The 1992 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the held that same year. In 1992, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government roles including 21 councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 57,157 (53.26%) | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
The election saw Fran Wilde, the MP for Wellington Central, elected as the new mayor of Wellington replacing incumbent Sir Jim Belich who had retired after serving two terms. Wilde became Wellington's first female mayor, defeating former Deputy Mayor Helene Ritchie and her predecessor as MP for Wellington Central Ken Comber who ran for the Citizens' Association.
Background
editIn November 1991, former Deputy Mayor Helene Ritchie, was the first person to declare their candidacy.[1] The next day incumbent mayor, Sir Jim Belich, made inferences that he was considering standing for a third term. He would not rule out standing for re-election, but stated he would not make a final decision until February.[2] This was a surprise given Belich stated when he was first elected in 1986 that he wished to serve for only two terms. Ultimately Belich cited this pledge as his main reason when he decided not to stand again. He stated "I said if I couldn't do in six years what was in my power to do I'm not sure I could do more in nine. The main things on my agenda, formed after my election, have been done."[3]
Following Belich's decision to retire from the mayoralty, the Labour Party chose Wellington Central MP Fran Wilde as their candidate. Initially Eastern Ward councillor Nic Dalton was favoured to replace Belich though Dalton ruled himself out of contention for both the mayoralty and council.[4][5] Attention then turned to Wilde's status as an MP with the prospect of her taking both a parliamentary and mayoral salary or the prospect of a by-election at taxpayer expense. Labour leader Mike Moore made known his preference for Wilde to remain in Parliament, offering to relieve her of portfolios to help with workload, although Wilde ultimately decided to resign from Parliament if elected mayor.[6]
The Citizens' Association had no shortage of people interested in being their mayoral candidate. Citizens' leader on the council Les Stephens, Eastern ward councillor Ruth Gotlieb, former councillor Bryan Weyburne, ex-deputy mayor Gavin Wilson and previous mayor Ian Lawrence were all approached by the selection committee. Insurance executive Boyd Klap, broadcaster Sharon Crosbie, management executive Basil Logan as well as two former National Party MPs, Ken Comber and Tony Friedlander, also spoke to Citizens' selectors.[7] Five names (Comber, Gotlieb, Lawrence, Stephens and Weyburne) went forward for the final selection panel. The association made a surprise choice, choosing Comber as their candidate for mayor.[8] Gotlieb ran for mayor and council regardless as an independent. Stephens in the Onslow ward, Weyburne ran in the Western ward and Lawrence for the Wellington Regional Council. Former Citizens' councillor David Bull ran for mayor again after breaking withe the ticket in 1989.[9]
Results
editThe following table gives the election results:
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Fran Wilde | 18,795 | 32.91 | ||
| Independent | Helene Ritchie | 9,715 | 17.00 | −10.12 | |
| Citizens' | Ken Comber | 8,751 | 15.31 | ||
| Green | Stephen Rainbow | 6,122 | 10.71 | ||
| Independent | Ruth Gotlieb | 5,851 | 10.23 | ||
| Independent | David Bull | 4,683 | 8.19 | −0.12 | |
| Independent | Rana Waitai | 2,607 | 4.56 | ||
| McGillicuddy Serious | John Morrison | 299 | 0.52 | −1.41 | |
| Private Enterprise | Frank Moncur | 134 | 0.23 | −0.15 | |
| Communist League | Patrick Brown | 112 | 0.19 | ||
| Independent | Margaret Barry-Gellen | 88 | 0.15 | ||
| Informal votes | 632 | 1.10 | −1.54 | ||
| Majority | 9,080 | 15.88 | |||
| Turnout | 57,157 | 53.26 | +3.32 | ||
Results by ward
editFran Wilde polled the highest in all seven of Wellington's electoral wards.[10]
| Wards won by Wilde |
| Fran Wilde | Helene Ritchie | Ken Comber | Stephen Rainbow | Others | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ward | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | |
| Eastern | 3,246 | 28.1 | 2,200 | 19.0 | 1,909 | 16.5 | 1,125 | 9.7 | 3,093 | 26.7 | 11,573 | |
| Lambton | 3,035 | 43.2 | 737 | 10.5 | 1,020 | 14.5 | 1,015 | 14.4 | 1,221 | 17.4 | 7,028 | |
| Northern | 2,295 | 29.0 | 1,810 | 22.9 | 1,006 | 12.7 | 634 | 8.0 | 2,160 | 27.4 | 7,905 | |
| Onslow | 2,151 | 34.0 | 838 | 13.2 | 1,101 | 17.4 | 600 | 9.5 | 1,644 | 25.9 | 6,334 | |
| Tawa | 1,153 | 24.6 | 928 | 19.8 | 856 | 18.3 | 377 | 8.1 | 1,366 | 29.2 | 4,680 | |
| Southern | 3,856 | 37.0 | 1,909 | 18.3 | 1,260 | 12.1 | 1,308 | 12.5 | 2,096 | 20.1 | 10,429 | |
| Western | 3,041 | 33.1 | 1,291 | 14.0 | 1,597 | 17.4 | 1,060 | 11.5 | 2,211 | 24.0 | 9,200 | |
| Total | 18,795 | 32.9 | 9,715 | 17.0 | 8,751 | 15.3 | 6,122 | 10.7 | 13,774 | 24.1 | 57,157 | |
Ward results
editCandidates were also elected from wards to the Wellington City Council.[10]
| Party/ticket | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Citizens' | 6 | |
| Labour | 5 | |
| Greens | 4 | |
| Independent | 6 | |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Finnegan, Annette (12 November 1991). "Ritchie joins mayoral hopefuls". The Evening Post. p. 1.
- ^ Moran, Paul (13 November 1991). "Belich indicates he may stand again". The Dominion.
- ^ Gosling, Martyn (3 March 1992). "Belich to quit mayoralty in October with few regrets". The Dominion.
- ^ O'Leary, Eileen (23 March 1992). "MP Wilde decides to contest mayoralty". The Evening Post.
- ^ Morrison, Alistair (19 March 1992). "Labour toys with the Wilde card". The Dominion.
- ^ "Moore wants Wilde to remain MP". The Dominion. 19 March 1992.
- ^ "Belich undecided on bid". The Dominion. 29 February 1992.
- ^ "Citizens pick Comber for mayoralty". The Dominion. 18 March 1992.
- ^ "Bull to seek mayoralty as independent candidate". The Dominion. 4 May 1992.
- ^ a b c Bly, Ross (1992). City of Wellington: Local Body Elections, 1992 (Report). Wellington City Council.
- ^ "Declaration of Results of Elections - City of Wellington - Mayor". The Evening Post. 17 October 1992. p. 39.