1891 Wellington City mayoral election

1891 Wellington City mayoral election

← 1890 25 November 1891 1892 →
Turnout1,701
 
Candidate Francis Bell Charles Worth
Party Independent Independent
Popular vote 1,060 641
Percentage 62.31 37.69

Mayor before election

Arthur Brown

Elected mayor

Francis Bell

The 1891 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year to decide who would take the office of Mayor of Wellington for the following year.

Background

The incumbent mayor, Arthur Winton Brown, declined to stand for re-election. Before he ruled himself out, councillor Charles Frederick Worth (who had opposed Brown in 1890) had announced his candidacy.[1] Brown led a deputation to request that lawyer and candidate at the 1890 election in the City of Wellington electorate, Francis Bell, stand for the mayoralty, which he agreed to do.[2] The election took place during a period when political partisanship was increasing.[3] Bell was a land estate owner and had worked for many years for Conservative Party MP Sir John Eldon Gorst.[4] In contrast, Worth was of a working-class background, had been president of the Working Men's Club in Napier, and had a long association with the Liberal Party.[5]

Election results

The following table gives the election results:

1891 Wellington mayoral election[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Francis Bell 1,060 62.31
Independent Charles Worth 641 37.69 −3.12
Majority 419 24.62
Turnout 1,701

Notes

  1. ^ "Wellington". Thames Star. Vol. XXIII, no. 6998. 28 September 1891. p. 2.
  2. ^ "The Mayoralty - Mr. H. D. Bell Consents to Stand". The Evening Post. Vol. XLII, no. 77. 28 September 1891. p. 3.
  3. ^ Betts 1970, pp. 39.
  4. ^ Gardner, William James. "Bell, Francis Henry Dillon – Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  5. ^ "Untitled". The Daily Telegraph. No. 6265. 29 September 1891. p. 2.
  6. ^ "Wellington City Council". The Evening Post. Vol. XLII, no. 128. 26 November 1891. p. 3.

References