TAUMARUNUI SEAT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1412, 17 June 1915, Page 2

TAUMARUNUI SEAT.

MR W. T. JENNINGS ELECTED. GOVERNMENT HAVE A MAJORITY OF TWO. The Taumaruuui election on Tuesday resulted in the return of the Opposition candidate, Mr W. Jennings. Mr Jennings was returned at the General Elections in December last, but the election was annulled by the Court on a technical breach of the electoral law. W. T, Jennings ... 3850 C. K. Wilson ... 370 V . M Majority for Jennings U 9 At the General Election the figures were : Jennings 4012 Wilson ...' ... 3306 Shortland 37 Majority for Jenning 206 The position of the parties now is as follows: Government 41 Opposition (including Labour) 39 Government majority 2 It will in the ordinary course be necessary for the Government to appoint a Speaker, and that will leave it with a majority of one. There can be little doubt that Mr Tan Henare intends to support the Government. He has taken his seat on the Government benches, beside Mr W. H, Field (member for Otaki) ; and Mr Massey himself has been fully assured of the Maori member's support. This was so befoie his election and since. The actual position, therefore, is that the Government, as the parties now stand, has a majority of two members. PRIME MINISTER INTERVIEWED. The Prime Minister was interviewed, but stated there was very little to be said. The Government, he said, had an assured position in the House, and though he would have liked to have secured another supporter, he did not anticipate any serious difficulty about being able to carry on the business of the country. In regard to the Taumarunui election, the majority of the polling places had declared lor Mr Wilson, and Mr Jennings’s return had been determined by the town of Taumarunui. Personally, he did not feel discouraged, for the results of the three by-elections had shown that the Government stood even better than at the General Elections. It would now remain for the Opposition to show whether they desired to force another election upon the country.