Electoral history of Peter Fraser
# Electoral history of Peter Fraser

* This article is part of a series aboutPeter Fraser

Early life and career

Member for Wellington Central

1918 Wellington Central by-election

Electoral history

Leader of the Labour Party

1940 leadership election

Lee affair

Prime Minister of New Zealand

World War II

Canberra Pact

UNCIO conference

Post-war consensus

State housing scheme

Statute of Westminster Adoption

Elections

1943 general election

1946 general election

1949 general election :

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This is a summary of the electoral history of Peter Fraser, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1940–49), Leader of the Labour Party (1940–50) and Member of Parliament for Wellington Central (1918–46) then Brooklyn (1946–50).

## Parliamentary elections

### 1918 by-election

1918 Wellington Central by-election :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 2,668 | 56.54 | |
| | Independent Labour | Joe Mack | 1,044 | 22.12 | |
| | Liberal | William Hildreth | 784 | 16.61 | |
| | Independent | Harry Atmore | 185 | 3.92 | |
| | Independent | Lindsay John Frederick Garmston | 29 | 0.61 | |
| | Independent | William Cyril Tanner | 9 | 0.19 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,624 | 34.41 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,719 | 51.43 | -33.04 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 9,176 | | |
| | Labour gain from Liberal | Labour gain from Liberal | Swing | | |

### 1919 election

1919 general election: Wellington Central :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 4,486 | 57.33 | +0.79 |
| | Liberal | Frederick Pirani | 3,430 | 42.67 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,146 | 14.64 | -19.77 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,826 | | |

### 1922 election

1922 general election: Wellington Central :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 5,827 | 64.73 | +7.40 |
| | Independent | William Bennett | 1,625 | 18.05 | |
| | Liberal–Labour | Archibald Sievwright | 1,550 | 17.21 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,202 | 46.67 | +32.03 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 102 | 1.13 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,002 | | |

### 1925 election

1925 general election: Wellington Central :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 5,459 | 64.02 | -0.71 |
| | Reform | Dunbar Sloane | 3,069 | 35.98 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,390 | 28.02 | -18.65 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,528 | | |

### 1928 election

1928 general election: Wellington Central :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 7,353 | 60.81 | -3.21 |
| | Reform | Dunbar Sloane | 3,895 | 32.21 | -3.77 |
| | Independent Labour | Margaret Young | 843 | 6.97 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,458 | 28.60 | +0.58 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 145 | 1.19 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,236 | 83.61 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 14,635 | | |

### 1931 election

1931 general election: Wellington Central :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 6,308 | 57.26 | -3.55 |
| | United | Robert Darroch | 3,837 | 34.83 | |
| | Independent | Edward William Nicolaus | 688 | 6.25 | |
| | Communist | Richard Francis Griffin | 183 | 1.66 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,471 | 22.43 | -6.17 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 91 | 0.82 | -0.37 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,107 | 74.82 | -8.79 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 14,845 | | |

### 1935 election

1935 general election: Wellington Central :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 7,673 | 69.43 | 12.17 |
| | United/Reform | Will Mason | 3,380 | 30.57 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,293 | 38.84 | +16.41 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,053 | | |

### 1938 election

1938 general election: Wellington Central :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 9,376 | 62.86 | -6.19 |
| | National | Will Appleton | 5,539 | 37.14 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,837 | 25.73 | -12.37 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 89 | 0.59 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 15,004 | 86.74 | +5.05 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 17,297 | | |

### 1943 election

1943 general election: Wellington Central :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 6,822 | 46.12 | -16.74 |
| | National | Will Appleton | 5,616 | 37.97 | +0.83 |
| | Independent | Colin Scrimgeour | 2,253 | 15.23 | |
| | Independent | Julius Hyde | 100 | 0.68 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,206 | 8.15 | -17.57 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 223 | 1.49 | +0.89 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 15,014 | 80.59 | +6.15 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 18,629 | | |

### 1946 election

1946 general election: Brooklyn :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 8,216 | 65.75 |
| | National | Stewart Hardy | 4,281 | 34.45 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,935 | 31.48 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,497 | 87.09 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 14,349 | |

### 1949 election

1949 general election: Brooklyn :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 7,176 | 63.91 | -1.84 |
| | National | Berta Burns | 4,220 | 37.58 | |
| | Communist | Connie Birchfield | 241 | 2.14 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,956 | 26.32 | -5.16 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,228 | 85.73 | -1.36 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 13,096 | | |

## Local elections

### 1923 local elections

1923 Wellington City mayoral election :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Civic League | Robert Wright | 10,876 | 42.30 | -23.30 |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 10,603 | 41.24 | |
| | Independent | Len McKenzie | 4,228 | 16.44 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 273 | 1.06 | -29.60 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 25,707 | | |

### 1933 council by-election

1933 Wellington City Council by-election :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 11,607 | 48.64 | |
| | Citizens' | Robert Wright | 11,288 | 47.31 | |
| | Independent | John Castle | 517 | 2.16 | |
| | Communist | Richard Webb | 311 | 1.30 | -13.81 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 136 | 0.57 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 319 | 1.33 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,859 | 42.94 | |

### 1933 local elections

Wellington Harbour Board, Wellington :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 13,068 | 57.79 | |
| | Labour | Charles Chapman | 12,661 | 55.99 | +6.03 |
| | Citizens' | Charles Norwood | 11,199 | 49.53 | -6.21 |
| | Labour | Bob Semple | 11,028 | 48.77 | |
| | Citizens' | William Bennett | 10,702 | 47.33 | |
| | Citizens' | Francis Arthur Mcindoe | 9,799 | 43.33 | |
| | Citizens' | Robert Nimmo | 8,069 | 35.68 | |
| | Labour | Michael Walsh | 7,992 | 35.34 | +7.67 |
| | Independent | Robert Darroch | 4,204 | 18.59 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,180 | 5.21 | +0.01 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,610 | | |

### 1935 local elections

Wellington Harbour Board, Wellington :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 25,428 | 66.30 | +8.51 |
| | Labour | Charles Chapman | 21,627 | 56.39 | +0.40 |
| | Labour | Robert McKeen | 21,380 | 55.75 | |
| | Labour | Bob Semple | 21,142 | 55.13 | |
| | Citizens' | Charles Norwood | 17,920 | 46.72 | -2.81 |
| | Citizens' | Will Appleton | 16,663 | 43.45 | |
| | Citizens' | Robert Nimmo | 14,651 | 38.20 | -2.52 |
| | Citizens' | Hubert Nathan | 13,815 | 36.02 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 770 | 2.00 | -3.21 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,349 | | |

## Leadership elections

### 1933 Deputy-leadership election

Labour Party deputy-leadership election 1933 :

| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Peter Fraser | 24 | 100.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 24 | — |

### 1940 Leadership election

Labour Party leadership election 1940 :

| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Peter Fraser | 33 | 68.7 |
| | Gervan McMillan | 12 | 25.0 |
| | Clyde Carr | 3 | 6.2 |
| Majority | Majority | 21 | 34.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 48 | — |
