In 1901 George Hutchison the member for Patea was deemed to have resigned when the second session of the 14th Parliament opened on 1 July, although he had apparently been absent for some months in South Africa.
In the by-election held on 18 July the Liberal candidate John Heslop was initially leading but Frederick Haselden won.
The petitioner William Henry Parker a labourer of Patea did not appear in court, and was thought to have government backing.
Other grounds put forward were that two votes for Heslop were disallowed, and that two polling booths were not open as required.
[9][10] The second by-election vote on 6 November between two candidates returned Haselden by a substantial majority, and with a higher turnout.