title: Electoral history of Peter Fraser
text: # Electoral history of Peter Fraser
  
  * This article is part of a series aboutPeter Fraser
  
  Early life and career
  
  Member for Wellington Central
  
  1918 Wellington Central by-election
  
  Electoral history
  
  Leader of the Labour Party
  
  1940 leadership election
  
  Lee affair
  
  Prime Minister of New Zealand
  
  World War II
  
  Canberra Pact
  
  UNCIO conference
  
  Post-war consensus
  
  State housing scheme
  
  Statute of Westminster Adoption
  
  Elections
  
  1943 general election
  
  1946 general election
  
  1949 general election :
  
  vte :
  
  This is a summary of the electoral history of Peter Fraser, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1940–49), Leader of the Labour Party (1940–50) and Member of Parliament for Wellington Central (1918–46) then Brooklyn (1946–50).
  
  ## Parliamentary elections
  
  ### 1918 by-election
  
  1918 Wellington Central by-election :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 2,668 | 56.54 | |
  | | Independent Labour | Joe Mack | 1,044 | 22.12 | |
  | | Liberal | William Hildreth | 784 | 16.61 | |
  | | Independent | Harry Atmore | 185 | 3.92 | |
  | | Independent | Lindsay John Frederick Garmston | 29 | 0.61 | |
  | | Independent | William Cyril Tanner | 9 | 0.19 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,624 | 34.41 | |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,719 | 51.43 | -33.04 |
  | Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 9,176 | | |
  | | Labour gain from Liberal | Labour gain from Liberal | Swing | | |
  
  ### 1919 election
  
  1919 general election: Wellington Central :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 4,486 | 57.33 | +0.79 |
  | | Liberal | Frederick Pirani | 3,430 | 42.67 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,146 | 14.64 | -19.77 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,826 | | |
  
  ### 1922 election
  
  1922 general election: Wellington Central :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 5,827 | 64.73 | +7.40 |
  | | Independent | William Bennett | 1,625 | 18.05 | |
  | | Liberal–Labour | Archibald Sievwright | 1,550 | 17.21 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,202 | 46.67 | +32.03 |
  | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 102 | 1.13 | |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,002 | | |
  
  ### 1925 election
  
  1925 general election: Wellington Central :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 5,459 | 64.02 | -0.71 |
  | | Reform | Dunbar Sloane | 3,069 | 35.98 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,390 | 28.02 | -18.65 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,528 | | |
  
  ### 1928 election
  
  1928 general election: Wellington Central :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 7,353 | 60.81 | -3.21 |
  | | Reform | Dunbar Sloane | 3,895 | 32.21 | -3.77 |
  | | Independent Labour | Margaret Young | 843 | 6.97 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,458 | 28.60 | +0.58 |
  | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 145 | 1.19 | |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,236 | 83.61 | |
  | Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 14,635 | | |
  
  ### 1931 election
  
  1931 general election: Wellington Central :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 6,308 | 57.26 | -3.55 |
  | | United | Robert Darroch | 3,837 | 34.83 | |
  | | Independent | Edward William Nicolaus | 688 | 6.25 | |
  | | Communist | Richard Francis Griffin | 183 | 1.66 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,471 | 22.43 | -6.17 |
  | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 91 | 0.82 | -0.37 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,107 | 74.82 | -8.79 |
  | Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 14,845 | | |
  
  ### 1935 election
  
  1935 general election: Wellington Central :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 7,673 | 69.43 | 12.17 |
  | | United/Reform | Will Mason | 3,380 | 30.57 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,293 | 38.84 | +16.41 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,053 | | |
  
  ### 1938 election
  
  1938 general election: Wellington Central :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 9,376 | 62.86 | -6.19 |
  | | National | Will Appleton | 5,539 | 37.14 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,837 | 25.73 | -12.37 |
  | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 89 | 0.59 | |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 15,004 | 86.74 | +5.05 |
  | Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 17,297 | | |
  
