1890 Timaru by-election
New Zealand by-election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1890 Timaru by-election was a by-election held on 18 August 1890 during the 10th New Zealand Parliament in the seat of Timaru, a partly urban seat in Canterbury on the East Coast of the South Island.
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18 August 1890
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| Turnout | 868 (67.28%) | |||||||||||||||
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Background
The by-election was triggered because of the death of sitting member of parliament Richard Turnbull.[1] The election saw William Hall-Jones win the seat over his main opponent, Edward George Kerr.
Kerr had contested the 1887 election against Turnbull,[2] and was the proprietor of The Timaru Herald. Former Prime Minister Sir Robert Stout was invited to contest the seat, but he declined.[3] William Hall-Jones had initially refused nomination citing crucial upcoming business interests. However, several locals persisted and Hall-Jones eventually accepted.[1] Jeremiah Twomey, a newspaper proprietor and owner of the Temuka Leader and Geraldine Guardian also announced his candidacy, but later retired from the race before nominations closed.[4]
Hall-Jones, Kerr and W F Alpin were nominated, and after a show of hands went in favour of Hall-Jones a poll was demanded by the supporters of Kerr and Alpin.[5]
Results
The following table gives the election results:
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Liberal | William Hall-Jones | 422 | 48.61 | ||
| Independent | Edward G. Kerr | 344 | 39.63 | â0.58 | |
| Independent Labour | W F Alpin | 88 | 10.13 | ||
| Informal votes | 14 | 1.61 | |||
| Majority | 78 | 8.98 | |||
| Turnout | 868 | 67.28 | â0.27 | ||
