Palmerston by-election, 1918

Palmerston by-election, 1918

3 October 1918 (1918-10-03)
Turnout	5,363
Candidate Jimmy Nash Alexander Galbraith E H Crabb Party Reform Labour Liberal Popular vote 2,229 1,914 1,119 Percentage 41.56 35.68 20.86
Member before election David Buick Reform Elected Member Jimmy Nash Reform

The Palmerston by-election of 1918 was a by-election held in the Palmerston electorate during the 19th New Zealand Parliament, on 19 December 1918. The by-election was won by the sitting Mayor of Palmerston North, Jimmy Nash with a majority of 315.

Background

The contest was triggered by the death of incumbent MP David Buick of the Reform Party on 18 November 1918 during the influenza epidemic.^[1] Under the terms of the coalition agreement between Reform and the Liberal's a condition was made not to oppose each other in by-elections for deceased or retiring MP's from their own parties. However, both contested the seat after failing to agree on a joint National Government nominee.^[2]

Results

The following table gives the election results:

Notes

References

• Gustafson, Barry (1980). Labour's path to political independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1900–19. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press. ISBN 0-19-647986-X.