1872 Egmont by-election

The 1872 Egmont by-election was a by-election held on 3 October 1872 during the 5th New Zealand Parliament in the Taranaki electorate of Egmont.

The by-election was caused by the resignation of the incumbent MP William Gisborne, who had been appointed Commissioner for the Government Life Insurance Office.

The by-election was won by future Premier Harry Atkinson, who was returning to politics to defeat a candidate allied with William Fox; saying he would "not see a Foxite get in". He also opposed Julius Vogel, also a supporter of Māori land rights, for his reckless borrowing (see The Vogel Era).

Atkinson was opposed by William Sefton Moorhouse, a personal friend of Fox and supporter of Vogel's Public Works policy. Atkinson and Ballance both supported Edward Stafford.

Future Premier John Ballance had considered entering national politics by standing here but withdrew. Ballance's campaign lasted ten days, starting with a meeting at Patea on 18 September when he spoke for over three hours, a wonderfully good speech. Atkinson was present at his Hawera meeting. So Ballance decided to withdraw in favour of Atkinson as Atkinson and Moorhouse were much more experienced candidates. He had the excuse that "about 80" freeholders in Patea had been rejected from enrolling (later found to be 58 rejections as against 15 in 1871, probably from mistakes in proving their entitlement as landowners). Atkinson won with a slim margin of 24 votes and his vote in Patea (46 to 17) was critical.^[1]

Results[]

1872 Egmont by-election^[2]^[3]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Harry Atkinson	114	55.88
	Independent	William Sefton Moorhouse	90	44.12
Turnout			204
Majority			24	1.76

Notes[]

^ McIvor, Timothy (1989). The Rainmaker: A biography of John Ballance journalist and politician 1839–1893. Auckland: Heinemann Reed. pp. 47, 48. ISBN 0-7900-0024-5.
^ "Egmont Election". The Evening Post. 4 October 1872.
^ "Egmont Election". Nelson Examiner. 12 October 1872.
^ "The Opposition". The Evening Post. 7 October 1872.

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Supplementary elections, 1859	Cheviot Marsden Wairarapa Wallace
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Supplementary elections, 1863	Dunedin and Suburbs North Gold Fields
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4th Parliament	Mount Herbert, 1866 Port Chalmers, 1866 Dunedin, 1867 City of Christchurch, 1867 Avon, 1867 Manuherikia, 1867 Wanganui, 1867 New Plymouth, 1867 Auckland West, 1867 Raglan, 1867 Parnell, 1867 Port Chalmers, 1867 Waimea, 1867 Lyttelton, 1867 Kaiapoi, 1867 Picton, 1867 Pensioner Settlements, 1867 Ashley, 1867 Omata, 1868 Collingwood, 1868 Westland Boroughs, 1868
Supplementary elections, 1868	Westland North Westland South
First Māori elections	Eastern Maori Northern Maori Southern Maori Western Maori
4th Parliament (continued)	Avon, 1868 Picton, 1868 Rangitikei, 1868 Franklin, 1868 Waikouaiti, 1868 Lyttelton, 1868 Timaru, 1868 Nelson, 1868 Marsden, 1869 Roslyn, 1869 Dunedin, 1869 Newton, 1869 Waikouaiti, 1869 New Plymouth, 1869 Wallace, 1869 Oamaru, 1869 Taieri, 1869 Bruce, 1870 Mongonui, 1870 Caversham, 1870 Omata, 1870 Parnell, 1870 Riverton, 1870 Westland North, 1870 City of Christchurch, 1870
5th Parliament	Auckland West, 1871 Roslyn, 1871 Wairau, 1872 Waikato, 1872 Wakatipu, 1872 Rodney, 1872 Nelson, 1872 Waikouaiti, 1872 Coleridge, 1872 Heathcote, 1872 Caversham, 1872 Egmont 1872 Suburbs of Nelson, 1873 Lyttelton, 1873 Invercargill, 1873 Waikouaiti, 1873 Mongonui and Bay of Islands, 1873 Wakatipu, 1873 Collingwood, 1873 Franklin, 1874 Akaroa, 1874 Dunedin, 1874 Waitemata,1874 Kaiapoi, 1875 Auckland West, 1875 Rangitikei, 1875 Waikouaiti, 1875 Wairau, 1875 Wallace, 1875 Caversham, 1875
6th Parliament	Auckland West, 1876 Wanganui, 1876 Napier, 1877 Wellington, 1877 Totara, 1877 City of Auckland West, 1877 Wairarapa, 1877 Wellington, 1878 Parnell, 1878 Timaru, 1878 Port Chalmers, 1878 Franklin, 1878 Cheviot, 1878 Grey Valley, 1878 Hokitika, 1878 Dunedin, 1878 Taieri, 1878 Invercargill, 1878 Waipa, 1878 Roslyn, 1878 Gladstone, 1879 Mataura, 1879 Nelson, 1879 Auckland West, 1879 Coleridge, 1879 Hutt, 1879 Eastern Maori, 1879 Southern Maori, 1879 Dunedin, 1879
7th Parliament	Rangitikei, 1880 Waitaki, 1880 Waikaia, 1880 Suburbs of Nelson, 1881 Southern Maori, 1881 Nelson, 1881 Grey Valley, 1881
8th Parliament	Franklin North, 1882 Wakanui, 1882 Stanmore, 1882 Peninsula, 1883 Selwyn, 1883 Inangahua, 1883 Bruce, 1883 Selwyn, 1884 Thorndon, 1884 Kaiapoi, 1884 East Coast, 1884
9th Parliament	Oamaru, 1885 Tauranga, 1885 Waimea, 1885 Southern Maori, 1885 Wakanui, 1885 Bruce, 1885 Sydenham, 1886 Dunedin Central, 1886 Waitemata, 1886 Western Maori, 1886 Heathcote, 1887 Port Chalmers, 1887 Te Aro, 1887 Northern Maori, 1887 Avon, 1887
10th Parliament	Ashley, 1888 Lincoln, 1889 Nelson, 1889 Christchurch North, 1889 Oamaru, 1889 Waipa, 1889 East Coast, 1889 Timaru, 1890