The Bay of Islands by-election of 1929 was a by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 held on 10 April 1929 during the 22nd New Zealand Parliament

22nd New Zealand Parliament

The 22nd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Its composition was determined by the 1925 elections, and it sat until the 1928 elections....

 in the Northland electorate of Bay of Islands

Bay of Islands (New Zealand electorate)

Bay of Islands is a former New Zealand Parliamentary electorate. It existed during various periods between 1853 and 1993.-Population centres:...

. The by-election came about because Harold Rushworth

Harold Rushworth

Harold Montague Rushworth was a New Zealand politician of the Country Party.-Early life:Rushworth was born in Croydon, England and was educated at Rugby School and Jesus College, Oxford, graduating with a degree in law. He became a civil engineer and surveyor and worked for the London County...

's win in the general election of the previous year was declared void. The seat was won again by Harold Rushworth of the Country Party

Country Party (New Zealand)

The Country Party of New Zealand was a political party which based itself around rural voters. It was represented in Parliament from 1928 to 1938. Its policies were a mixture of rural advocacy and social credit theory....

.

General Election

Harold Rushworth was originally declared the winner on election night.

Cause of by-election

Supporters of Allen Bell filed a petition to the electoral court complaining of voting irregularities. Bell, however, claimed that he would take no part in any attempts to upset the election, leaving it up to his supporters. This petition was ultimately successful and it was announced by the court that a by-election should take place for the seat.

Selection process

Both Rushworth and Bell decided to run again for the seat.

The Labour party refused to put up a candidate, believing that the two candidates who had tied with each other should compete in the by-election.

Result

Rushworth won the by-election.

This by-election clearly created much interest as the turnout was higher here than it was at the general election. Rushworth's improved showing can be put down to the fact that he got most of the votes that were previously cast for Hornblow.