VACANT SEAT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 84, 9 April 1940, Page 8

VACANT SEAT.

AUCKLAND WEST.

LABOUR PARTY MOVE.

MEETING TO-MORROW MIGHT.

The first move to eDsure tbe filling of the Auckland West seat in the House of Representatives, rendered vacant by the death of the late Prime Minister, Mr. M. J. Savage, will be taken by the New Zealand Labour party to-morrow niglit. It was announced to-day that a meeting to consider the position which has developed in the electorate is to be held in the All Saints' Church hall, Ponsonby. Nt S p.m. to-morrow, and all members of the Auckland West branch of the party and members of unions affiliated to the party are being invited to attend. It is understood that the Hon. I). Wilson, M.L.C., and the national secretary of tbe party, Mr. M. Moohan, will arrive in Auckland from Wellington to-morrow for the purpose of attending the meeting.

It is stated that the number of aspirants for the nomination for the seat has increased appreciably, and the national executive, which will have the final say in the matter, will be given a wide choice of talent. Possible nominees now include Mr. J. J. Sullivan, well known in legal circles; Mr. T. P. McCready, a railway servant and secretary of the Auckland Labour Representation Committee; Mr. J. S. Stewart, a former city councillor and executive officer of the L.R.C.; Mr. F. G. Young, secretary of the Auckland Hotel Workers' Union and president of tbe Auckland district council of the Federation of Labour; Mr. C. Bailey, a member of the City Council; Mr. J. Sayegh, immediate past president of the L.R.C. and a member of various Auckland local bodies; Mr. J. T. Jennings, a former president of the L.R.C.; Mr. J. Purtell, the well-known union secretary; and Mrs. M. M. Dreaver, a member of the Auckland Hospital Board, who contested the Remuera seat unsuccessfully at the last general election.

It was explained that the procedure ill arriving at the party's candidate would probably follow the usual lines. At to-morrow night's meeting the question of nominees would be discussed generally, and the national secretary would later submit a report to the national executive concerning the trend of the discussion. The meeting, no doubt, would also be asked to carry a resolution pledging support for "the candidate ultimately chosen by the national executive. A similar resolution would subsequently be submitted to the Auckland Labour Representation Committee, and it would then remain fori the national executive to make its selection of a candidate.