# 1947 Westland by-election

The 1947 Westland by-election was a by-election held during the 28th New Zealand Parliament in the South Island electorate of Westland. The by-election occurred following the death of MP James O'Brien and was won by Jim Kent.

## Background

James O'Brien, who was first elected to represent Westland for the Labour Party in 1922 and had been Westland's MP continuously since 1928, died on 28 September 1947. This triggered the Westland by-election, which occurred on 3 December 1947.

## Candidates
### Labour

There were six nominations for the Labour Party candidacy:
* Paddy Blanchfield, the Deputy Mayor of Greymouth and member of the Grey Power Board
* William J. Butler, a press gallery journalist for the Grey River Argus newspaper and former Labour Party South Island organiser
* Ernie Heenan, a Hokitika businessman who was chairman of the Greymouth Harbour Board and member of the Westland Hospital Board
* Jim Kent, a Greymouth Borough Councillor and former chairman of the Greymouth Harbour Board
* Mark Wallace, a Kokatahi farmer and member of the Westland County Council
* Robert James Ware, district organiser of post office national savings and president of the Greymouth branch of the Labour Party and vice-president of the Westland Labour Representation Committee
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives and Auckland East MP Bill Schramm, who was defeated in 1946 and was originally from Hokitika, was also speculated as a possible candidate but later dismissed. Ware was selected as the candidate on 24 October. Five days later Ware was taken ill suddenly, the same day he was to have opened his campaign at a meeting in Ngahere. After receiving advice from his doctor he withdrew his candidacy. After Ware's withdrawal Kent was selected as the candidate on 31 October.

### National

Several names were put forward for the National Party candidacy:
* Gordon Gillespie, a Greymouth businessman
* Jack Lockington, a farmer from Reefton
* Martin Nestor, the National Party's chief research officer
Two previous National candidates from past elections, Ted Taylor and Frank Chivers, were also considered. Both declined nomination, as did Patrick Joseph O'Regan, a farmer from Inangahua Junction, owing to health reasons. Lockington was selected by a meeting of delegates and members of the Westland electoral committee at Greymouth on 28 October.

### Others

After being unsuccessful in attaining the official Labour nomination, there was speculation that Wallace would stand as an Independent Labour candidate. This did not eventuate however.

## Previous election

1946 general election: Westland :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | James O'Brien | 9,097 | 67.21 |
| | National | Frank Chivers | 4,381 | 32.36 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 57 | 0.42 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,716 | 34.99 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,535 | 94.45 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 14,330 | |

## Results

The following table gives the election results:
1947 Westland by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Jim Kent | 7,427 | 57.64 | |
| | National | Jack Lockington | 5,405 | 41.95 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 54 | 0.41 | −0.01 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,022 | 15.76 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,886 | 90.35 | −4.10 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 14,262 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Kent obtained 57.9% of the votes and was successful.