title: 1901 Wellington City mayoral election
text: # 1901 Wellington City mayoral election
  
  The 1901 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1901, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including twelve city councillors. John Aitken, the incumbent Mayor, was re-elected to office as Mayor of Wellington, beating Thomas Wilford. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
  
  ## Background
  
  Electoral reforms were implemented in 1901, which extended the municipal term for councillors to biennial terms and saw the abolition of the ward system, implementing the process of electing councillors at large instead. Under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1900 mayors were still to be elected annually and fixed elections to the last Wednesday in April (rather than in November). The Act delayed the introduction of the new system until April 1901 meaning there was no mayoral election in 1900.
  
  ## Mayoralty results
  
  1901 Wellington mayoral election :
  
  | Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | Independent | John Aitken | 5,801 | 67.98 | +16.65 |
  | | Independent | Thomas Wilford | 2,732 | 32.02 | |
  | Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,069 | 35.96 | +14.96 |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,533 | 62.46 | +23.06 |
  
  ## Councillor results
  
  1901 Wellington City Council election :
  
  | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Independent | David Nathan | 5,847 | 86.51 |
  | Independent | John Luke | 5,316 | 78.66 |
  | Independent | William Henry Peter Barber | 5,170 | 76.50 |
  | Independent | William Evans | 5,074 | 75.08 |
  | Independent | George Winder | 5,056 | 74.81 |
  | Independent | Matthew Murdoch | 4,424 | 65.46 |
  | Independent | John Smith Jr. | 4,315 | 63.85 |
  | Independent | James Devine | 4,127 | 61.06 |
  | Independent | Charles Hayward Izard | 3,908 | 57.82 |
  | Independent | James Godber | 3,744 | 55.40 |
  | Independent | Robert Tolhurst | 3,640 | 53.86 |
  | Labour | David McLaren | 3,210 | 47.49 |
  | Independent | Robert McKenzie | 3,035 | 44.90 |
  | Independent | Frederic Townsend | 2,955 | 43.72 |
  | Independent | George Anderson | 2,755 | 40.76 |
  | Independent | Allan Orr | 2,699 | 39.93 |
  | Independent | Paul Coffey | 2,491 | 36.86 |
  | Independent | Robert Davenport | 2,236 | 33.08 |
  | Independent | Frederick Bolton | 2,189 | 32.39 |
  | Independent | Henry Fielder | 2,084 | 30.83 |
  | Independent | Edmond Carrigan | 2,033 | 30.08 |
  | Labour | Alfred Hindmarsh | 2,028 | 30.00 |
  | Independent | Alexander Rand | 1,464 | 21.66 |
  | Independent | Alexander Wilson | 1,299 | 19.22 |
  