1915 Wellington City mayoral election

8 May 1915
Turnout	18,644 (55.65%)
Candidate John Luke Robert Fletcher Charles Chapman Party Citizens League Independent Social Democrat Popular vote 9,987 7,525 1,132 Percentage 53.56 40.36 6.07
Mayor before election John Luke Elected Mayor John Luke

The 1915 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1915, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. John Luke, the incumbent Mayor, retained office tallying just ten votes fewer than he did two years earlier. The standard first-past-the-post electoral method was used to conduct polling.

Background

The election was held during World War I, which was the dominant news item of the day. The war was a topic in the election itself, with the current mayor John Luke being a strong supporter campaigning along a 'win the war' line. In stark contrast the Labour movement were opposed to the war, in particular conscription. In mid-1915 the war was still supported by the bulk of the population, thus the Labour mayoral candidate Charles Chapman performing much poorer than expected, when only three years earlier (before the war) Wellingtonians voted in the city's first Labour mayor.^[1] The Labour movement had restored some unity between the moderate and militant factions (helped by mutual opposition to conscription) and both factions agreed on a single candidate for the mayoralty, and a reduced but joint ticket for the council. However, the expected nadir in support in the face of jingoistic opponents came to fruition with none of the six Labour candidates elected to the council.^[2] This left Alfred Hindmarsh (who was elected to the Wellington Harbour Board) the sole elected Labour representative in Wellington.^[3]

Mayoralty results

Councillor results

Notes

References

• Betts, George (1970). Betts on Wellington:a city and its politics. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN 0 589 00469 7.
• Gustafson, Barry (1980). Labour's path to political independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1900–19. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press. ISBN 0-19-647986-X.