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1989 Wellington City mayoral election

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1989 Wellington City mayoral election

← 1986 14 October 1989 1992 →
Turnout52,588 (49.94%)
 
Candidate Jim Belich Helene Ritchie Rex Nicholls
Party Labour Independent Citizens'
Popular vote 15,198 14,266 14,183
Percentage 28.90 27.12 26.97

Mayor before election

Jim Belich
Labour

Elected mayor

Jim Belich
Labour

The 1989 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1989, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including twenty-one city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

Background

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The 1989 local elections were the first following a major overhaul of local government in New Zealand. The existing Wellington City Council remained in place but greatly expanded, absorbing several of the neighbouring authorities including the Tawa Borough Council and land on the waterfront formerly in the possession of the Wellington Harbour Board. This was the first local election in Wellington to allow postal voting, though polling booths were still available for use.[1]

The race for the mayoralty was bitterly fought with both sides of local politics in Wellington fighting internal divisions as well as each other. Mayor Jim Belich stood for a second term opposed by his former deputy Helene Ritchie who had left Labour after she was removed as deputy-mayor the previous year. The Citizens' Association also had rival candidates running against each other with Rex Nicholls running as the officially endorsed candidate with former Citizens' leader on the council David Bull and ex-councillor Roger Ridley-Smith running as an independent candidates after losing the nomination to Nicholls. As such, the race was characterised by vote splitting and provided a very closely spread result.[2][3]

Actor Kevin Woodill, who played the role of William Hobson in Depot Theatre's production of Pigeon English, sought to stand for mayor as "William Hobson" in protest of local body amalgamation.[4] However he was unable to stand as an alias could not be used on a ballot paper, though they could campaign under whatever name they liked.[5]

The council vote was likewise indecisive with no one group having control of the council. The Labour Party had lost its majority from three years earlier with the Citizens' Association winning a plurality and becoming the largest group on the council. 1989 also saw the emergence of the Green Party which won a seat on the council, the first third party to do so since 1977. Stephen Rainbow won a seat in the Lambton Ward and became the country's first ever Green councillor.[6]

Mayoralty results

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The following table gives the election results:

1989 Wellington mayoral election[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Belich 15,198 28.90 −21.68
Independent Helene Ritchie 14,266 27.12
Citizens' Rex Nicholls 14,183 26.97
Independent Citizens' David Bull 4,372 8.31
Independent Roger Ridley-Smith 1,963 3.73
McGillicuddy Serious John Morrison 1,015 1.93
Private Enterprise Frank Moncur 200 0.38 −0.29
Informal votes 1,391 2.64 −1.86
Majority 932 1.77 −4.53
Turnout 52,588 49.94 +8.17

Results by ward

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Rex Nicholls polled the highest in three of the seven of Wellington's electoral wards while Jim Belich and Helene Ritchie each polled the highest in two.

Wards won by Belich
Wards won by Ritchie
Wards won by Nicholls
Jim Belich Helene Ritchie Rex Nicholls Others Total
Ward # % # % # % # % #
Eastern 3,290 30.3 2,944 27.1 3,122 28.8 1,500 13.9 10,856
Lambton 1,925 32.0 1,496 24.9 1,836 30.5 757 12.6 6,014
Northern 1,814 25.6 2,292 32.4 1,354 19.1 1,619 22.8 7,079
Onslow 1,658 28.8 1,137 19.8 1,786 31.1 1,186 20.6 5,747
Tawa 1,059 21.2 1,301 26.1 1,309 26.3 1,306 26.2 4,975
Southern 2,948 32.1 3,006 32.7 2,044 22.2 1,195 13.1 9,193
Western 2,504 28.7 2,090 24.0 2,732 31.4 1,378 15.8 8,704
Total 15,198 28.9 14,266 27.1 14,183 26.9 7,550 14.3 52,588

Ward results

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Candidates were also elected from wards to the Wellington City Council.[7]

Party/ticket Councillors
Citizens' 9
Labour 7
Greens 1
Independent 4

References

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  1. ^ "Local body voting starts — by post". The Dominion. 25 September 1989.
  2. ^ Naylor, Shani (5 October 1989). "Dumped Team Captains Seek Voter Vindication". The Evening Post.
  3. ^ Moran, Paul (1 June 1989). "Bull quits Citizens' team after losing candidacy". The Evening Post.
  4. ^ "Pigeon English hatches new mayoral candidate". The Evening Post. 16 August 1989.
  5. ^ "Ruled out". The Evening Post. 18 August 1989.
  6. ^ Zatorski, Lidia (7 April 1999). "Green Rainbow could be on Blues party list". The Evening Post. p. 3.
  7. ^ a b Bly, Ross A. (25 October 1989). Declaration of Election Results (Report). Wellington City Council.
  8. ^ "Declaration of Result of Election". The Evening Post. 27 October 1989.