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1912 Wellington City mayoral election

← 1919 27 April 1921 1923 →
Turnout	20,518 (51.90%)
Candidate Robert Wright Pat Hickey Party Civic League Labour Popular vote 13,405 7,113 Percentage 65.33 34.66
Mayor before election John Luke Elected mayor Robert Wright

The 1921 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1921, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

Background and candidates

The long serving incumbent Mayor John Luke did not seek re-election. To replace retiring Mayor Luke five "anti-Labour" candidates emerged, which caused fear of vote splitting and a repeat of the 1912 election. As such, two immediately withdrew and the remaining three agreed to submit to the decision of an impartial committee to decide which one of them was most suitable.

The three aspirants for the Civic League nomination were:

• Len McKenzie, a city councillor since 1911
• Charles Norwood, a city councillor since 1917
• Robert Wright, a city councillor since 1913

Thomas Hislop, a former mayor from 1905 to 1909, also intended to stand as an independent candidate, eschewing the Civic League's nomination process. However after receiving multiple requests Hislop decided to withdraw from the election.

The Labour Party selected Pat Hickey as its mayoral candidate. Hickey was the editor of the Maoriland Worker newspaper.

Wright defeated Hickey for the mayoralty in a two horse race. The election was also notable due to the success of Annie McVicar, who became the first woman to be elected as a city councillor in Wellington's history.

Mayoralty results

Councillor results

Notes

1. Betts 1970, pp. 179.
2. ^ "City Mayoralty - Coming Contest". The New Zealand Times. Vol. XLVII, no. 10838. 2 March 1921. p. 5.
3. "The Mayoralty - Hon. T. Hislop Retires". The New Zealand Times. Vol. XLVII, no. 10877. 18 April 1921. p. 5.
4. "News of the Day". The New Zealand Times. Vol. XLVI, no. 10727. 22 October 1920. p. 4.
5. Hughes, Beryl. "Annie McVicar". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
6. "Wellington City Council". The Evening Post. Vol. CI, no. 109. 9 May 1921. p. 3.
7. "City Council". The Evening Post. Vol. CI, no. 108. 7 May 1921. p. 3. Retrieved 9 June 2016.

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.

v t e Mayors of Wellington
Mayors	elected by councillors George Hunter William Guyton Joe Dransfield Charles Borlase elected at large William Sefton Moorhouse William Hutchison Joe Dransfield George Allen William Hutchison George Fisher Arthur Winton Brown Sam Brown John Duthie Charles Johnston Arthur Winton Brown Francis Bell Alfred Brandon Charles Luke George Fisher Francis Bell John Blair John Aitken Thomas William Hislop Alfred Newman Thomas Wilford David McLaren John Luke Robert Wright Charles Norwood George Troup Thomas Hislop Will Appleton Rob Macalister Frank Kitts Michael Fowler Ian Lawrence Jim Belich Fran Wilde Mark Blumsky Kerry Prendergast Celia Wade-Brown Justin Lester Andy Foster Tory Whanau
Mayoral elections	Annual term 1842 1874 1875 1876† 1877† 1878 1879‡ 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888† 1889† 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898† 1899 1901 1902† 1903† 1904 1905 1906† 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911† 1912 1913 1914 Biennial term 1915 1917† 1919 1921 1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1933† 1935 Triennial term 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022
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† Elected unopposed ‡ By-election

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