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1994 Selwyn by-election

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.

Candidates

Alliance

There were four nominations for the Alliance:

  • Judy Hunt, a personnel manager from Geraldine who was the Alliance candidate for Rakaia in 1993
  • Maureen Love, a former union delegate and teacher studying a commerce degree at Canterbury University from Christchurch
  • John Wright, the leader of the Democratic Party who was the Alliance candidate for Rangiora in 1993
  • Maevis Watson, a member of the Wairewa-Akaroa Community Board and registered nurse from Little River who was the NewLabour Party candidate for Selwyn in 1990

John McCaskey, the Alliance candidate for Selwyn in 1993 had also been named as a prospective candidate, but he decided not proceed with his nomination.

At a selection meeting of 150 members in Halswell, a panel of 10 chose Wright from the four nominees to be the Alliance candidate.

Labour

Labour's candidate from the 1993 election who cut Richardson's majority from 5,441 votes to 888, Ron Mark declined to stand again. Mark was a supporter of ousted Labour leader Mike Moore, which media speculated was the reason he did not stand. Mark stated that he would not stand for personal and political reasons, while both Labour leader, Helen Clark, and her deputy, David Caygill, had also made it clear they would have welcomed Mark as a candidate. Two candidates were nominated to represent Labour in the by-election:

A third nominee, Greg Coyle, who was Labour's candidate in 1993 for Sydenham withdrew saying Hobbs' selection was a foregone conclusion.

At a selection meeting held in Belfast, Hobbs was selected as Labour's candidate. At the meeting, attended by about 100 party members, Hobbs said voters had the chance to choose between "fiscal purity" and "a system of social justice." User-pays meant that only those who could pay could use. "If you can't pay, you can't use, and that is not good enough" in her acceptance speech. She also acknowledged Mark, who had attended the selection meeting, but had left before the announcement was made.

National

The 11 nominees were narrowed to a shortlist of five candidates which went to a selection meeting ballot. The candidates were:

At the selection meeting held at West Melton Hall delegates voted in an exhaustive ballot for the candidate. Kelland was eliminated on the first ballot, Murray on the second and Bain on the third. Carter beat Boag on the last ballot, which party sources indicated was a very close result.

New Zealand First

The New Zealand First candidate for Lyttelton in 1993, Ross Gluer, ruled himself out of standing but was named the party's campaign manager. Gluer said three people had put their names forward as potential candidates, two of them being previous candidates. Two names were made public, that of Jenny Bloxham who was the party's health spokesperson and candidate for Timaru in 1993, and Tim Shadbolt, the Mayor of Invercargill. The party selected Shadbolt. Ron Woods, the former Canterbury regional chairman for the party, who had recently been replaced by Gluer, claimed members had been kept "completely in the dark" about the selection process and said he could not think of anyone less suited to Selwyn voters than Shadbolt. Shadbolt's selection led to accusations of secret meetings and backroom dealings. However, the chairman of the party's management committee, Doug Woolerton, denied this saying the choice had been "totally democratic" and had the backing of the local party organisation.

Others
  • Bruce Annan, an automobile repairer from Christchurch, stood for Kiwis Against Further Immigration
  • Kieron Doak, a psychopedic assistant at the Templeton Centre, was selected as the candidate of the New Zealand Coalition. The coalition labelled itself as a moderate centre grouping made up of member of the Social Credit Party, the New Zealand Party, the United Party and some independents.
  • Rosemary Francis, a teacher who had stood in Fendalton in both 1990 and 1993, was selected by the Christian Heritage Party.
  • Peter Wakeman was the first person to declare their candidacy, as an independent. He had stood at the 1993 Tauranga by-election placing third. He had hoped the opposition parties might have backed him as a neutral single candidate against whoever stood for National. He later withdrew his candidacy after no parties withdrew.
  • Bill Woods, the Mayor of Selwyn, contemplated standing as an independent candidate. He said he would only stand provided someone else paid his deposit stating "That's a way of telling if there is any real feeling out there."

Results

The following table shows the official results as published by the Electoral Commission.

References