ELECTION TO-DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 156, 5 July 1939, Page 10

ELECTION TO-DAY.

IN UPPER HOUSE. CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES. METHOD OF SELECTION. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON', this day. For the election of Chairman of Committees of the Legislative Council there will be an interesting contest this afternoon. The position carries a salary of £450 per annum and accommodation in Parliament Building, the salary of council members being £315.

There is an elaborate method of selection, which takes place with the galleries cleared. Every member receives a nomination paper, containing the names of all the councillors, and each must nominate at least three candidates. The names are displayed, on a blackboard, and councillors who wish to withdraw then announce their inten-

tion. Voting papers are then circulated, and a series of elimination ballots are conducted by the Clerk of Parliament until it is evident that one candidate has a clear majority. Only the final result is made public. As the Government has not officially indicated any preference, the contest is likely to be a keen one, with the final stages fought out among the Hon. T. Bloodworth (Auckland), the Hon. B. Martin (Auckland), the Hon. T. F. Doyle (Southland) and the Hon. T. Brindle (Wellington). It is reported that the Hon. J. A. Hanan, the retiring Chairman of Committees, will not accept nomination, and that the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sir Charles Statham, will also decline to be a candidate.