THE LYTTELTON BY-ELECTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22632, 25 July 1935, Page 8

THE LYTTELTON BY-ELECTION

It is reasonably certain that the indifference of a large section of the electors, perhaps excusable, to some extent, by the nearness of the general election, was responsible for the flattering majority accorded Mr M'Combs in the Lyttelton by-election. Experienced political observers anticipated that Labour would hold the seat. They knew, too, that if Mr Lyons was to be expected to make a close fight of it every Government supporter with a vote in the electorate would have to be brought to the ballot box. It is apparent that the efforts of the Coalition organisation in that respect failed lamentably. From the figures of the first count it appears that only a few over 9000 of the 13,662 voters on the roll for the i by-election were sufficiently interested in the issues at stake to record their preference at the polls. The voting, in fact, was substantially lighter than that experienced at the 1933 by-election or at the general election in 1931. Several factors must be taken into account in estimating the worth of the Labour candidate's victory. In the first place Lyttelton has been a Labour seat for a good many years, although on two occasions (1925 and 1931) the loss of it to a Government candidate was only just averted. Again because of the unusual circumstances which brought Mr M'Combs into the field for the second by-election in Lyttelton during the life of one Parliament, he would be assured of a strong vote on the grounds of sentiment. Another , consideration is Mr. Lyons's tactical mistake—for such it appears to have been —of conducting his campaign unaided. Mr Lyons proved himself an able campaigner, but he could scarcely hope, alone, to achieve in the way of personal contact what was achieved by Mr M'Combs and a battalion of prominent Labour members of Parliament. No fewer than seven of the most

eloquent advocates of Labour's " plan," for instance, spoke in the electorate on the eve of polling day. The result may be claimed, on these premises, to be largely one of superior campaigning methods. The Labour Party, of course, will claim this by-election success as an omen of change in the country's political thought. It would be a folly so to regard it. The Government may have suffered, in some degree, the usual consequences of unpopular legislation.. But the plain truth is that events have already largely proved the wisdom of its policies, the evidence, in revenue buoyancy, in the marked revival of trade and industry, and in the continued high standing of the Dominion's credit overseas, being plain for all to see. No significance need be attached to the Lyttelton result as a pointer toward political trends or tendencies.