1899 City of Wellington by-election
# 1899 City of Wellington by-election

The 25 July 1899 City of Wellington by-election was caused by the resignation of incumbent MP John Hutcheson over the Marine Scandal. Hutcheson, along with MP Frederick Pirani had accused Premier Richard Seddon and Minister of Marine William Hall-Jones amongst others, of using influence to obtain Mariners certificates for unqualified candidates in contravention of the recent Shipping and Seamen's Act. When the Marine Commission report declared that the charges were unfounded Hutcheson resigned in order to exonerate himself by means of a by-election win.

## 1896 election result

General election, 1896 results: City of Wellington

1896 New Zealand general election :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal–Labour | John Hutcheson | 6,410 | 48.68 |
| | Independent | Robert Stout | 6,305 | 47.88 |
| | Liberal | George Fisher | 5,858 | 44.49 |
| | Conservative | Arthur Atkinson | 5,830 | 44.27 |
| | Liberal | Charles Wilson | 5,569 | 42.29 |
| | Conservative | Andrew Agnew Stuart Menteath | 5,559 | 42.22 |
| | Liberal | Francis Fraser | 1,811 | 13.75 |
| | Independent | Justinian John Kivern Powell | 185 | 1.40 |
| | Liberal | Arthur Warburton | 91 | 0.69 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 28 $^1$ | 0.21 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 37,618 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | $13,168^2$ | 68.21 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 19,304 | |

$^1$ Majority is difference between lowest winning poll (Fisher, 5859) and highest losing poll (Atkinson, 5831)

$^2$ Turnout is total number of voters - as voters had three votes each total votes cast was higher (37,624)

## 1899 by-election result

The following table gives the election results:

1899 City of Wellington by-election :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal–Labour | John Hutcheson | 6,945 | 58.28 |
| | Independent | Edwin George Jellicoe | 4,971 | 41.72 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,974 | 16.57 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,916 | |
