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City of Auckland by-election, 1893

City of Auckland by-election, 1893
New Zealand
← 1890 general 4 August 1893 1893 →
Turnout 3,020
  Alfred Jerome Cadman (Cropped).jpg William Lee Rees.jpg
Candidate Alfred Cadman William Lee Rees
Party Liberal Liberal
Popular vote 1,888 1,132

MP before election

William Lee Rees
Liberal

Elected MP

Alfred Cadman
Liberal


William Lee Rees
Liberal

Alfred Cadman
Liberal

The City of Auckland by-election of 1893 was a by-election held on 4 August 1893 during the 11th New Zealand Parliament in the urban upper North Island electorate of the City of Auckland.

In 1893, William Lee Rees accused Alfred Cadman, the Member for Thames, of using his position as Minister for Native Affairs for his own personal benefit. Cadman then sued Rees for libel but the trial proved inconclusive. The jury in the libel case found that "the letters of Mr Rees to the Premier were defamatory, and that the defamatory matter was not only not fair and bona fide comment on the acts and conduct of the plantiff, but that it was not true", however they only awarded damages of £1 which "implied [Cadman's] acts and conduct were yet not above suspicion."

On 11 July 1893 while in the debating chamber of New Zealand's parliament Cadman challenged Rees to vacate his seat and contest the subsequent by-election against him. Rees accepted the challenge although Cadman was ultimately successful.

The following table gives the election results:

A by-election was later held in Thames for Cadman's newly vacant seat.


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