1920 Bruce by-election

For articles about related by-elections, see Bruce by-election.

1920 Bruce by-election

14 April 1920
Turnout	4,734 (63.92%)
Candidate John Edie James Begg Party Liberal Reform Popular vote 2,421 2,297 Percentage 51.14 48.52
MP before election James Allen Reform Elected MP John Edie Liberal

The Bruce by-election of 1920 was a by-election held on 14 April 1920 during the 20th New Zealand Parliament in the rural lower South Island electorate of the Bruce.

Background

The contest was triggered due to the resignation from Parliament of James Allen, who took up the position of New Zealand's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.[1] The Liberal Party's chosen candidate was John Edie. He had contested the Bruce electorate in the 1919 election against James Allen and was beaten by the mere margin of 126 votes (only 2.15%).[2]

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1920 Bruce by-election[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Edie	2,421	51.14	+2.22
	Reform	James Begg	2,297	48.52
Informal votes			16	0.33	−0.87
Majority			124	2.61
Turnout			4,734	63.92	−16.28
Registered electors			7,406

Aftermath

The Bruce electorate was abolished for the 1922 general election. Edie won the Clutha electorate, holding it until 1925.[4]

Notes

1. McGibbon, Ian. "Allen, James". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
2. The New Zealand Official Year-Book. Government Printer. 1920. Archived from the original on 1 September 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
3. "The Bruce Election". The Southland Times. No. 18805. 26 April 1920. p. 6. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
4. Wilson 1985, pp. 194, 242.

References

• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.