1896 City of Christchurch by-election

1896 Christchurch by-election

← 1893 general 13 February 1896 1896 general →
Turnout	12,293
Candidate Charles Lewis Tommy Taylor Richard Molesworth Taylor Party Conservative Independent Liberal Liberal Popular vote 4,714 4,302 3,196 Percentage 38.60 35.23 26.17
Member before election William Pember Reeves Liberal Elected Member Charles Lewis Conservative

The City of Christchurch by-election of 1896 was a by-election held on 13 February 1896 during the 12th New Zealand Parliament in the urban seat of the City of Christchurch. The by-election was triggered by the appointment of William Pember Reeves as Agent-General to the United Kingdom. The Liberal Government led by Richard Seddon had trouble finding a suitable candidate and delayed Reeves' resignation until the day he left his home in Christchurch to take up the London post. Nonetheless, rumours of Reeves' pending resignation had been circulating for a month and candidates were lining up. The Liberal Party candidate who was secured resigned within a week of Reeves' eventual resignation, and a new candidate had to be found. Three candidates contested the election: Richard Molesworth Taylor was the official Liberal Party candidate, Tommy Taylor was a prohibitionist also with liberal views but an ardent opponent of Seddon, and Charles Lewis was the reluctant conservative candidate of the opposition. Being a Liberal Party stronghold, vote splitting between those candidates who held liberal views secured the election win for Lewis, with the Liberal Party candidate coming last.