Selwyn by-election, 1994

13 August 1994 (1994-08-13)

Turnout

21,052


Candidate	David Carter	John Wright	Marian Hobbs
Party	National	Alliance	Labour
Popular vote	8,916	8,488	2,173
Percentage	42.32	40.34	10.33

Member before election

Ruth Richardson
National

Elected Member

David Carter
National

The Selwyn by-election, a by-election in the New Zealand electorate of Selwyn - a predominantly rural district in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island - took place on 13 August 1994. The previous sitting MP, Ruth Richardson, precipitated the poll by resigning from parliament. Richardson planned to retire from politics, having been removed as Minister of Finance 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'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, then Mayor of Invercargill.^[1]

Results

The following table shows the official results as published by the Electoral Commission.^[1]

Selwyn by-election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	National	David Carter	8,916	42.32
	Alliance	John Wright	8,488	40.34
	Labour	Marian Hobbs	2,173	10.33
	NZ First	Tim Shadbolt	1,165	5.54
	Christian Heritage	Rosemary Francis	182	0.86
	NORML	Warren Bryson	39	0.19
	Kiwis Against Further Immigration	Bruce Annan	29	0.14
	McGillicuddy Serious	Tim Owens	26	0.12
	Natural Law	Warwick Jones	22	0.10
	NZ Coalition	Kieron Daok	10	0.05
	Christ's Ambassadors Union	Victor Bryer	2	0.01
Majority			428	2.03
Turnout			21,052

References

1 2 "Part XIV - Selwyn By-election" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 July 2013.

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26th Parliament	Christchurch South, 1939 Auckland West, 1940 Waipawa, 1940 Waitemata, 1941 Bay of Plenty, 1941 Mid-Canterbury, 1942 Temuka, 1942 Hauraki, 1942 Christchurch East, 1943 Northern Maori, 1943
27th Parliament	Awarua, 1944 Western Maori, 1945 Hamilton, 1945 Dunedin North, 1945 Raglan, 1946
28th Parliament	Avon, 1947 Mount Albert, 1947 Westland, 1947
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30th Parliament	Dunedin North, 1953 Onehunga, 1953 Onslow, 1954 Patea, 1954
31st Parliament	Riccarton, 1956 Bay of Plenty, 1957
32nd Parliament	Hamilton, 1959
33rd Parliament	Hurunui, 1961 Waitaki, 1962 Buller, 1962 Timaru, 1962 Otahuhu, 1963 Northern Maori, 1963 Grey Lynn, 1963
34th Parliament	There were no by-elections during the term of the 34th Parliament.
35th Parliament	Southern Maori, 1967 Fendalton, 1967 Petone, 1967 Palmerston North, 1967 Eastern Maori, 1967 Hutt, 1968
36th Parliament	Marlborough, 1970
37th Parliament	Sydenham, 1974
38th Parliament	Nelson, 1976 Mangere, 1977 Pahiatua, 1977 Rangitikei, 1978
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41st Parliament	Timaru, 1985
42nd Parliament	There were no by-elections during the term of the 42nd Parliament.
43rd Parliament	Tamaki, 1992 Wellington Central, 1992 Tauranga, 1993
44th Parliament	Selwyn, 1994

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