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1953 Onehunga by-election

← 1951 general 19 December 1953 (1953-12-19) 1954 general →
Turnout	13,749 (63.48%)
Candidate Hugh Watt Leonard Bradley Party Labour National Popular vote 6,868 3,385 Percentage 66.99% 33.01%
Member before election Arthur Osborne Labour Elected Member Hugh Watt Labour

The Onehunga by-election 1953 was a by-election held in the Onehunga electorate in Auckland during the term of the 30th New Zealand Parliament, on 19 December 1953. The by-election was won by Hugh Watt of the Labour Party.

Background

The by-election was caused by the death of incumbent MP Arthur Osborne of the Labour Party on 15 November 1953. In early November 1953 Osborne announced that he was not seeking re-election and would retire at the 1954 general election due to ill health. As a result, Labour had already begun preparations to replace him in the electorate at the time of Osborne's death.

Candidates

Labour

There were two nominations for the Labour Party nomination:

• Martyn Finlay, an Auckland lawyer and former MP for North Shore (1946–1949)
• Hugh Watt, a local engineering business owner and chairman of the Onehunga Labour Representation Committee

The chairman of the Auckland Labour Representation Committee, Richard French "Dick" Barter, was also speculated as a candidate but he did not seek the nomination. The Labour Party selected Watt as their candidate at a selection meeting on 30 November. He had stood unsuccessfully for Labour in Remuera in 1949 election and in Parnell in 1951 election. A month earlier he had been elected to the Auckland Harbour Board for the Onehunga, Newmarket and combined district.

National

Leonard George Bradley was selected as the National Party candidate. Bradley had contested Onehunga in the previous general election in 1951 against Osborne where he slightly increased National's share of the vote. At the 1949 election he had stood unsuccessfully for National in Auckland Central.

Results

The following table gives the election results:

Aftermath

Watt represented the electorate until he retired at the 1975 election. Bradley stood for National in Otahuhu in 1954 election and Waitakere in 1957 election, but was unsuccessful.

Notes

1. Wilson 1985, p. 225.
2. "Mr Osborne Dies After Long Illness". The New Zealand Herald. 16 November 1953. p. 10.
3. "Onehunga Seat – Choice of Labour Candidate". The Press. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 27199. 17 November 1953. p. 10.
4. "By-election in Onehunga – Big Labour Majority in 1951". The Press. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 27198. 16 November 1953. p. 8.
5. "Onehunga Seat – Labour Candidate ay By-election". The Press. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 27211. 1 December 1953. p. 10.
6. Norton 1988, pp. 314, 331.
7. "Auckland Harbour Board Election". The New Zealand Herald. 6 November 1953. p. 4.
8. "Onehunga Seat – National Party's Candidate". The Press. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 27208. 27 November 1953. p. 10.
9. Norton 1988, p. 295.
10. Wilson 1985, p. 244.

References

• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand parliamentary election results, 1946–1987. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington Department of Political Science. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

v t e « (1912–1938) «   By-elections in New Zealand in the two-party era (1939–1995)   » (1996–present) »
26th Parliament	Christchurch South, 1939 Auckland West, 1940 Waipawa, 1940 Waitemata, 1941 Bay of Plenty, 1941 Mid-Canterbury, 1942 Temuka, 1942 Hauraki, 1942 Christchurch East, 1943 Northern Maori, 1943
27th Parliament	Awarua, 1944 Western Maori, 1945 Hamilton, 1945 Dunedin North, 1945 Raglan, 1946
28th Parliament	Avon, 1947 Mount Albert, 1947 Westland, 1947
29th Parliament	Brooklyn, 1951
30th Parliament	Dunedin North, 1953 Onehunga, 1953 Onslow, 1954 Patea, 1954
31st Parliament	Riccarton, 1956 Bay of Plenty, 1957
32nd Parliament	Hamilton, 1959
33rd Parliament	Hurunui, 1961 Waitaki, 1962 Buller, 1962 Timaru, 1962 Otahuhu, 1963 Northern Maori, 1963 Grey Lynn, 1963
34th Parliament	There were no by-elections during the term of the 34th Parliament.
35th Parliament	Southern Maori, 1967 Fendalton, 1967 Petone, 1967 Palmerston North, 1967 Eastern Maori, 1967 Hutt, 1968
36th Parliament	Marlborough, 1970
37th Parliament	Sydenham, 1974
38th Parliament	Nelson, 1976 Mangere, 1977 Pahiatua, 1977 Rangitikei, 1978
39th Parliament	Christchurch Central, 1979 Northern Maori, 1980 Onehunga, 1980 East Coast Bays, 1980
40th Parliament	There were no by-elections during the term of the 40th Parliament.
41st Parliament	Timaru, 1985
42nd Parliament	There were no by-elections during the term of the 42nd Parliament.
43rd Parliament	Tamaki, 1992 Wellington Central, 1992 Tauranga, 1993
44th Parliament	Selwyn, 1994

• By-elections in New Zealand
• 1953 elections in New Zealand
• Politics of the Auckland Region
• December 1953 events in New Zealand
• 1950s in Auckland