A WOMAN M.P.

LYTTELTON SEAT

WON BY MRS. M^COMBS

A CLEAR-CUT VICTORY

MAJORITY OF 2600

! Ths Lyttelton electorate, made history yesterday by returning to Parliament the first woman member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. ; Mrs. Elizabeth Reid MeCombs, standing in the Labour interests,'had a clear-cut victory in the by-election made necessary by th> death of her husbaiid, Mr. James MeCombs, who had held the seat fdr twenty years. Mrs. McCombs had • a majority of 2000 votes over the Coalition ' candidate, Mr. Frederick William Freeman. Mr. Edward Ledie Hills, the Independent Labour candidate, polled 263 votes, and thus loses his deposit.

The polling resulted as follows:—

Kit. B. B. McOombu (Labour) .. 6080 r. W. mnuß: (Coalition) .... 3480 B. L. Hills (Ind. Labour) — 263

Majority for Mrs. McCombs 2600

At tlie 1931< .General Election the votingwas as follows:—James McCoinbs (Labour), 5404; F, W. Freeman (Coalition), 5372; W. L. Page (Independent), 83. ; Majority for McCombs, 32. ; Lyttelton has; remained true; to Labour since 1913,. when Mr. MeCombs firetwon the seat at a by-election, but the .task' of hotting it has proved a dittcult one on several occasions. Mr. McCombs had "his closest call in 1925, When in" a contest' with Mr.- M. ELyons. (Reform); h« had a majority of five-on the first count. The recount, however, resulted' in a tie, -each candidate" secnring 4000 votea. The returning officer gave his casting-vote in favour-of Mr.rLyons; who was declared elected. A Magisterial count followed and Mr. Lyons was credited with -a majority of six votes. Mr. McCombs then petitioned to unseat Mr. Lyons, and an-Electoral Court consisting of Mr. Justice Stringer and Mr! Justice Oitler found that eight residents of Wainui, then-a.part of the Ellesmere electorate, had been allowed to vote in Lyttelton. Irt the result, Mr. McCombs was elected by^ a margin of one'vote. A 'peculiar position arose as a result of the election. Mr. Lyons, having been declared elected, received his honorarium until he was unseated, and the Treasury was placed in the unprecedented position of having to pay two members for Lyttelton. Im the 1913 by-election, when-. Mr. McCombs first entered Parliament,, he had a majority of 226 on the- second ballot. . At the 1914 election he increased his majority to 1598, in 1919 he was 597 votes ahead, and. in .1922, 596. . Mrs. McCombs has gained the biggest Labour vote. ever recorded in Lyttelton. ".:. : MANY TAIL TO VOTE. Anticipations that yesterday's poll would be a record one'were not realised. There were 13,721 names on the roll, and only 9823 electors went to the poll. In addition, there are 485 more votes to. be .counted, made up of 222 absentee votes/217 postal, votes, and 46 seamen's votes, but these, of. course, cannot affect the result. The by-;elcctiori. was handled very efficiently by the returning officer (Mr. McCtahey) ? and the rosults were available with a ' minimum of delay. The 'results were received, in Wellington in good time,: and'the usual complete arrangements ;for. their handling had been made by. the Chief Electoral Officer (Mr.' G.' Gj Hodgkins). Strangely enough, the' first result to hand was from the'most distant part' of the electorate, the 'Chatham Islands. This return, received by ; wireless, gave Mr. Freeman an initial advantage,. but ho failed to hold it very long, "and Mrs. McCombs gradually, forged ahead until the Lyttelton ,a'nd Woolston returns gave her a tremendous lead.... ■

Detailed results follow:—

. . , BY-ELECTION. : GENERAL ELECTION. Polling, Places. ' McCombs. Freeman. Hills. JlcCombs. Freeman Page. Akaroa s .....................'.:... •137 . 199 34 109 283 3 Cashmere Hilla (Sanatorium).. 48 ■■• ,25 0, . 6fi- 65 1 Cashmere Hilte (Masonic Hall) -76 203 6 46 297 1 Chatham Islands 49 81 4 33 70 0 Colombo Street .......:..'...;. '308 490 17 235 631 7 Diamond Harbour ............ 38 22' 1 17 31 0 Duvauchelle ........... '58' 80 8 ' . ' 37 121 2 Governor's Bay .: 25 40 0 9 35 0 Heathcote •...;.....:•.......,. 298 83. 7 256 132 . 1 Le Bon'ii Bay'.. ' .... 28 51 4- 10 ■ -74 0 Little.Akaloa;,.........:........ .9 73 I 7 82 0 Lyttelton. (Colonist Hall) ' 1020 313 23 ' 868 ' 455 ]0 Lyttelton (St. John's Hall) ... 201, 79 3 19S 87 3 Lyttefton West ..: 162 127- . 6 133 156 2 Mount Pleasant 75 ■ 74 ' +. 49, 124 2 O'Kaia's Bay 71 35 i 35 75 1 Opawa (Public School) ........ .515' 250 21. all 38S 8 Opa-ra (St. Martins) 129 109 ■»■ 82 • 130 1 Pigeon Bay ../.....V.....'.... 50 48 2 . 37 CO . ' 0 Port Levy • 6 32 I (i; 40 2. Redcliffs ...........•.......;.. 296 ■ 187 22 263 306 6 • Sumner 511 385 26 ' 393 584 2 Takamatua (,.... 26 32 • • 3 13 36 0 'Teddington^ ".;.V.............. 9 ' 45 ()■■-■ -6 41 0 Wainui 4 45 1 6 57 0 Woolston (McDonald's Hall) .. S54 107 12 533 219 9 Wooiston^ (Public School) ..... 929 .120 28 . ' \ 740 262 11Woolstou (St. John's) 4.*8 133 22' 436 192 4 ■ Totals- .....■......:..'...'. 6080 ' 3480 263 5404 ■ 5372: S3