1858 City of Wellington by-election

The City of Wellington by-election 1858 was a by-election held in the multi-member City of Wellington electorate during the 2nd New Zealand Parliament, on 27 July 1858.

The by-election was caused by the resignation of two of the three incumbent MPs Isaac Featherston and William Fitzherbert, and was won by Featherston and William Rhodes. Featherston resigned in order to return to England, but then decided to remain in New Zealand while Rhodes resigned to contest the Hutt 1858 by-election which he subsequently won. On nomination day (26 July) Featherston, Rhodes, Jerningham Wakefield and William Bowler were nominated, and after a show of hands in favour of Rhodes and Featherston a poll was demanded by Wakefield and Bowler. Featherston and Rhodes were subsequently elected the following day.[1]

Results edit

1858 City of Wellington by-election[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Isaac Featherston 360
Independent William Rhodes 352
Independent Jerningham Wakefield 349
Independent William Bowler[2] 347
Majority 3[nb 1]
Total votes 1,408
Table footnotes
  1. ^ Majority is the difference between lowest winning poll (Rhodes: 352) and highest losing poll (Wakefield: 349)

References edit

  1. ^ a b "The General Assembly Election". The Wellington Independent. Vol. X, no. 1310. 28 July 1858. p. 3. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  2. ^ Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L (PDF). Vol. I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. pp. 83f. Retrieved 18 June 2016.