Five Possible Labour Men For Westland Seat

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 October 1947, Page 6

Five Possible Labour Men For Westland Seat

Indications are that the choice

of a Labour candidate to contest the Westland seat at the forthcoming by-election, to fill .the vacancy caused through the death

of Mr J. O’Brien, will rest among “* five party members, four of whom have been long residents of the district, and the other a recent arrival, although he resided in the town for some years previously.

It has been announced in Hokitika that, following * the Labour Party meeting last Saturday evening, the names of Messrs W. M. Wallace (Kokatahi)x and E. W. Heenan (Hokitika) are to be submitted for selection. No similar announcement has been made at Greymouth, but it is understood that it is certain that the names of Messrs P. Blanchfleld, J. B. Kent and W. J. Butler will go before the Westland Labour Representation Committee meeting at Greymouth on Saturday.

Well-Known Names

With the exception of Mr Butler, all of the prospective candidates are well known in local body politics on the West Coast. Mr Kent is, or has been a member of most of the important local authorities in Greymouth; Mr Wallace is a member of the Westland County Council, Greymouth Harbour Board, and chairman of the Westland Land Sales Committee; Mr Heenan is a member of the Grey Harbour Board (at present chairman) and the Westland Hospital Board, and Mr Blanchfleld is a member of the Grey Electric Power Board, Greymouth Borough Council, and Westland Catchment Board. Mr Butler arrived in Greymouth only a fortnight ago, having relinquished an organiser’s position 1 with the Labour Party to accept employment on the staff of the Grey River Argus. He previously resided in Greymouth for some years, being on the staff of radio station 3ZR (when it was privately owned) and later on the Argus, before leaving for the North Island.

The national president and secretary of the Labour Party, Messrs J. Roberts and J. McDonald, will arrive, tomorrow on a visit to the West Coast and it is understood that they will spend some days in the electorate, in discussions with branch members relative to the by-election. Officers of the Westland branch will hold a meeting with the visitors at Greymouth on Friday and on Saturday afternoon the Labour Representation Committee will discuss the nomination of the candidate, in the light of suggestions submitted by the branches, and will make its recommendations to the national executive. It was emphasised today by officers of the party that the branches did not make “nominations.” They were invited to submit suggestions and it was not the policy of the party to make an official announcement as to the prospective candidate until all these “suggestions” had been received and considered.

National Party Organising

The National Party is also, in the preliminary stages of selecting its candidate for the by-election. . A meeting of the Campaign Executive was held at Greymouth last night at which the campaign organisation was fully discussed and reports were received from the country branches. All branches have been invited to submit nominations for the candidate and these will close next Monday. A meeting of delegates elected by every Westland branch will be held at Greymouth on October 28 to select the candidate. Although voting on the selection will be limited to the branch delegates, all members of the party will be invited to attend this meeting. An office has been opened in Herb. Moore’s building, Mackay street, and the preliminary work in connection with the by-election has already commenced. The rolls are being perused, with the -object of ensuring that all eligible voters are enrolled, and branches have been asked to co-operate in this work. The rolls are available for inspection at the office at any tome.