was "interested" in standing though decided to put her efforts into winning the candidacy for in the lead up to the 1993 general election. Past President of the

, Sue Piper contemplated standing. Former

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Chris Laidlaw expressed his interest in standing for the seat immediately. He then held the position of New Zealand's

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. Frances Denz, a business skills adviser who unsuccessfully sought nomination in in 1990 put herself forward for the nomination. Two radio journalists, Sharon Crosbie and Barry Soper, were approached by Labour to stand in the seat with Soper rebuffing the offer and Crosbie not responding. Neil Gray, an operations manager at the

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, then declared his intentions to stand in the seat. Laidlaw ultimately won the selection over Denz and Gray. ;National National's candidate from the 1990 general election

Pauline Gardiner Pauline Mona Gardiner (née Wayman, born 27 September 1947) is a former New Zealand Member of Parliament, first for New Zealand National Party and then for United New Zealand. She was married to soldier, writer and public servant Wira Gardiner ...

(who lost by only 246 votes) announced she intended to stand again for the seat. The other nomination for the National candidacy was British-born Barbara Stones, a nursing lecturer at

Wellington Polytechnic Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural o ...

Another ex-All Black,

David Kirk David Edward Kirk (born 5 October 1960) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He is best known for having been the captain of the All Blacks when they won the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987. Early years Kirk was born in Wellington an ...

, was approached by National to stand for the seat, though he declined nomination. Wellington City Councillor Rex Nicholls, who regained a seat on the council in 1992 after failing to win the Mayoralty in 1989, also considered standing. His main concern was whether he could do two jobs at once as he did not want to force a council by-election should he win the seat. Another city councillor,

Kerry Prendergast Dame Kerry Leigh Prendergast (née Ferrier, born 28 March 1953) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 33rd Mayor of Wellington between 2001 and 2010, succeeding Mark Blumsky. She was the second woman to hold the position, after Fran W ...

, ruled out seeking the nomination but stated national politics were a future possibility. Nicholls did not stand and former Wellington Regional Councillor Mike Gibson (alongside Gardiner and Stones) were the three candidates for the nomination with Gardiner gaining selection. ;Others Lawyer David Stevenson announced his candidature as an independent and would campaign against the extravagant superannuation payments for MPs. Stevenson had previously been a National member but resigned in 1990 after an expose by the programme ''Frontline'' which showed large business donations being behind the party. Prior, while still a member, he had sought National's nomination in Wellington Central, but lost to Gardiner. The

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initially announced they would contest the by-election. They selected Tony Greer, a poet, as their candidate. Greer had made news in 1991 when he stole a

delphinium ''Delphinium'' is a genus of about 300 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The genus was erected by Carl Linn ...

plant from the home of social welfare minister

Jenny Shipley Dame Jennifer Mary Shipley (née Robson; born 4 February 1952) is a New Zealand former politician who served as the 36th prime minister of New Zealand from 1997 to 1999. She was the first female prime minister of New Zealand, and the first woma ...

's home as an act of protest against benefit cuts for which he was fined $286. Greer had just recently stood at the Christchurch mayoral election.

Polling

The first poll conducted was before candidate selections were officially announced.

Previous election

Results

The following table gives the election results: ¹ Alliance vote change from 3,817 combined vote for

, NewLabour and Democrats in 1990 election. ² Based on 1990 election figures.

Notes

References