The 1878 Grey Valley by-election was a by-election held on 22 May 1878 during the 6th New Zealand Parliament in the West Coast electorate of Grey Valley.
The by-election was caused by the resignation of the incumbent MP Martin Kennedy on 13 April 1878.[1]
The by-election was won by Richard Reeves.
He was opposed by William Henry Harrison (who had been elected for the electorate in the 1871 election) and John Barrowman;[2] Heber Newton withdrew but got 25 votes.[3][4]
The following table gives the election result:
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Independent | Richard Reeves | 487 | 47.61 | ||
Independent | William Henry Harrison | 302 | 29.52 | ||
Independent | John Barrowman | 209 | 20.43 | ||
Majority | 185 | 18.08 | |||
Informal votes | 25 | ||||
Turnout | 1023 |