Turnout 18,644 7,525 1,132 40.36 6.07 Location Wellington, New Zealand | 9,987 7,525 53.56 40.36 Date 8 May 1915 | |
Winner John Luke | ||
The Wellington City mayoral election, 1915 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 Henry Chapman performing much poorer than expected, when only three years earlier (before the war) Wellingtonians voted in the city's first Labour mayor.