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Mount Albert by-election, 1947

Mount Albert by-election, 1947
New Zealand
← 1946 general 24 September 1947 (1947-09-24) 1949 general →

The Mount Albert seat in the House of Representatives.
Election by simple majority using first-past-the-post voting.
Turnout 87.1%
  Warren Freer.jpg No image.png
Candidate Warren Freer Jack Garland
Party Labour National
Popular vote 7,235 5,682
Percentage 56% 44%

Member before election

Arthur Richards
Labour

Elected Member

Warren Freer
Labour


Arthur Richards
Labour

Warren Freer
Labour

The 1947 Mount Albert by-election was a by-election held during the 28th New Zealand Parliament in the Auckland electorate of Mount Albert. The by-election occurred following the death of MP Arthur Richards and was won by Warren Freer.

Arthur Richards, who was first elected to represent Roskill for the Labour Party in 1931, died on 5 August 1947. This triggered the Mount Albert by-election, which occurred on 24 September 1947. Warren Freer was the candidate for the Labour Party, and J. C. Garland was the candidate for the National Party.

Freer obtained 56% of the votes and was successful. Richards had urged Freer (who had stood for Eden in 1946 election), to stand for the safe Labour seat of Mt Albert when he died. Freer was only 26 and relatively unknown to executive members, but local supporter Dick Barter convinced Peter Fraser that his work in Eden was adequate apprenticeship. Freer recalled two inspiring byelection speeches by Martyn Finlay and Mabel Howard, and was staggered when his majority was close to that of Richards in 1946, rather than being well below (as for most byelections).


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