The Parnell by-election of 1930 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....

 in the seat of Parnell

Parnell (New Zealand electorate)

Parnell was a parliamentary electorate in the city of Auckland, New Zealand, from 1861 to 1954.The electorate was represented by ten Members of Parliament:* Reader Wood 1861–65 & 1870–78* Robert James Creighton 1865–66* Frederick Whitaker 1866–67...

 held on 7 May 1930 during the 23rd New Zealand Parliament. The by-election came about because of the resignation of the current member of parliament Harry Reginald Jenkins

Harry Reginald Jenkins

Harry Reginald Jenkins was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Parnell in Auckland, New Zealand.-Member of Parliament:Harry Jenkins represented the Parnell electorate from the 1928 general election to his resignation in 1930.-Resignation:...

 who chose to re-contest his seat. The seat was won by William Endean of the Reform Party

New Zealand Reform Party

The Reform Party, formally the New Zealand Political Reform League, was New Zealand's second major political party, having been founded as a conservative response to the original Liberal Party...

.

Results at general election

The election of Jenkins was considered a surprise. Dickson had held the seat 1911 but the New Zealand Reform Party

New Zealand Reform Party

The Reform Party, formally the New Zealand Political Reform League, was New Zealand's second major political party, having been founded as a conservative response to the original Liberal Party...

 suffered significant losses in this election.

Cause of by-election

Jenkins was a big supporter of Gordon Coates

Gordon Coates

Joseph Gordon Coates, MC and bar served as the 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1925 to 1928.- Early life :Born on the Hukatere Peninsula in Kaipara Harbour where his family ran a farm, Coates took on significant responsibility at a relatively early age because his father suffered from...

 who was the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...

 and leader of the Reform Party

New Zealand Reform Party

The Reform Party, formally the New Zealand Political Reform League, was New Zealand's second major political party, having been founded as a conservative response to the original Liberal Party...

 before 1928. However, at that election the United and Reform parties won an equal number of seats and the United party formed a coalition with Labour. Therefore Joseph Ward

Joseph Ward

Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, GCMG was the 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand on two occasions in the early 20th century.-Early life:...

 became Prime Minister. Jenkins was critical of the deal Uniited had done with Labour and so quite the party and became an independent. On 21 March, he then announced that he would resign from his seat and contest the by-election. This was a controversial move but Joseph Savage

Joseph Savage

Joseph Knebel Savage was an American figure skater who competed in pairs and ice dance. Teamed with Edith Secord, he won the bronze medal in pairs at the United States Figure Skating Championships in 1929 and 1930 and finished eighth at the 1930 World Figure Skating Championships...

 believe that he had done the correct thing.

Reform

Jenkins, after resigning, decided to join the Reform party and announced that he would try and win selection as their candidate. He said “I feel also that Reform is the safest of the three parties, because Reform will never be dictated to by Labour as the United Party has been.” He also stated that he would not run as an independent if he was not selected. There were four Reform nominations for the seat, these were: R. Glover, Jenkins, William Endean and James Samuel Dickson

James Samuel Dickson

James Samuel Dickson was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand.He won the Auckland electorate of Parnell in the 1911 general election, winning on the second ballot against a senior Liberal from Wellington, Sir John Findlay, with some support from Labour...

. Endean was eventually selected.

Labour

Many different candidates were suspected to be involved in the selection process for labour. Among them were T. Bloodworth who had ran for this seat in the New Zealand general election, 1919 an Yarnall who had ran at the previous election. Yarnall, however, eventually declined to run and Bloodoworth won the nomiantion From M. Dreaver.

Others

W.C. Hewitt originally announced that he would stand as a Liberal-Labour candidate but did not do so.

A. Fletcher intended to stand in the interests of the unemployed.

These two candidates did not actually compete in the by-election.

Campaign

The election was seen as a judgement on whether or not United supporters agreed with their deal with Labour.

Donald spoke in defence of his party's record, claimed that a loss for his party could cause an election and that a small surplus would be announced in the budget.

Bloodworth said that Labour would introduce real measures which would bring about real changes to New Zealand.

Endean was heavily favored to win after receiving an endorsement by the NZ Truth.

Result

Endean won 22 of 24 polling places.