1993 Invercargill mayoral by-election

The 1993 Invercargill mayoral by-election was held on 20 March 1993 as a result of the death of Mayor Eve Poole on Boxing Day the previous year.

1993 Invercargill mayoral by-election

← 1992 20 March 1993 1995 →
Turnout	30,211 (79.45%)
Candidate Tim Shadbolt Bruce Pagan Mark Winter Party Independent Independent Independent Popular vote 10,078 5,752 4,795 Percentage 33.35 19.03 15.87   Candidate Mirek Cvigr Dougal Soper Party Independent Independent Popular vote 3,915 1,972 Percentage 12.95 6.52
Mayor before election Dougal Soper (acting) Elected mayor Tim Shadbolt

Background

Since losing the Waitemata City mayoralty in 1989, Tim Shadbolt had made several unsuccessful electoral runs, including 1992 mayoral elections in Auckland and Dunedin, in both of which he placed third.

The election attracted an unusually large pool of 14 candidates, including the incumbent deputy mayor and the two deputy mayors preceding him. Former Southland County Council chairman and father of candidate Janet Malloch,^[1] Sir Erskine Bowmar, described it as "a bit of a joke".^[2]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Neil Boniface	Mirek Cvigr	Janet Malloch	Bruce Pagan	Geoff Piercy	Tim Shadbolt	Dougal Soper	Anne Stoddart	Mark Winter	Undecided
The Southland Times[3]	1 March 1993	519	± 4.5%	2%	8.86%	4.24%	12.91%	3.47%	21.39%	7.13%	3.47%	6.94%	22%
The Southland Times[4]	10 March 1993	615	± 4.5%	1.6%	8.9%	3.4%	16.1%	2.4%	26.2%	5.8%	1.6%	10.2%	17%

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1993 Invercargill mayoral by-election^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Tim Shadbolt	10,078	33.35
	Independent	Bruce Pagan	5,752	19.03	−16.16
	Independent	Mark Winter	4,795	15.87
	Independent	Mirek Cvigr	3,915	12.95	−13.96
	Independent	Dougal Soper	1,972	6.52
	Independent	Geoff Piercy	1,221	4.04
	Independent	Janet Malloch	765	2.53
	Independent	Anne Stoddart	718	2.37
	Independent	Neil Boniface	416	1.37
	Independent	Marjory Jones	268	0.88
	Independent	George Ngatai	116	0.38
	Independent	Katherine Hart	55	0.18
	Independent	Richard Osborn	50	0.16
	Independent	Owen Houliston	42	0.13
Majority			4,326	14.32
Turnout			30,211	79.45