# 1935 Wellington City mayoral election

The 1935 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1935, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

## Background

Incumbent mayor Thomas Hislop stood for a third-term, the first mayor to do so since Sir John Luke in 1915. His opponent was Bob Semple, a Labour councillor and MP for Wellington East. During the campaign, Semple received slanderous allegations of being an Atheist, which he denied stating "If the people of the world followed the philosophy of Jesus there would be no poverty...".
For the second election in a row, Labour won a majority of the vote, but could not win a majority of seats. However, Labour did win one more seat than in 1933 and then went on to win a by-election soon after increase their representation further.

## Mayoralty results

1935 Wellington mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Citizens' | Thomas Hislop | 21,583 | 52.46 |
| | Labour | Bob Semple | 19,249 | 46.79 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 307 | 0.74 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,334 | 5.67 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,139 | 60.49 |

## Councillor results

1935 Wellington City Council election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Labour | Peter Fraser | 28,362 | 68.94 | +20.30 |
| Labour | Charles Chapman | 26,049 | 63.31 | −3.11 |
| Labour | Robert McKeen | 25,571 | 62.15 | −2.22 |
| Citizens' | Robert Wright | 22,450 | 54.57 | +7.26 |
| Labour | Peter Butler | 20,646 | 50.18 | +6.32 |
| Labour | Tom Brindle | 20,345 | 49.45 | +3.56 |
| Citizens' | William Bennett | 19,930 | 48.44 | −4.10 |
| Citizens' | John Burns | 19,063 | 46.33 | +1.88 |
| Citizens' | Will Appleton | 19,036 | 46.27 | −1.95 |
| Citizens' | William Gaudin | 18,944 | 46.04 | −6.85 |
| Citizens' | Martin Luckie | 18,616 | 45.25 | −3.54 |
| Citizens' | Len McKenzie | 18,579 | 45.16 | −2.85 |
| Labour | Adam Black | 18,559 | 45.11 | +4.88 |
| Citizens' | Herbert Huggins | 18,467 | 44.88 | −2.27 |
| Citizens' | William Duncan | 18,309 | 44.50 | −2.43 |
| Labour | Andrew Parlane | 18,271 | 44.41 | +1.75 |
| Labour | Alexander Croskery | 18,143 | 44.10 | |
| Labour | Michael Reardon | 18,043 | 43.85 | |
| Citizens' | Thomas Forsyth | 17,827 | 43.33 | −3.16 |
| Labour | John Read | 17,648 | 42.89 | |
| Labour | Jim Collins | 17,327 | 42.11 | +1.57 |
| Labour | Michael Walsh | 16,970 | 41.25 | +1.46 |
| Labour | John Tucker | 16,963 | 41.23 | +1.99 |
| Citizens' | Robert Macalister | 16,892 | 41.06 | −2.23 |
| Labour | Caryll Hay | 16,343 | 39.72 | +0.90 |
| Labour | James Ranson | 16,270 | 39.54 | −0.21 |
| Citizens' | Paul Hoskins | 15,592 | 37.90 | +3.94 |
| Communist | Charlie Brooks | 3,310 | 8.04 | |
| Communist | John Joseph Robinson | 2,994 | 7.27 | |
| Communist | Connie Rawcliffe | 2,695 | 6.55 | |
| Communist | Albert Birchfield | 2,680 | 6.51 | |
| Communist | Miles Ormerod | 2,153 | 5.23 | |
Table footnotes:
* ↑ Parlane was appointed to fill the vacancy on the council in 1936 caused by Peter Fraser's resignation