# 1945 Hamilton by-election

The 1945 Hamilton by-election was a by-election held during the 27th New Zealand Parliament in the Waikato electorate of Hamilton. The by-election occurred following the death of MP Frank Findlay and was won by Hilda Ross, both of the National Party.

## Background

Findlay, who was first elected to represent Hamilton in 1943, died on 31 March 1945. This triggered the Hamilton by-election, which was contested by four candidates.
Hilda Ross contested the election for the National Party. She had served as a member of the Hospital Board and Council in Hamilton for several years and was at the time of the election the Deputy-Mayor. Former Hamilton MP Charles Barrell was selected as the Labour Party's nominee. He had been MP for Hamilton between 1935 and 1943, before losing his seat to Findlay. Leader of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), John A. Lee was his party's candidate. Lee had lost his seat of Grey Lynn in 1943 following his split with the Labour Party in 1940 and contested the Hamilton seat in an attempt to re-enter Parliament, where the DLP no longer had any presence. The fourth person to put their name forward was independent candidate Douglas Seymour.
The by-election was held soon after VE Day (which Walter Nash decided should be celebrated on 9 not 8 May), and a "badly-timed" gazette notice calling up more 18-year-olds for unspecified military service. The National Party proposed that New Zealand troops should be withdrawn from Italy and New Zealand's role in the Pacific restricted to food supply. The Australian High Commissioner Thomas d'Alton was not the only one to see the irony that Labour wanted to keep New Zealand troops overseas (to have a say in the peace) while National wanted to withdraw them. The government candidate lost by an increased margin.

## Previous election

1943 general election: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National | Frank Findlay | 7,660 | 48.04 | |
| | Labour | Charles Barrell | 7,206 | 45.20 | −11.65 |
| | Democratic Labour | Alfred E. Allen | 885 | 5.55 | |
| | Real Democracy | William Henry Thompson | 193 | 1.21 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 454 | 2.85 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 167 | 1.04 | +0.40 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 16,111 | 92.21 | −1.10 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 17,473 | | |
Table footnotes:
* ↑ Registered electors refers to civilian voters only; nationwide, 93,295 servicemen also cast valid votes although their names did not appear on electoral rolls.

## Results

The following table gives the election results:
1945 Hamilton by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National | Hilda Ross | 6,772 | 48.87 | |
| | Labour | Charles Barrell | 5,691 | 41.07 | −4.13 |
| | Democratic Labour | John A. Lee | 1,229 | 8.87 | |
| | Independent | Douglas Seymour | 163 | 1.17 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 58 | 0.41 | −0.63 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,081 | 7.80 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,855 | 69.19 | −23.02 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 20,022 | | |
Ross won the election, and would win every subsequent general election until 1959, when she died in office. Her death caused the 1959 Hamilton by-election.