  ### 1943 election
  
  1943 general election: Wellington Central :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 6,822 | 46.12 | -16.74 |
  | | National | Will Appleton | 5,616 | 37.97 | +0.83 |
  | | Independent | Colin Scrimgeour | 2,253 | 15.23 | |
  | | Independent | Julius Hyde | 100 | 0.68 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,206 | 8.15 | -17.57 |
  | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 223 | 1.49 | +0.89 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 15,014 | 80.59 | +6.15 |
  | Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 18,629 | | |
  
  ### 1946 election
  
  1946 general election: Brooklyn :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 8,216 | 65.75 |
  | | National | Stewart Hardy | 4,281 | 34.45 |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,935 | 31.48 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,497 | 87.09 |
  | Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 14,349 | |
  
  ### 1949 election
  
  1949 general election: Brooklyn :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 7,176 | 63.91 | -1.84 |
  | | National | Berta Burns | 4,220 | 37.58 | |
  | | Communist | Connie Birchfield | 241 | 2.14 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,956 | 26.32 | -5.16 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,228 | 85.73 | -1.36 |
  | Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 13,096 | | |
  
  ## Local elections
  
  ### 1923 local elections
  
  1923 Wellington City mayoral election :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Civic League | Robert Wright | 10,876 | 42.30 | -23.30 |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 10,603 | 41.24 | |
  | | Independent | Len McKenzie | 4,228 | 16.44 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 273 | 1.06 | -29.60 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 25,707 | | |
  
  ### 1933 council by-election
  
  1933 Wellington City Council by-election :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 11,607 | 48.64 | |
  | | Citizens' | Robert Wright | 11,288 | 47.31 | |
  | | Independent | John Castle | 517 | 2.16 | |
  | | Communist | Richard Webb | 311 | 1.30 | -13.81 |
  | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 136 | 0.57 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 319 | 1.33 | |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,859 | 42.94 | |
  
  ### 1933 local elections
  
  Wellington Harbour Board, Wellington :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 13,068 | 57.79 | |
  | | Labour | Charles Chapman | 12,661 | 55.99 | +6.03 |
  | | Citizens' | Charles Norwood | 11,199 | 49.53 | -6.21 |
  | | Labour | Bob Semple | 11,028 | 48.77 | |
  | | Citizens' | William Bennett | 10,702 | 47.33 | |
  | | Citizens' | Francis Arthur Mcindoe | 9,799 | 43.33 | |
  | | Citizens' | Robert Nimmo | 8,069 | 35.68 | |
  | | Labour | Michael Walsh | 7,992 | 35.34 | +7.67 |
  | | Independent | Robert Darroch | 4,204 | 18.59 | |
  | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,180 | 5.21 | +0.01 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,610 | | |
  
  ### 1935 local elections
  
  Wellington Harbour Board, Wellington :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Labour | Peter Fraser | 25,428 | 66.30 | +8.51 |
  | | Labour | Charles Chapman | 21,627 | 56.39 | +0.40 |
  | | Labour | Robert McKeen | 21,380 | 55.75 | |
  | | Labour | Bob Semple | 21,142 | 55.13 | |
  | | Citizens' | Charles Norwood | 17,920 | 46.72 | -2.81 |
  | | Citizens' | Will Appleton | 16,663 | 43.45 | |
  | | Citizens' | Robert Nimmo | 14,651 | 38.20 | -2.52 |
  | | Citizens' | Hubert Nathan | 13,815 | 36.02 | |
  | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 770 | 2.00 | -3.21 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,349 | | |
  
  ## Leadership elections
  
  ### 1933 Deputy-leadership election
  
  Labour Party deputy-leadership election 1933 :
  
  | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | | Peter Fraser | 24 | 100.0 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | 24 | — |
  
  ### 1940 Leadership election
  
  Labour Party leadership election 1940 :
  
  | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | | Peter Fraser | 33 | 68.7 |
  | | Gervan McMillan | 12 | 25.0 |
  | | Clyde Carr | 3 | 6.2 |
  | Majority | Majority | 21 | 34.4 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | 48 | — |
  