1935 Wellington City mayoral election


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The 1935 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1935, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

1935 Wellington City mayoral election
← 1933 7 May 1935 1938 →
Turnout41,139 (60.49%)
 
Candidate Thomas Hislop Bob Semple
Party Citizens' Labour
Popular vote 21,583 19,249
Percentage 52.46 46.79
Mayor before election

Thomas Hislop

 Elected mayor

Thomas Hislop

Incumbent mayor Thomas Hislop stood for a third-term, the first mayor to do so since Sir John Luke in 1915. His opponent was Bob Semple, a Labour councillor and MP for Wellington East. During the campaign, Semple received slanderous allegations of being an Atheist, which he denied stating "If the people of the world followed the philosophy of Jesus there would be no poverty...".[1]

For the second election in a row, Labour won a majority of the vote, but could not win a majority of seats.[2] However, Labour did win one more seat than in 1933 and then went on to win a by-election soon after increase their representation further.[3]

Table footnotes:

  1. ^ Parlane was appointed to fill the vacancy on the council in 1936 caused by Peter Fraser's resignation[6]
  1. ^ Hickey, Carina (2010). From Coal Pit to Leather Pit: Life Stories of Robert Semple (PDF) (PhD). Massey University. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  2. ^ Betts 1970, pp. 146.
  3. ^ "Labour Victory". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXII, no. 110. 5 November 1936. p. 10. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  4. ^ "The Mayoral Issue". The Evening Post. Vol. CXIX, no. 110. 11 May 1935. p. 10. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Wellington City Council". The Evening Post. Vol. CXIX, no. 119. 22 May 1935. p. 3.
  6. ^ "No by-election". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXI, no. 109. 9 May 1936. p. 10. Retrieved 29 June 2018.