REVERSE SUFFERED

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXII, Issue 4639, 13 May 1938, Page 5

REVERSE SUFFERED

LABOUR AND THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. CITIZENS SECURE MAJORITIES. Polling in record numbers, the municipal electors of New Zealand made some striking changes in their representation on major local bodies. Excepting in Christchurch, the Labour Party suffered severe reverses in the metropolitan areas, and lost its control of the Auckland and Dunedin City Councils, lost its Mayoral representative in Dunedin, and. generally speaking, failed in its efforts to secure control of local bodies in metropolitan, suburban and provincial centres.

The most arresting individual result was the majority of over 10,000 votes secured by Sir Ernest Davis in the triangular Auckland Mayoral contest; the next was that of Mr. T. C. Hislop, who increased his Wellington Mayoral, majority by approximately 3500, while in Dunedin Mr. A. H. Allen, another Citizens' representative, defeated the sitting Labour Mayor by a majority of over 4000 votes. At the last election, held in 1935, Christchurch ran contrary to whal appeared to be the general tendency, and on Wednesday ran contrary again. Labour there regained the Mayoralty, gained control of the City Council, captured all four city seats on the Harbour Board, and six out of nine seats on the Hospital Board.

The Citizens' "ticket" won nine of the twelve seats on the Dunedin City Council, and a feature of the poll was the defeat of Mark Silverstone, chairman of the finance committee, who was appointed to the board of the Reserve Bank after the passing of special legislation by the Labour Government concerning his nationality.

In Auckland, as in other places, Labour made the most determined bid in its history to capture suburban councils, special attention being paid to Mayoralties. Mr. C. R. Petrie, M.P., was re-elected Labour Mayor of Otahuhu unopposed, but only two out of the five Labour candidates were' elected to assist him. A Labour candidate won the Mayoralty of Onehunga against a non-Labour sitting Mayor, and captured eight out of nine seats on the council. At New Lynn another victory was scored by the Labour Party, its nominee winning the Mayoralty against the sitting Mayor, and gaining a majority on the council.