# 1913 Wellington City mayoral election

The 1913 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1913, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. David McLaren, the incumbent Mayor, was defeated by John Luke by a relatively narrow margin, becoming the new Mayor of Wellington. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

## Background

Incumbent Mayor David McLaren sought a second term, opposed only by former MP John Luke. To avoid a repeat of the previous election, a conscious effort was made to ensure only a single "anti-Labour" candidate for the mayoralty. The strategy worked, although Luke's slim majority of only 500 votes coupled with the fact that McLaren's share of the vote went substantially up caused real alarm. In addition the two sitting Labour councillors were re-elected with Labour's proportion of votes increasing there as well. This confounded expectations of a strong anti-Labour backlash at the polls following the Waihi miners' strike only months before.

## Mayoralty results

1913 Wellington mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Citizens League | John Luke | 9,997 | 51.29 | |
| | United Labour | David McLaren | 9,493 | 48.71 | +7.73 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 504 | 2.58 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,490 | 57.02 | +22.62 |

## Councillor results

1913 Wellington City Council election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Independent | Robert Fletcher | 10,845 | 55.64 | −15.53 |
| Citizens League | William Barber | 10,026 | 51.44 | −9.27 |
| Independent | John Fuller Jr. | 9,745 | 50.00 | +5.59 |
| Citizens League | Arthur Atkinson | 9,632 | 49.42 | +1.94 |
| Citizens League | Robert Wright | 9,296 | 47.69 | |
| Citizens League | George Frost | 9,253 | 47.47 | +7.00 |
| Citizens League | Len McKenzie | 9,106 | 46.72 | +5.93 |
| Citizens League | Thomas Hislop | 8,466 | 43.43 | |
| Citizens League | James Godber | 8,445 | 43.32 | +1.68 |
| United Labour | Alfred Hindmarsh | 8,197 | 42.05 | −10.43 |
| Citizens League | Harry Buddle | 8,139 | 41.75 | |
| Citizens League | William Thompson | 7,911 | 40.59 | |
| Independent | John Fitzgerald | 7,654 | 39.27 | −12.96 |
| Citizens League | Martin Luckie | 7,644 | 39.22 | |
| United Labour | Edward Tregear | 7,639 | 39.19 | −13.97 |
| Independent | Falk Cohen | 7,620 | 39.09 | |
| Citizens League | James Trevor | 7,606 | 39.02 | −2.12 |
| Independent | John Castle | 7,357 | 37.74 | +8.76 |
| Independent | William Perry | 7,204 | 36.96 | |
| Citizens League | Thomas Neave | 6,136 | 31.48 | |
| United Labour | Walter Bedford | 5,465 | 28.04 | |
| United Labour | Elijah Carey | 5,078 | 26.05 | −6.20 |
| United Labour | Michael Reardon | 5,063 | 25.97 | −6.19 |
| United Labour | Andrew Hornblow | 4,483 | 23.00 | |
| United Labour | Tom Young | 4,325 | 22.19 | |
| United Labour | Charles Chapman | 4,320 | 22.16 | |
| Independent | John Pollock | 4,285 | 21.98 | |
| United Labour | William Dobson | 4,014 | 20.59 | |
| United Labour | Edward Kennedy | 3,775 | 19.36 | |
| United Labour | William Hampton | 3,734 | 19.15 | |
| United Labour | John Dalrymple | 3,652 | 18.73 | |
| Independent | Daniel Moriarty | 3,247 | 16.65 | |
| United Labour | William Noot | 3,113 | 15.97 | |
| United Labour | Solomon Gordon | 3,072 | 15.76 | |
| Independent | Robert Williams | 2,898 | 14.86 | |
| Independent | Cyril Tanner | 1,298 | 6.65 | |