The Selwyn by-election, 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 of Selwyn – a predominantly rural district in the

Canterbury Plains The Canterbury Plains () are an area in New Zealand centred in the Mid Canterbury, to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in t ...

in New Zealand's South Island – took place on 13 August 1994. The previous sitting MP,

Ruth Richardson Ruth Margaret Richardson (born 13 December 1950) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who served as Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993. Her 1991 budget, which she dubbed the "Mother of all Budgets", formed the catalyst ...

, precipitated the poll by resigning from parliament. Richardson planned to retire from politics, having been removed as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

the previous year.

Background

The by-election was significant, as National held on to the majority of the House of Representatives by only one seat (50 to 49). This meant the party would have lost its majority in the House if it failed to retain the seat, and it would have required the formation of a coalition or a confidence-and-supply agreement with another parliamentary party – probably New Zealand First or the Alliance – to maintain governance. All "major" New Zealand political parties of the day contested the by-election. David Carter, the National Party candidate, won the seat, and therefore the distribution of seats in Parliament did not change . In second place, and only around four hundred votes behind Carter, came the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

's John Wright, in a result that surprised many commentators. National's traditional opponent, the Labour Party, placed a distant third. The fourth "major" candidate represented the New Zealand First party:

Tim Shadbolt Sir Timothy Richard Shadbolt (born 19 February 1947) is a New Zealand politician. He was the Mayor of Invercargill and previously Mayor of Waitemata City. Early life Shadbolt was born in the Auckland suburb of Remuera in 1947. His father died ...

, then Mayor of

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

Results

The following table shows the official results as published by the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1994 Selwyn By-Election Selwyn 1994 Selwyn Politics of Canterbury, New Zealand August 1994 events in New Zealand