City of Wellington by-election, 1892

City of Wellington by-election, 1892

15 January 1892 (1892-01-15)

100px Candidate William McLean Francis Bell Party Liberal Independent Popular vote 3,388 3,245

MP before election Kennedy Macdonald Liberal Elected MP William McLean Liberal

The City of Wellington by-election of 1892 was a by-election held on 15 January 1892 during the 11th New Zealand Parliament in the urban seat of the City of Wellington.

The contest was won by William McLean of the Liberal Party. McLean narrowly beat Francis Bell by 3,388 votes to 3,245.

The election was marred by a scandal over double voting. Over twenty cases of people casting votes more than once were discovered in a subsequent investigation. In his congratulatory speech to McLean, Prime Minister John Ballance also made reference to the scandal, alleging that the Tory Party had brought in outsiders to vote who had long ceased to be residents in the electorate.

Results

The following table gives the election results:

City of Wellington by-election, 1892

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William McLean	3,388	51.08	+30.97
	Opposition	Francis Bell	3,245	48.92	+5.31
Majority			143	2.16	-1.32
Turnout			6,633	75.50	+15.49
Registered electors			8,786

McLean held the seat until the 1893 general election, when he was defeated. Bell would become Prime Minister more than three decades later.