John Hutcheson Liberal–Labour John Hutcheson Liberal–Labour The 25 July 1899 City of Wellington by-election was caused by the resignation of incumbent MP John Hutcheson over the Marine Scandal.

[1] Hutcheson, along with MP Frederick Pirani had accused Premier Richard Seddon and Minister of Marine William Hall-Jones amongst others, of using influence to obtain Mariners certificates for unqualified candidates in contravention of the recent Shipping and Seamen's Act.

[2] When the Marine Commission report [3] declared that the charges were unfounded Hutcheson resigned in order to exonerate himself by means of a by-election win.

General election, 1896 results: City of Wellington[4] 1 Majority is difference between lowest winning poll (Fisher, 5859) and highest losing poll (Atkinson, 5831) 2 Turnout is total number of voters - as voters had three votes each total votes cast was higher (37,624) The following table gives the election results: 1898 City of Wellington by-election

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