1915 Wellington City mayoral election

The election was held during World War I, which was the dominant news item of the day. The war was a topic in the election itself, with the current mayor John Luke being a strong supporter campaigning along a 'win the war' line. In stark contrast the Labour movement were opposed to the war, in particular conscription. In mid-1915 the war was still supported by the bulk of the population, thus the Labour mayoral candidate Charles Chapman performing much poorer than expected, when only three years earlier (before the war) Wellingtonians voted in the city's first Labour mayor.^[1] The Labour movement had restored some unity between the moderate and militant factions (helped by mutual opposition to conscription) and both factions agreed on a single candidate for the mayoralty, and a reduced but joint ticket for the council. However, the expected nadir in support in the face of jingoistic opponents came to fruition with none of the six Labour candidates elected to the council.^[2] This left Alfred Hindmarsh (who was elected to the Wellington Harbour Board) the sole elected Labour representative in Wellington.^[3]

• Betts, George (1970). Betts on Wellington:a city and its politics. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN 0 589 00469 7.
• Gustafson, Barry (1980). Labour's path to political independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1900–19. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press. ISBN 0-19-647986-X.