1941 Auckland City mayoral election
# 1941 Auckland City mayoral election

The 1941 Auckland City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1941, elections were held for the Mayor of Auckland plus other local government positions including twenty-one city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

The election saw deputy-mayor John Allum defeating the Labour nominee Joe Sayegh who suffered defeat for the third time in succession. Sayegh did not stand for the council as an inducement to vote for him as mayor, but he was elected to the Harbour Board and Hospital Board. The only successful Labour candidate for the council was Mary Dreaver, with the Citizens & Ratepayers ticket winning all other council seats.

## Background

### Citizens & Ratepayers

The incumbent mayor Sir Ernest Davis declined to seek a further term. After Davis' retirement the deputy mayor John Allum and councillor Arthur Bailey were seen as likely replacements as the Citizens & Ratepayers Association nominee for mayor. At a meeting chaired by James Donald the Citizens & Ratepayers Association committee selected Allum as the mayoral candidate.

### Labour

The Labour Party had six people nominated for the mayoralty:

* Bill Anderton, MP for Eden since 1935 and former city councillor (1935-41)
* Mary Dreaver, a Hospital Board member since 1931 city councillor since 1938
* Jim Purtell, secretary of the Trades and Labour Council and former city councillor (1936-38)
* Joe Sayegh, Labour's mayoral candidate at the previous two elections and former city councillor (1933-41)
* Bill Schramm, MP for Auckland East since 1931
* John Stewart, former city councillor (1935-38)

Sayegh was elected as the Labour candidate at a selection meeting of party delegates.

### Others

Two independent candidates also stood. James William Payne, who stood for mayor in 1938, and Charles Bailey, formerly a Labour city councillor from 1933 to 1938.

## Mayoralty results

1941 Auckland mayoral election :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Citizens & Ratepayers | John Allum | 16,353 | 49.60 | |
| | Labour | Joe Sayegh | 15,010 | 45.52 | +11.91 |
| | Independent | Charles Bailey | 1,082 | 3.28 | |
| | Independent | James William Payne | 218 | 0.66 | -0.24 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 306 | 0.92 | -0.26 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,343 | 4.07 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 32,969 | 50.19 | -11.31 |

## Councillor results

1941 Auckland City Council election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Leonard Coakley | 17,215 | 52.21 | +0.60 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Arthur Bailey | 16,805 | 50.97 | -5.50 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Reginald Judson | 16,504 | 50.05 | +1.54 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Fred Ambler | 16,305 | 49.45 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Ellen Melville | 16,251 | 49.29 | +0.22 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Harold Burton | 15,782 | 47.86 | +0.44 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | William Fowlds | 15,671 | 47.53 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | William Brockway Darlow | 15,604 | 47.32 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Harry Butcher | 15,443 | 46.84 | +4.38 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Wilfred Fortune | 15,383 | 46.65 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Sidney Takle | 15,210 | 46.13 | |
| Labour | Mary Dreaver | 15,137 | 45.91 | -1.30 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Keith Buttle | 14,984 | 45.44 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Roy McElroy | 14,890 | 45.16 | +1.84 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Jack Garland | 14,853 | 45.05 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Alan Brown | 14,668 | 44.49 | +1.48 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Frederick George Farrell | 14,628 | 44.36 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Claude James Lovegrove | 14,572 | 44.19 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Reginald Harrop | 14,469 | 43.88 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Michael Joseph Moodabe | 14,402 | 43.68 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Alan Doull | 14,001 | 42.46 | |
| Labour | Jeremiah James Sullivan | 13,858 | 42.03 | -2.63 |
| Labour | Bill Anderton | 13,838 | 41.97 | -3.94 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | William Power | 13,771 | 41.76 | |
| Labour | Peter Carr | 13,647 | 41.39 | -1.88 |
| Labour | Fred Young | 13,021 | 39.49 | -2.82 |
| Labour | Donald Campbell | 13,010 | 39.46 | |
| Labour | Paul Richardson | 12,841 | 38.94 | |
| Labour | Robert Boswell | 12,794 | 38.80 | |
| Labour | Elizabeth Wynn | 12,520 | 37.97 | -2.18 |
| Labour | John Stewart | 12,445 | 37.74 | -2.44 |
| Labour | Frederick George Beer | 12,286 | 37.26 | |
| Labour | George Gordon Grant | 12,167 | 36.90 | |
| Labour | Charles Stephen Morris | 12,052 | 36.55 | |
| Labour | Joseph Glen Kennerley | 11,879 | 36.03 | -2.12 |
| Labour | Harold Callagher | 11,688 | 35.45 | |
| Labour | Charles James Matthew | 11,646 | 35.32 | -2.99 |
| Labour | Harry Gordon Staley | 11,558 | 35.05 | -1.67 |
| Labour | Esric Hunter | 11,461 | 34.76 | |
| Independent | Richard Armstrong | 3,186 | 9.66 | -34.17 |
| Communist | Gordon Watson | 2,363 | 7.16 | |
| Communist | George Jackson | 1,875 | 5.68 | |
| Independent | Patricia Hurd | 1,724 | 5.22 | |
| Independent | James William Payne | 1,715 | 5.20 | |
| Communist | Henry Mornington Smith | 1,626 | 4.93 | |
